How to know if there's an unactivated sim card in my iphone 3gs?

I want to update this iphone that has no service, and I found on some sites that as long as there's a SIM card, whether activated or unactivated, I could update it. But how do I know if there's one without taking it out? If I have to take it out, is there some kind of penalty for it?

There's no penalty for taking the SIM card out. So go ahead and check if there's a SIM card by taking it out.

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