iMessage activation

[cocododo]

I got a new iPhone 17 pro at the weekend, and it’s been unable to activate iMessage and FaceTime. I spoke with Apple and they said to “contact your network provider to confirm that international SMS is working and confirm that the account is provisioned for iMessage and FaceTime” but the automated EE help bot doesn’t seem to understand. Has anyone else found a way to deal with this issue?

[Leanne_T]

Hi there @cocododo 

Thanks for coming to the community. 

Just to check, have you tried turning off iMessage and FaceTime, then going into Settings, General, Transfer and Reset, Reset the network settings. This will restart the iPhone and you will need to re-enter any saved WiFi passwords. 

Once the iPhone restarts, turn iMessage and FaceTime back on. Do they both still show activating? 

If so, please get in touch with our tech guides by calling 150 and they can get the iMessage and FaceTime looked into further for you. 

Let me know how you get on 🙂

Leanne. 

[cocododo]

Hi,

Yes I have tried resetting the network. I have also trie calling 150 and going through the steps to get a call back from a Tech Guru but I just comes back saying it’s unable to book a call back.

[Leanne_T · Accepted solution]

Thanks for coming back to me and letting me know this has been tried already @cocododo 

If you're getting this message when calling 150, please try calling again and selecting, mobile queries, technical support, device issues and when a call back is offered please press 2 to hold in the queue and speak to one of the team. They can get everything checked over at our end for you. 

Leanne. 

[LukeSmith996]

Have you managed to resolve this? I have also been experiencing the same issue, been on phone to both apple and ee who has been telling me to do the same steps each time and nothing has worked. Starting to get really fed up

[Michael_D]

Hi @LukeSmith996 . 

Welcome to the community.

I can understand your frustration with being passed back and forward.

While I appreciate that you have already spoken with our tech guides, the would be the best people to speak to again so they can continue to look at this further.

If they haven't already, they can open a complaint to keep a record of this until it is resolved.

Michael

[Wpday07]

I also cannot activate iMessage on my e sim

[Ali_A]

Hi @Wpday07 

To activate iMessage on your iPhone 17, ensure you have a stable network connection, check that the date and time settings are correct, and restart your iPhone. You may also need to turn iMessage off and on again in Settings > Messages, verify your number is listed under "Send & Receive," and confirm your Apple ID is signed in. If the issue persists, try resetting network settings and updating your iOS. 

Please also have a look at Apple's support page If you can’t turn on or sign in to iMessage or FaceTime on your iPhone

Ali