SIM Cards Automatically Lock During Sleep Mode on iOS 26

arnaud250 wrote:

Hello, same for me on my iPhone 15. It happens to me at least 1 time per week. I charge my iPhone wirelessly during the night and not with a cable, i’m wondering if it could be the cause, like if the battery would overheat and restart the phone or lock the sim.

But if my iPhone had restarted i would also be asked to type my phone code ton unlock it before, but it’s not the case because faceid still works 🤔

What do you think ?

It happened to my wife's phone yesterday

It didn't overheat, it is only on 5 watt charger

Spontaneous restarting and forced restarting generally do not need to unlock SIM as power remains on the contacts.

I am coming to the opinion that this is a real bug which spontaneously locks SIM cards without restarting.

Report it please or Apple will never fix it. https://apple.com/feedback

I turned off her SIM card PIN

Unlock the SIM PINs until a fix is confirmed, or convert to unlocked eSIMs

It could also be probkems with SIM contacts or surfaces, clean your SIM with a dry piece of denim

Georgistoychev wrote:

Same here with iPhone 14 Pro with a nano SIM. Real problem to me and a really dissatisfying experience considering the price of the products.

Turn off SIM PIN until it is resolved or go unlocked eSIM

The problem is most likely your phone spontaneously restarting, not the SIM

I’ve also noticed this happens ( for the last 2 nights/mornings), having upgraded to iOS26 3 weeks ago.

Didn’t happen until now???

Having read this article, I brought it up with Apple via the chat support, but I’m not sure they knew what I was asking?

I explained that I could just switch off the SIM pin, but that doesn’t explain WHY my phone thinks there’s been a power down and restart, and was it because I’d lost network connectivity??

Obviously I’m asleep when it happens, so do not really know why or when it happens, but like others on here, I need to know that I can be contacted if needed.

I was told by support to restart my phone to see if that solve the problem, so I’m switching SIM pin back on to see if I’m faced with the same issue tomorrow.

As a side note I looked at ‘focus’ and noticed that alongside ‘do not disturb’ being set up ( by me prior to the OS update) there was 2 new focus’s that I do not remember setting up, which I’ve now deleted. One was ‘reduce interruptions’ and I can’t remember what the other one was. I wonder if they were the cause?

still… if they aren’t the cause… why does my phone thinks there’s been a restart over night?

revikas wrote:

Same problem with ios 26.01 in iphone 13 mini, after updating to iOS 26, it didn't happen to me before.

It only happens some nights, but I think the phone doesn't restart, it's just a problem with the SIM.

Have you had Apple perform diagnostics on your iPhone? If you’re in the US please call  1-800-MY-APPLE or outside the US, consult the support articles below. In Canada call 1-800-263-3394

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Explore Service Locations

Official Apple Support

Jorojoro wrote:

Same here. iPhone 14, iOS 26.0.1

My phone has one nano SIM and one eSIM, both active in the same device. Asking for both SIMs every morning.

Don’t know how long I’ve been unreachable every night, but I’m an emergency contact for several elderly. Absolutely life threatening bug!

Unlock the SIM, the eSIM should never have been locked anyway

Then do your duty, report it https://apple.com/feedback

I cant because ot doesn't happen to me. ensure you include your provider name

Kristof_L wrote:

Same for me. iPhone 14 Pro Max asks for pin in the morning. Just about every day.

this is very annoying as I need to be reachable during the night.

I tried switching back from the wireless charger to a cable. Worked for one day. Now same problem.

fix this. A + 1k phone should work longer than 3 years. This issue is making me consider buying an other brands phone!

Unlock the SIMs, eSIMs should never be locked anyway

Then do your duty, report it https://apple.com/feedback

DRKMTH_ wrote:

Same here, every single morning I need to unlock my SIM. It’s a very big problem…I’m on a iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Everything was OK before updating to iOS 26….

Remove the SIM PINs, eSIMs should never be locked anyway

Then do your duty, report it https://apple.com/feedback

Unlock the SIM, eSIMs should never be locked anyway

Then do your duty, report it https://apple.com/feedback

It’s not a carrier issue as one other stated as I have 2 phones both on o2.

i have an iPhone SE with iOS 26

sim lock issue overnight has never happened.

HOWEVER

On iPhone 14 Pro Max the sim lock issue overnight has happened sporadically 2 times over the last 4 weeks, one of those occasions being today 15th Oct between 2am and 4am (BST)

Has to be an iOS26 bug never happened before with any other iOS’s

Same thing happened last night to my recently updated to ios 26.1 iphone. I noticed that in this night there was an OTAUpdate on my iphone.

The first line of the ips log file reads: {"restore_payload_version":"Unknown","restore_type":"OTAUpdate","os_version":"23B85","itunes_version":"23B85","bug_type":"183","restore_error":"78","name":"iPhoneRestore"}

Random coincidence?

dotnjet wrote:

I can confirm the same with iOS26.1

When is Apple going to fix it or even see it?

Have you told Apple? You can use the feedback page:

Product Feedback - Apple

Or you can contact support directly using the Support link at the bottom left of every page of these forums.

It is possible that the phone is restarting, possibly battery or charger problems. Obviously the cause needs to be found but using eSIM might be a workaround.