Well that’s just great. Customers are finally getting their hands on iPhone 14 today and wouldn’t you know it, there’s already a bug cropping up that’s stopping the devices from being activated. Oh yeah, and Apple confirmed it’s real and a big headache for all. Cool, awesome, neat-o. At least there’s a temporary fix.
In a memo seen by MaRumors, we have confirmation that there’s a known issue with iOS 16 that’s preventing devices from being activated on open Wi-Fi networks. Apple suggests users perform a temporary “fix” – by selecting “Connect to Mac or to a PC with iTunes” and then try Wi-Fi activation again, until it goes through (how clever).
Apple says there is no current official fix and that support staff shouldn’t create any repair cases for the issue. Looks like our temporary fixes are the best we have until Apple decides how to handle the situation.
One other solution for new iPhone 14 customers is to restore your brand new iPhone to iOS 16.0.1 through a Mac or PC, since that version of iOS 16 should actually have a fix for the activation bug.
We even have a new support document from Apple telling customers that FaceTime and iMessage might not complete activation until the device is updated to iOS 16.0.1.
Either way this is quite a bad look and terrible timing since everyone is getting their hands on iPhone 14’s they might not even be able to activate. What a lovely day.
