iPad won’t activate and shows as Wi-Fi only even though it has a SIM slot

Question

iPad won’t activate and shows as Wi-Fi only even though it has a SIM slot

My parents need this old iPad for recipies and etc because their iPad is being used by a relative for school work. If anyone could help then that could be great! (sidenote : this was a government given iPad from my father for his work and it has a sim slot has the black thing at the back for cellular but it never worked as a cellular iPad and on itunes it shows as a wifi model. even after it was decommissioned and became a personal device, it didnt ever show any cellular capabilities.)

[Edited by Moderator]

Original Title: My iPad 4 dosent activate

Posted on Aug 29, 2025 06:47 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Phil0124

Level 10

214,045 points

Aug 29, 2025 07:18 AM in response to starlight_axo

Seems like a deep hardware issue. You should do what the message says and take it to an Apple Store, there may to be a way to repair it or get it to activate at this point if something internal failed
The iPad 3 was released in 2012. 13 years ago. It's pretty much beyond regular usability at this point. It may be a better choice to get a slightly newer iPad instead of wrestling with this one.
Cellular would only be present if there was an actual SIM card in the iPad with active service. It's also possibly if the iPad was under management that the cellular portion was de-activated by the government's device management software.
At the end of the day it may not be cost effective to get this iPad to work now.

Reply