Activation of the iPhone 4 broken.

Ummm. This was not sudden.

These phones are obsolete and no longer supported.

Sure, you can let Apple know what you would like to see, but realistically nothing is going to happen in this regard.

As you know, this is a user-to-user site. We are all users here.....just like you. Apple is not here. They will not see your post.

Contact Apple here: Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Good luck.

Aless14 wrote:

Before July 9 2026 those iphones were activating fine! Also, the iPad have the same issue (iPad 1 and 2) but the iPad 3 has been fixed.

The servers those phones activated on have been shut down. Fee free to let Apple know your thoughts about this, but you likely have more chance of winning the lottery than you do of Apple supporting an antique, obsolete iPhone 4, which can't be used for much of anything in the modern world.

Aless14 wrote:

Hello Guys!

Apple has suddenly stopped Activating those Legacy iPhones:

• iPhone 4

• iPhone 3GS

• iPhone 3G

• iPhone (2007)

No matter what you are trying to do to activate it, it throws an error. iTunes, Device Activation won’t help.

The error is ”Device Unknown”.

This error is unfortunate a “Server Based Error” and I want to let Apple know about this, hoping for an eventual fix.

If someone can report this error, this will be a LOT for us Apple Collectors.

My apologies for disturbing and I hope that they will fix this in order to make those phones working again.

N.B.: The iPhone 4 variants affected are the iPhone 3.1 and iPhone 3.2. The iPhone 4 CDMA activates just fine!

Thanks you!

That's correct. You cannot activate an iPhone 4. It's an iPhone from 2010, 16+ years ago. It is an antique, obsolete, totally useless phone for any purpose, including making phone calls today. Virtually no apps are in any way compatible with such an old phone either. Time to recycle it responsibly.

3G networks have been shutting down throughout the past couple of years. They are not going to be returning. The only reason a cdma phone still works would be because that network is still active, at least partially

Aless14 wrote:

Before July 9 2026 those iphones were activating fine! Also, the iPad have the same issue (iPad 1 and 2) but the iPad 3 has been fixed.

I wouldn’t want to get support calls from people trying to use iPhone 4, given how much doesn’t and won’t work.

Impediments to use: 32-bit processors with approximately no third-party app support, built-in apps won’t support secure connections to many sites, and with very few carriers still supporting 3G or CDMA.

Before July 9 2026 those iphones were activating fine! Also, the iPad have the same issue (iPad 1 and 2) but the iPad 3 has been fixed.

Perhaps when Apple sees that it is you that is providing feedback, they will reactivate the servers.

Good luck.

Thanks to everyone!