Apple Issues Urgent Fix for iOS 26 iMessage Activation Bug

Apple has just released a critical support document addressing a widespread iMessage activation bug impacting iPhone users since the release of iOS 26 last month. The issue prevents some users from activating iMessage with their phone numbers, leading to communication disruptions.

The Cupertino giant explains that the problem primarily affects users who have updated to iOS 26 and possess an inactive SIM (either physical or eSIM) with the same phone number as their active SIM. Affected users have reported iMessages failing to send, messages defaulting to SMS/RCS with green bubbles, and messages being sent via email addresses instead of phone numbers.

Apple’s official guidance to resolve this involves a simple, yet crucial, step: users must remove the inactive SIM card. Within the Settings app, navigate to Cellular. If two SIMs with the same phone number are displayed, identify and remove the inactive one. For physical SIMs, this means physically removing the card. For eSIMs, users should tap ‘Delete eSIM’. Following this, return to Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive, and tap the displayed phone number to reactivate iMessage services.

This timely fix aims to restore full iMessage functionality for a segment of iPhone users experiencing frustrating communication glitches.

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