iMessage activation

[Glenn_Depelisi]

Hello. Last night, my mother and I just ported over our phone numbers from AT&T to Verizon and set up our new iPhone 17 pros. Everything seems to work and we have service, however for some reason my phone won’t allow me to activate iMessages using my phone number, and it’s only activating using my email for my apple account. I checked my mother’s phone and her iMessages activated just fine, but mine keeps saying “activation unsuccessful”. When I send iMessages to someone, it only comes from my email. I’ve turned off Imessage and FaceTime and turned them back on, I’ve restarted my phone, have the latest update, and I’ve signed out of my Apple ID and re-signed in. I’m not sure what else to do. I’ve read that it can sometimes take up to 24 hours, but the fact that my mother’s iMessage is working just fine makes me think something isn’t quite right with mine. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. 

[vzw_customer_support]

I sincerely apologize for the frustration you're experiencing with your iMessage activation. You have already done an excellent job with troubleshooting: restarting the device, toggling the services, and re-signing into your Apple ID are all key steps. You are also correct that this activation can sometimes take up to 24 hours. When a number is ported, Apple's activation servers have to fully recognize that your number is now with Verizon. Occasionally, one number's request simply processes faster than another, which would explain why your mother's phone is already working. However, since it is still not activating, I would like to help you investigate this further. Please be on the lookout for a Private Note from us offering additional support.

-Christy

[SynthpopAddict · Accepted solution]

Have you tried a network reset on your iPhone?  You also need to have SMS enabled on your phone for iMessage to activate - I'm assuming you have new iPhones now and not the ones you had with the previous carrier.  Hopefully the link below will help:

If you can’t turn on or sign in to iMessage or FaceTime on your iPhone - Apple Support