17 Pro Max Received, but I'm Experiencing the Dreaded iMessages Activation Unsuccessful Issue

If you're not aware, there's an issue with iMessages and/or FaceTime where your apps won't activate.

I just received the phone today and wasn't even aware this was an issue until my wife said she sent a text and that I didn't reply.  When I looked at my phone, I saw nothing.  I asked her to send another while she was like 10 feet away from me.  She did - I saw and heard nothing.  I then asked her to call me - the phone rang (it was her).  I then grabbed my work phone and did some testing with it (it's an iPhone 15 Pro).

Now my work phone is running iOS26.  The new 17 Pro Max is running iOS26.  My 13 Pro Max is also running iOS26.  Only the 17 PM is having the issue, though.  As well, I can no longer test my 13 PM because I factory-reset it earlier today, but it was fine before I wiped it.

When I use the 15 PM to text to the 17 PM, the 17 receives the text.  When I reply back, the 15 received that text, but the text isn't coming from the phone's number - it is coming from my email address that's tied to the iCloud account, which is odd.

I tried to reach out to schedule an appointment at the local Genius Bar but they screened the issue and refused to allow me to make an appointment.  They did suggest that I log a support ticket but said that they'd reach out to me later - I took that to mean that they actually wouldn't reach out.

I then went to the MacRumors.com forums and searched - sure enough, I saw some folks complaining about it but only saw one person with a solution...that solution didn't work for me.

I then checked Reddit and saw a BUNCH of complaints, as well as several remedies that works for some folks (but not for me).

Someone also said that he tried both Verizon (which is my carrier too) and Apple and neither were helpful.

Lastly, several folks said that they waited (some waited without opening a support ticket and some opened support cases) 24+ hours and the issue auto-fixed itself.

I'm still not sure where the exact problem lies.  It's either iOS26, iMessage, or eSIM (although there are folks with non-e SIM cards and running iOS26 that are experiencing the issue).  Maybe it's a combination of a bug in iOS26 and/or a bug in SIM technology.

Lesson:  never run the latest version of iOS.

So, I'm waiting.  I'll update if/when this is resolved.