Early this morning wereportedthat iPhone 4S users in Australia were running up against activation server issues with carriers. We predicted then that the same issues would crop up once users in the US began picking up their iPhones and it looks like it came true.
Multitudes of AT&T iPhone 4S customers are reporting extensive, many hour long delays in activation of their new devices. The screen reporting activation troubles comes up during the iPhone setup wizard and hangs there, forcing owners to sit and stare at the device longingly, rather than beginning to use it immediately.
Carrier issues have long plagued US iPhone launches as Apple (and AT&T) employees begin activating thousands of iPhones within minutes of the stores opening. The issues normally don’t let up for hours as they are crushed by retry after retry.
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The server issues normally calm down after the initial rush but I remember waiting at the Apple store for several hours during the launch of the iPhone 4 while they made attempt after attempt. The iPhone and iPhone 3G were ‘at home’ activations which required you to plug the device into iTunes, although the problems were the same as they contacted AT&T’s servers (both devices launched here in the US first) for activation.
The iPhone 4S’s new PC Free setup allows users to update not only from home, but without even being connected to iTunes. This would be great…if the carrier’s activation servers were up to the task.
At this point, there is not a lot that you can do besides wait for the servers to catch up to demand, but there are a couple of things to try.
These are both just chances of course and the only real solution will be for AT&T to catch up, but they could work for you. Let us know if either method works in the comments below.
Story byMatthew Panzarino
Matthew Panzarino was Managing Editor at TNW. He’s no longer with the company, but you can follow him on Twitter.(show all)Matthew Panzarino was Managing Editor at TNW. He’s no longer with the company, but you can follow him onTwitter.
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