Buying iPhone as a gift

yg17 · Dec 4, 2012, 08:44 AM

My dad currently has a dumb phone and I'm getting him an iPhone 4S for his birthday in a couple weeks (he's an extra line on my family plan so I'm authorized to upgrade his phone). Does anyone know if it's possible to buy the iPhone at an Apple Store ahead of time but not activate it, so his current phone remains active until I give it to him and he turns on the iPhone for the first time and runs through the activation process?

If not, I presume I could order it online and it won't be activated until we turn it on? Obviously they can't activate it before shipping or else your current phone wouldn't work while it's in transit.

This is on AT&T btw

Thanks

vistadude · Dec 4, 2012, 07:28 PM

I asked the same questions at the AT&T store for an iphone gift. What they told me is they can definitely gift it, they will give it a temporary phone number and then your dad can later call and activate it. The only thing they couldn't guarantee is if he doesn't like the phone and returns it, there might be a restocking fee. The guy working at AT&T couldn't determine if they themselves have to open the seal on the box to temporarily activate it. I think it's silly because they could just give a temporary microsim separately but he said if they do it that way, it counts as another line and you have to pay another activation fee.

joeshmo2010 · Dec 4, 2012, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yg17

My dad currently has a dumb phone and I'm getting him an iPhone 4S for his birthday in a couple weeks (he's an extra line on my family plan so I'm authorized to upgrade his phone). Does anyone know if it's possible to buy the iPhone at an Apple Store ahead of time but not activate it, so his current phone remains active until I give it to him and he turns on the iPhone for the first time and runs through the activation process?

If not, I presume I could order it online and it won't be activated until we turn it on? Obviously they can't activate it before shipping or else your current phone wouldn't work while it's in transit.

This is on AT&T btw

Thanks

Just order one at AT&T.com or the apple store website and upgrade his line that way. It won't be activated until he turns it on when he opens it.

Dec 4, 2012, 08:44 AM	#1
yg17 macrumors G5 Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: St. Louis, MO	Buying iPhone as a gift My dad currently has a dumb phone and I'm getting him an iPhone 4S for his birthday in a couple weeks (he's an extra line on my family plan so I'm authorized to upgrade his phone). Does anyone know if it's possible to buy the iPhone at an Apple Store ahead of time but not activate it, so his current phone remains active until I give it to him and he turns on the iPhone for the first time and runs through the activation process? If not, I presume I could order it online and it won't be activated until we turn it on? Obviously they can't activate it before shipping or else your current phone wouldn't work while it's in transit. This is on AT&T btw Thanks
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Dec 4, 2012, 07:28 PM	#2
vistadude macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jan 2010	I asked the same questions at the AT&T store for an iphone gift. What they told me is they can definitely gift it, they will give it a temporary phone number and then your dad can later call and activate it. The only thing they couldn't guarantee is if he doesn't like the phone and returns it, there might be a restocking fee. The guy working at AT&T couldn't determine if they themselves have to open the seal on the box to temporarily activate it. I think it's silly because they could just give a temporary microsim separately but he said if they do it that way, it counts as another line and you have to pay another activation fee.
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