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Can't activate 10.5" iPad Pro on AT&T

P

Ponziani

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2012
3
0
So, has anyone else had problems activating the embedded SIM in their 10.5" iPad Pro with AT&T? I should note that I got my iPad Pro at an Apple Store, not directly from AT&T.

I am able to get part of the way through the built-in setup, actually all the way to the screen where I should be able to add it to my existing data plan, but that screen has a blue 'Continue' button and when I press that button, it flashes briefly but does nothing. No error message. I thought it might be that I tried at a bad time for the activation servers but 24 hours later it's still doing the same thing.

The weird thing is that when I tried to add it as a 'bring your own device' on the AT&T web site and entered the IMEI and CSN, it mis-identified my device as a 64GB - Silver 10.5" Pro (mine is Space Grey and 512GB), and told me that the IMEI/CSN combination was already in use(?)

I'm sure I can get it working with a nano-SIM but can't understand why I can't use the embedded one.
 
Ponziani said:
So, has anyone else had problems activating the embedded SIM in their 10.5" iPad Pro with AT&T? I should note that I got my iPad Pro at an Apple Store, not directly from AT&T.

I am able to get part of the way through the built-in setup, actually all the way to the screen where I should be able to add it to my existing data plan, but that screen has a blue 'Continue' button and when I press that button, it flashes briefly but does nothing. No error message. I thought it might be that I tried at a bad time for the activation servers but 24 hours later it's still doing the same thing.

The weird thing is that when I tried to add it as a 'bring your own device' on the AT&T web site and entered the IMEI and CSN, it mis-identified my device as a 64GB - Silver 10.5" Pro (mine is Space Grey and 512GB), and told me that the IMEI/CSN combination was already in use(?)

I'm sure I can get it working with a nano-SIM but can't understand why I can't use the embedded one.
Click to expand...
If it isn't too late, DON'T activate the EMBEDDED SIM with AT&T. It will lock itself to AT&T and will not ever be able to be used with another carrier, domestic or international. Request a SIM from AT&T instead.
 
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I ordered from AT&T as an upgrade to the line that had my 12.9.

I had to do a chat and give my IMEI and ICCD number in order for them to add it.

Ya, it's been seamless before and this is the first time I've had to call in to activate since the iPhone 3GS debacle, if anyone remembers that.

On a side note, AT&T did have a wrong IMEI number in their system for my iPhone 5s and it would only connect at 4G speeds and not LTE speeds. They were helpless and lied saying it was an APPLE problem, 5.5mbps was in fact LTE speed even with the 4G symbol displaying on my phone, and to take the phone to Apple to get it taken care of.

Long story short, I found out a day later at the AT&T store that the IMEI was incorrect and I got like $300 in credits because of this experience.
 
Peter K. said:
If it isn't too late, DON'T activate the EMBEDDED SIM with AT&T. It will lock itself to AT&T and will not ever be able to be used with another carrier, domestic or international. Request a SIM from AT&T instead.
Click to expand...
Scary! Thanks for the heads up because i was going to do the same.
 
Peter K. said:
If it isn't too late, DON'T activate the EMBEDDED SIM with AT&T. It will lock itself to AT&T and will not ever be able to be used with another carrier, domestic or international. Request a SIM from AT&T instead.
Click to expand...

Could you explain why this is a problem? If you want to switch carriers, can't you just request a card from someone else, or are you saying that this is some sort of non removable SIM and the iPad now comes without a card in the slot?

I've found that over the past couple of years that AT&T is trying in the customer service department. They have gotten better.
 
Peter K. said:
If it isn't too late, DON'T activate the EMBEDDED SIM with AT&T. It will lock itself to AT&T and will not ever be able to be used with another carrier, domestic or international. Request a SIM from AT&T instead.
Click to expand...

If this is the case I could easily see a class action lawsuit. I didn't buy the device from ATT, nor did they subsidize my puchase. Locking a device to their service would be unlawful.
 
Peter K. said:
If it isn't too late, DON'T activate the EMBEDDED SIM with AT&T. It will lock itself to AT&T and will not ever be able to be used with another carrier, domestic or international. Request a SIM from AT&T instead.
Click to expand...

This isn't true.. It apparently was only true for iPads purchased from an AT&T store but not from Apple. Apple has explicitly said that the embedded sim is swappable between networks anytime - and you can even activate, for example, 3 carriers on the embedded SIM at once and manage them from the cellular page on the iPad and swap data plans on the fly. I activated the embedded sim on mine to AT&T for one month and still able to activate this on T-Mobile afterwards and go back to AT&T if I choose to.

Always buy from Apple store, do not buy from your carrier:

Straight from Apple's site:

If you buy your iPad Pro from a carrier store, you might be limited to the carrier's cellular data network. Here's more information, depending on where you bought your iPad Pro:
  • United States:
    • Verizon (Verizon retail locations): The embedded Apple SIM isn't enabled. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray.
    • AT&T (AT&T retail locations): The embedded Apple SIM is locked to AT&T. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray. Contact AT&T for details of their Carrier Reveal program to enable Apple SIM for other carriers.
 
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I had trouble with three different At&T reps who had never heard of an embedded sim before. The last guy just threw a physical sim in my iPad and everything is now fine.
 
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I bought my first gen 12.9 from AT&T. If I want to sell it, do I have to get it unlocked or can I just remove the SIM card and sell it to someone else, and can they then use it with whichever carrier they want? Keep in mind that according to that link to the Apple support site, the first gen 12.9 does NOT have an embedded SIM. My iPad Pro 12.9 came with an AT&T SIM card in the SIM card tray.
 
Diversion said:
This isn't true.. It apparently was only true for iPads purchased from an AT&T store but not from Apple. Apple has explicitly said that the embedded sim is swappable between networks anytime - and you can even activate, for example, 3 carriers on the embedded SIM at once and manage them from the cellular page on the iPad and swap data plans on the fly. I activated the embedded sim on mine to AT&T for one month and still able to activate this on T-Mobile afterwards and go back to AT&T if I choose to.

Always buy from Apple store, do not buy from your carrier:

Straight from Apple's site:

If you buy your iPad Pro from a carrier store, you might be limited to the carrier's cellular data network. Here's more information, depending on where you bought your iPad Pro:
  • United States:
    • Verizon (Verizon retail locations): The embedded Apple SIM isn't enabled. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray.
    • AT&T (AT&T retail locations): The embedded Apple SIM is locked to AT&T. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray. Contact AT&T for details of their Carrier Reveal program to enable Apple SIM for other carriers.
Click to expand...

Thank you. That sounded wrong from the git go.
 
Well I would think even if you purchased iPad from a AT&T or Verizon store on the installment plans or 2 yr plans that when it's paid off you should be able swap sim carriers if you wanted to.
 
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Diversion said:
This isn't true.. It apparently was only true for iPads purchased from an AT&T store but not from Apple. Apple has explicitly said that the embedded sim is swappable between networks anytime - and you can even activate, for example, 3 carriers on the embedded SIM at once and manage them from the cellular page on the iPad and swap data plans on the fly. I activated the embedded sim on mine to AT&T for one month and still able to activate this on T-Mobile afterwards and go back to AT&T if I choose to.

Always buy from Apple store, do not buy from your carrier:

Straight from Apple's site:

If you buy your iPad Pro from a carrier store, you might be limited to the carrier's cellular data network. Here's more information, depending on where you bought your iPad Pro:
  • United States:
    • Verizon (Verizon retail locations): The embedded Apple SIM isn't enabled. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray.
    • AT&T (AT&T retail locations): The embedded Apple SIM is locked to AT&T. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray. Contact AT&T for details of their Carrier Reveal program to enable Apple SIM for other carriers.
Click to expand...
Actually, it had nothing to do with where the iPad was purchased. AT&T is known to have locked Apple SIMs to their network, rendering it useless for any other network. When the embedded SIM was introduced, I remember reading that the same was true about them.

If this is no longer true, that is great news.

EDIT: I stand corrected, regarding the embedded SIM and purchase source (not) making a difference:

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/23/ex...e-ipad-pros-embedded-apple-sim-means-for-you/
[doublepost=1497645355][/doublepost]
gorkt said:
I had trouble with three different At&T reps who had never heard of an embedded sim before. The last guy just threw a physical sim in my iPad and everything is now fine.
Click to expand...
This is the right way to go anyway. Your embedded SIM is still fresh for any network.
 
Last edited:
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I was on chat support with AT&T trying to set up my new Pro 10.5 in place of the Air 1 already on my plan. We could not figure it out because we didn't know how to get the SIM (or equivalent?) for the Apple embedded SIM. But he entered my new iPad's IMEI into the system, and I popped the physical SIM out of my Air 1 and inserted it into the Pro 10.5, and that got it onto LTE just fine. Done and done. I guess I can still use the embedded SIM to enable additional services if the need arises (like traveling internationally).
 
Ponziani said:
So, has anyone else had problems activating the embedded SIM in their 10.5" iPad Pro with AT&T? I should note that I got my iPad Pro at an Apple Store, not directly from AT&T.

I am able to get part of the way through the built-in setup, actually all the way to the screen where I should be able to add it to my existing data plan, but that screen has a blue 'Continue' button and when I press that button, it flashes briefly but does nothing. No error message. I thought it might be that I tried at a bad time for the activation servers but 24 hours later it's still doing the same thing.

The weird thing is that when I tried to add it as a 'bring your own device' on the AT&T web site and entered the IMEI and CSN, it mis-identified my device as a 64GB - Silver 10.5" Pro (mine is Space Grey and 512GB), and told me that the IMEI/CSN combination was already in use(?)

I'm sure I can get it working with a nano-SIM but can't understand why I can't use the embedded one.
Click to expand...
I just went to AT&T to add my line and they gave me a SIM card, but the surprising thing is that the SIM tray was empty on my new 10.5" pro!!!
 
Peter K. said:
Actually, it had nothing to do with where the iPad was purchased. AT&T is known to have locked Apple SIMs to their network, rendering it useless for any other network. When the embedded SIM was introduced, I remember reading that the same was true about them.

If this is no longer true, that is great news.

EDIT: I stand corrected, regarding the embedded SIM and purchase source (not) making a difference:

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/23/ex...e-ipad-pros-embedded-apple-sim-means-for-you/
[doublepost=1497645355][/doublepost]
This is the right way to go anyway. Your embedded SIM is still fresh for any network.
Click to expand...

No worries, thanks for bringing it up so we could do a little research and find the answer.
 
I went to an AT&T corporate store today and ended up getting activated on a nano SIM instead of the embedded SIM. Apparently their system can't deal with the CSN that goes with the embedded SIM. All in all a minor inconvenience as I had to get my old iPad removed from my account anyway and couldn't do that online.
 
Ponziani said:
I went to an AT&T corporate store today and ended up getting activated on a nano SIM instead of the embedded SIM. Apparently their system can't deal with the CSN that goes with the embedded SIM. All in all a minor inconvenience as I had to get my old iPad removed from my account anyway and couldn't do that online.
Click to expand...
Why couldn't they remove your old iPad online?
I've removed two through chat.
 
Peter K. said:
If it isn't too late, DON'T activate the EMBEDDED SIM with AT&T. It will lock itself to AT&T and will not ever be able to be used with another carrier, domestic or international. Request a SIM from AT&T instead.
Click to expand...
You are wrong with the information, AT&T does have a program called "Carrier Visibility" on there internal KB or "Carrier Reveal Program" on Apple KB. However, it can be done only by calling 611, AT&T Customer Support. Tell them about it, or ask them to research in their KB with either or both of the keywords mentioned on top. They will submit a ticket to their backend tech support. 24-28 hours after the submission they will call or email you when it is done. I had it done for my old Apple SIM came with my iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro 9.7. In fact, I just called them recently about my iPad Pro 10.5 and the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 12.9.
[doublepost=1544608047][/doublepost]
Ponziani said:
So, has anyone else had problems activating the embedded SIM in their 10.5" iPad Pro with AT&T? I should note that I got my iPad Pro at an Apple Store, not directly from AT&T.

I am able to get part of the way through the built-in setup, actually all the way to the screen where I should be able to add it to my existing data plan, but that screen has a blue 'Continue' button and when I press that button, it flashes briefly but does nothing. No error message. I thought it might be that I tried at a bad time for the activation servers but 24 hours later it's still doing the same thing.

The weird thing is that when I tried to add it as a 'bring your own device' on the AT&T web site and entered the IMEI and CSN, it mis-identified my device as a 64GB - Silver 10.5" Pro (mine is Space Grey and 512GB), and told me that the IMEI/CSN combination was already in use(?)

I'm sure I can get it working with a nano-SIM but can't understand why I can't use the embedded one.
Click to expand...
AT&T does have a program called "Carrier Visibility" on there internal KB or "Carrier Reveal Program" on Apple KB. However, it can be done only by calling 611, AT&T Customer Support. Tell them about it, or ask them to research in their KB with either or both of the keywords mentioned on top. They will submit a ticket to their backend tech support. 24-28 hours after the submission they will call or email you when it is done.
 
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