Unfortunately reinstalling your iPhone 4S does NOT work, the chip has been damaged. And with a damaged wifi chip a downgrade (which Apple does not allow) would not be of any use either. With as result that you're screwed, you are now the owner of a now worthless iOS7 iPhone 4S
There is a clear pattern and these are obviously not individual cases. It appears the wifi chip of the iPhone 4s is being of a substandard quality and not being not fully compatible with the new iOS firmware which causes this problem. Also most of the beta testing over the past months was done using the iPhone 5 and not the iPhone 4/4S. Most likely because the 4 series were not part of the large scale testing Apple was not fully aware of this accelerated issue with the Wifi chip (when you do a Google search on "iPhone greyed out wifi" you see that this issue is not new, and you see the issue involves mostly the 4s ) But it seems iOS 7 pushed these weak and thus unreliable wifi chips just over the edge, causing them to overheat and thus to stop functioning altogether.
It is not just 4s! I have an iPhone 5 and it was FINE before the update. Now it only has wifi intermittently and has a weak signal altoghther. I am so disappointed that I want to get rid of my phone and get a Samsung instead.
I wanted to include a link to this discussion I have loyally followed because it details so many of our grievances.
Since most of you commenting don't have this problem, and have never seen it, you don't understand the issue. It is not a software problem, it is a hardware-fault. I have my sister's 4S, which is out of warranty, with the greyed out Wi-Fi. Apple would not replace the phone since the one year warranty expired. She bought a new iPhone using her son's upgrade eligibility when Apple said her only option was to pay $199 for another 4S.
The problem started after installing iOS 6, so the issue has been around long before iOS 7. The problem is the Wi-Fi chip overheating and becoming disabled. Bluetooth continues to work, but you cannot turn on Wi-Fi. Some have found a temporary fix by freezing the iPhone, but that is only temporary. The Wi-Fi will fail again. Freezing did not work with my sister's 4S. Many have found the solution to be using a heat gun to heat the solder joints around the chip and let them cool again to re-seat the chip on the logic board. It is a process known as "re-working" the solder. A small percentage of 4S' have this problem. So not enough iPhones are affected for Apple to issue an extended warranty, unfortunately.
I restored iOS 6 and upgraded and restored using iOS 7, but the Wi-Fi is still greyed out. An interesting bug is in iOS 7. Control Center allows you to turn on Wi-Fi even though the chip is disabled. It doesn't really turn Wi-Fi on. When you go into settings, the Wi-Fi is still greyed out even though Control Center indicates it is on. Apple wouldn't think to troubleshoot this bug since they are not testing it on broken iPhone 4S'.
If you have a 4S still under warranty with the problem, then Apple will replace it, obviously. Many have 4Ss that are out of warranty, but still under contract, so they are stuck in a bind. I need to buy an iPhone screwdriver kit so I could try to re-work the solder to restore the Wi-Fi. So far, my 4S is over a year old and the Wi-Fi still works. I bought it July 2012, so hopefully first run 4S' had the problem, and not the later manufactured models.
Those issues can occur for several reasons there isn't just one problem and one solution. A bad battery can cause the wifi to gray out as well as a bad card, bad firmware or bad software installs. Just. Because it didn't fix your specific issue doesn't mean the above comments don't work or aren't helpful
My iPhone 4S was affected by last year iOS 6 "greyed out" wifi button.
It was very erratic, during the first week after I updated to iOS 6, it was all fine and well, then the beast came up and I lost my wifi for a week. After that, in about two months, it would go on and off at it own leisure. After that, about december, it died and never returned. Interestingly, my bluetooth, which is controlled by the same chip, never failed.
I contacted Apple Support then (as my warranty was getting to its end, so was my hopes of a bug fix) and they just replaced my iPhone. At the time I was given some explanation that there was some incompatibility between the iOS, the wifi chip firmware, and a specific batch of the chip.
I was wary that iOS 7 update would be a refresh course with "greyed out" wifi, but no. Until now (I updated the launch day) I'm still problem free.
It would be interesting to know the bought period for those affected, to corroborate or bring down the "bad batch" explanation. I bought my faulty iPhone 4S in march 2012. My replacement phone was issued to me in february of this year.
Bad batch is tech speak for " I have no idea how to fix this but you want to know a why so it this sounds good. Now go away you've exceeded your ten minutes." There is no bad batch that issue has happened since iPhone launched. It's just more and more obvious with OTA updates and more complex coding
"Just wipe your iPhone factory- fresh clean and start from scratch. Works flawlessly every time."
Actually, no it doesn't. My neighbor has this issue with his phone and we methodically went through the process of resetting the network settings, then wiping and restoring from backup, then wiping again and setting up as a new phone. The problem remained. There are various issues that can be fixed with resets and restores, but there is most certainly a non-negligible percentage of the 4s' out there that have some other issue causing this problem.
Bad batch is tech speak for " I have no idea how to fix this but you want to know a why so it this sounds good. Now go away you've exceeded your ten minutes." There is no bad batch that issue has happened since iPhone launched. It's just more and more obvious with OTA updates and more complex coding
There have been bad batches. My iPhone 4 purchased near launch had to be replaced twice due to a malfunctioning proximity sensor (many people had this issue). The third one worked perfectly, and continues to. There are many individual components in a phone, any of them could have "bad batches" and having so many parts that have to work perfectly in-concert vastly increases the chance of things going wrong. iPhones are quality devices, but failures can happen.
Ever since upgrading to iOS 7 on my 4S, my WiFi has actually improved (On iOS 6 I would sometimes have to manually turn WiFi off and on to get a solid connection), and I've been running 7.0.2 since the day it was released without a single issue.
I'm inclined to believe that some people just need to do a backup and restore.
There have been bad batches. My iPhone 4 purchased near launch had to be replaced twice due to a malfunctioning proximity sensor (many people had this issue). The third one worked perfectly, and continues to. There are many individual components in a phone, any of them could have "bad batches" and having so many parts that have to work perfectly in-concert vastly increases the chance of things going wrong. iPhones are quality devices, but failures can happen.
Failures can happen. A bad batch implies a bad chip so everyone would experience the same issue. This is clearly not the case and as I explained before, this issue has been around for a while and the cause varies as I stated in my previous post.
Sure did not work for me. Tried it with no improvement. Maybe just hardware?
I have this issue and a lot of issues where Spotlight (the greatest feature since sliced bread) simply refuses to find certain things sometimes...and finds the same thing other times. Apple geniuses can't seem to figure out why.
Sure need to have a reliable phone. For me it is a business tool.
No issues with my iPhone 4s when using an Apple Airport Extreme - 3rd Generation router, or with Airplay, Netflix, or streaming to Apple TV. Using all Apple gear makes for a happy home.
Those issues can occur for several reasons there isn't just one problem and one solution. A bad battery can cause the wifi to gray out as well as a bad card, bad firmware or bad software installs. Just. Because it didn't fix your specific issue doesn't mean the above comments don't work or aren't helpful
I see that you have no proof or explanation to your alleged reasons for the Wi-Fi greying out, but if you research other sites, they have confirmed it is a hardware failure with the Wi-Fi chip, not batteries, SIM cards, firmware or software causing the Wi-Fi chip to become disabled.
Many have fixed the problem by re-working the solder on the Wi-Fi chip, or heating up the iPhone with a hair dryer.
Apple's advice is to reset the network settings. When that doesn't work, restore the iPhone. When that doesn't work, contact Apple so they can tell you it is a hardware failure. The majority that have the problem also confirm software reset and restore does not work.
Comments
Stop-it-now!
With as result that you're screwed, you are now the owner of a now worthless iOS7 iPhone 4S
There is a clear pattern and these are obviously not individual cases. It appears the wifi chip of the iPhone 4s is being of a substandard quality and not being not fully compatible with the new iOS firmware which causes this problem. Also most of the beta testing over the past months was done using the iPhone 5 and not the iPhone 4/4S. Most likely because the 4 series were not part of the large scale testing Apple was not fully aware of this accelerated issue with the Wifi chip (when you do a Google search on "iPhone greyed out wifi" you see that this issue is not new, and you see the issue involves mostly the 4s ) But it seems iOS 7 pushed these weak and thus unreliable wifi chips just over the edge, causing them to overheat and thus to stop functioning altogether.
You can read more information on http://iphone4s-wifi-victims.blogspot.com
or just do a Google search on "iphone 4s wifi greyed out"
Well, my spouse and I both have iPhone 4S models, and we haven't seen the problem. For what it's worth.
How come there's an article on this but not on the gyroscope issues people are experiencing with the 5S?
I wanted to include a link to this discussion I have loyally followed because it details so many of our grievances.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5330877?tstart=0
No it doesn't. iPhone 5. I have done two factory resets.
Those issues can occur for several reasons there isn't just one problem and one solution. A bad battery can cause the wifi to gray out as well as a bad card, bad firmware or bad software installs. Just. Because it didn't fix your specific issue doesn't mean the above comments don't work or aren't helpful
I am selling my new iPhone 4s 8GB from AT&T for $250. Never been open and is still sealed in the box. http://www.sell.com/2HVD2J
Tests suggest some iPhone 5s motion sensors may be miscalibrated... http://goo.gl/e4fj1f
Bad batch is tech speak for " I have no idea how to fix this but you want to know a why so it this sounds good. Now go away you've exceeded your ten minutes." There is no bad batch that issue has happened since iPhone launched. It's just more and more obvious with OTA updates and more complex coding
Works flawlessly every time."
Actually, no it doesn't. My neighbor has this issue with his phone and we methodically went through the process of resetting the network settings, then wiping and restoring from backup, then wiping again and setting up as a new phone. The problem remained. There are various issues that can be fixed with resets and restores, but there is most certainly a non-negligible percentage of the 4s' out there that have some other issue causing this problem.
Bad batch is tech speak for " I have no idea how to fix this but you want to know a why so it this sounds good. Now go away you've exceeded your ten minutes." There is no bad batch that issue has happened since iPhone launched. It's just more and more obvious with OTA updates and more complex coding
There have been bad batches. My iPhone 4 purchased near launch had to be replaced twice due to a malfunctioning proximity sensor (many people had this issue). The third one worked perfectly, and continues to. There are many individual components in a phone, any of them could have "bad batches" and having so many parts that have to work perfectly in-concert vastly increases the chance of things going wrong. iPhones are quality devices, but failures can happen.
I'm inclined to believe that some people just need to do a backup and restore.
I have a New iPhone 4s 8GB from AT&T for $250. Never been open and is still sealed in the box. http://www.sell.com/2HVD2J
Sure did not work for me. Tried it with no improvement. Maybe just hardware?
I have this issue and a lot of issues where Spotlight (the greatest feature since sliced bread) simply refuses to find certain things sometimes...and finds the same thing other times. Apple geniuses can't seem to figure out why.
Sure need to have a reliable phone. For me it is a business tool.
Those issues can occur for several reasons there isn't just one problem and one solution. A bad battery can cause the wifi to gray out as well as a bad card, bad firmware or bad software installs. Just. Because it didn't fix your specific issue doesn't mean the above comments don't work or aren't helpful
I see that you have no proof or explanation to your alleged reasons for the Wi-Fi greying out, but if you research other sites, they have confirmed it is a hardware failure with the Wi-Fi chip, not batteries, SIM cards, firmware or software causing the Wi-Fi chip to become disabled.
Many have fixed the problem by re-working the solder on the Wi-Fi chip, or heating up the iPhone with a hair dryer.
http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/135053/WiFi+Greyed+out+iOS+6.1.3
Apple's advice is to reset the network settings. When that doesn't work, restore the iPhone. When that doesn't work, contact Apple so they can tell you it is a hardware failure. The majority that have the problem also confirm software reset and restore does not work.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1559