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IPHONE activation - sim card? On June 29th?

S

samanthalewisdp

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 13, 2007
1
0
Does anybody know the latest on how the activation of the Iphone is going to work? If I am an existing customer of AT&T/Cingular, will I be able to pop in my sim card and call the Cingular service center? Will I have to go the the
AT& T/Cingular store and commit to another 2 year contract? What if somebody isn't a customer of AT& T/Cingular? How long will it take them to get signed up with Cingular? Will there be a Cingular rep at on the Apple stores to take care of activation? Does anybody have any clue on how this is going to work? I foresee the people are going to get there phones on June 29th and not be able to use them through the weekend:mad:
 
I don't think any of that information has been released yet. However, I have to believe that neither AT&T or Apple is going to let you leave the store with these things without first signing some sort of agreement, either through itunes or on paper. If they didn't do this, iphones would be on ebay in a matter of minutes. They probably will land there anyway, but this is one way to limit that.
 
Theres all this talk of 'sim card this', 'sim card that'. You people need to adopt the Apple way of reasoning.

The iPhone, unlike other phones, won't utilize the sim card to keep track of your contacts, prefs, etc. Its all managed through iTunes, why even bother to think about the sim card that you don't need.
 
iCheddar said:
Theres all this talk of 'sim card this', 'sim card that'. You people need to adopt the Apple way of reasoning.

The iPhone, unlike other phones, won't utilize the sim card to keep track of your contacts, prefs, etc. Its all managed through iTunes, why even bother to think about the sim card that you don't need.
Click to expand...

well SIM card is a phone on GSM network. No card No fun :p
 
First-Hand Info

I have a business account through my company. After finding out that AT&T isn't supporting business accounts with the iPhone, I was told that to upgrade I'd have to go to an Apple store. I called and, here in Texas (and I assume most other places) the manager confirmed a few things.

  1. There is NO waitlist - official or otherwise
  2. As of today, the Apple store people have only been trained on the phone, but have no knowledge about how activation will take place

So, am I to believe that I will walk out with an unactivated iPhone and an number to call for activation? It seems that way.
 
irinestine said:
I have a business account through my company. After finding out that AT&T isn't supporting business accounts with the iPhone, I was told that to upgrade I'd have to go to an Apple store. I called and, here in Texas (and I assume most other places) the manager confirmed a few things.

  1. There is NO waitlist - official or otherwise
  2. As of today, the Apple store people have only been trained on the phone, but have no knowledge about how activation will take place

So, am I to believe that I will walk out with an unactivated iPhone and an number to call for activation? It seems that way.
Click to expand...

The main reason I disagree with this is, what do you do about people that will require a deposit ? For example, I called AT&T and I was already told that it will require a $750 deposit. No problem, I have bad credit I am used to it.

But, what about someone who doesn't realize they have bad credit or no credit. They fork out $600 for the phone, get home only to find out they can't afford to activate it. Do they bring the phone back for a refund ? Now, you have an open box product.

The only phone you can buy without an in store credit check is a pre-paid phone. Since, the iPhone won't be sold as a pre-paid (well, maybe in the future) I just don't see them releasing the phone without an activation.

This would also lead to huge mark ups on eBay and create big mobs of people trying to get the product.

I dunno, I just have a hard time believing you buy it and activate it later.
 
/dev/toaster said:
The main reason I disagree with this is, what do you do about people that will require a deposit ? For example, I called AT&T and I was already told that it will require a $750 deposit. No problem, I have bad credit I am used to it.

But, what about someone who doesn't realize they have bad credit or no credit. They fork out $600 for the phone, get home only to find out they can't afford to activate it. Do they bring the phone back for a refund ? Now, you have an open box product.

The only phone you can buy without an in store credit check is a pre-paid phone. Since, the iPhone won't be sold as a pre-paid (well, maybe in the future) I just don't see them releasing the phone without an activation.

This would also lead to huge mark ups on eBay and create big mobs of people trying to get the product.

I dunno, I just have a hard time believing you buy it and activate it later.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't see them letting you leave the store with one until its activated either. That's still not going to stop the eBay flood though. People will just transfer the contract for wireless service.
 
i called AT&T 3 different times to see how consistent answers are. every time i called i got the same exact answers to my questions

(1) SIM card: any existing Cingular 64k SIM card will work. 32k will not, you'll need to get a 64k one.

(2) Discounts: absolutely, positively no discounts of any kind. business customers can get an iPhone ONLY IF they pay their own bill. if their company pays the bill, they are not eligible. also, the iPhone must be paid in full at time of purchase, you cannot have the phone price added to your monthly bill like you can other phones.

(3) Data: data plan not required, but highly recommended. unlimited data plans start at $19.99/month and all will work with the iPhone. the higher the price, the more text messages you get.

(4) Out of market purchase: you can buy the phone out of your home market if you're keeping your number/SIM. if you're getting a new number it has to be purchased in the same region/market as your other lines.

i can't say if this stuff is 100% accurate, but like i said, i called 3 different times, got 3 different reps, and all had the same answers. almost as if they were just reading them off of an email or help screen or something. so i hope that answers your SIM question (if what they say is true).
 
fishkorp said:
i called AT&T 3 different times to see how consistent answers are. every time i called i got the same exact answers to my questions

(1) SIM card: any existing Cingular 64k SIM card will work. 32k will not, you'll need to get a 64k one.

(2) Discounts: absolutely, positively no discounts of any kind. business customers can get an iPhone ONLY IF they pay their own bill. if their company pays the bill, they are not eligible. also, the iPhone must be paid in full at time of purchase, you cannot have the phone price added to your monthly bill like you can other phones.

(3) Data: data plan not required, but highly recommended. unlimited data plans start at $19.99/month and all will work with the iPhone. the higher the price, the more text messages you get.

(4) Out of market purchase: you can buy the phone out of your home market if you're keeping your number/SIM. if you're getting a new number it has to be purchased in the same region/market as your other lines.

i can't say if this stuff is 100% accurate, but like i said, i called 3 different times, got 3 different reps, and all had the same answers. almost as if they were just reading them off of an email or help screen or something. so i hope that answers your SIM question (if what they say is true).
Click to expand...

Wow, definitely some promising info in there! How do you call to talk to these knowledgeable reps? Do you use 611, regular sales line, tech support? Everytime I call they tell me to go to apple.com.
 
fishkorp said:
i called AT&T 3 different times to see how consistent answers are. every time i called i got the same exact answers to my questions

(1) SIM card: any existing Cingular 64k SIM card will work. 32k will not, you'll need to get a 64k one.

(2) Discounts: absolutely, positively no discounts of any kind. business customers can get an iPhone ONLY IF they pay their own bill. if their company pays the bill, they are not eligible. also, the iPhone must be paid in full at time of purchase, you cannot have the phone price added to your monthly bill like you can other phones.

(3) Data: data plan not required, but highly recommended. unlimited data plans start at $19.99/month and all will work with the iPhone. the higher the price, the more text messages you get.

(4) Out of market purchase: you can buy the phone out of your home market if you're keeping your number/SIM. if you're getting a new number it has to be purchased in the same region/market as your other lines.

i can't say if this stuff is 100% accurate, but like i said, i called 3 different times, got 3 different reps, and all had the same answers. almost as if they were just reading them off of an email or help screen or something. so i hope that answers your SIM question (if what they say is true).
Click to expand...

Seems quite possible. I am on the fence about the data plan, I think they will require it. The rule about business customers are most likely just for the launch. (If true)

The rest of it, is rather standard. I can't recall ever purchasing a phone that they allowed to be added to the first months bill. Then again, I have never purchased cheap phones :D

Regarding the SIM card, I had a problem like that happen quite a ways back with T-Mobile. I upgraded a phone and the newer phone couldn't hold my contacts due to a new SIM card. Of course it makes sense for Apple to use what ever the latest SIM card.
 
I hope the out of market stuff is true as I will be on the opposite side of the country for my purchase. I don't know about the data plan though, I'm still leaning towards a bundled offering. Hopefully we'll all know for sure next week.
 
*note you will need an iTunes account to activate your iPhone (source: Apple iPhone newsletter)

this means that it will be a requirement...why is that?...because that's how they're gonna bill you...i suspect apple will pay AT&T after you pay apple
 
adamjohn98 said:
Wow, definitely some promising info in there! How do you call to talk to these knowledgeable reps? Do you use 611, regular sales line, tech support? Everytime I call they tell me to go to apple.com.
Click to expand...

i called the 800 (or 888, i can't remember) number on the website, i put in my phone number, and it transfers me to business customer service since i have a business account (but pay for my own bill).
 
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