Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Count me in as a poor schmuck unable to activate on ATT. I picked up my phone around 11am EDT and no luck since then. Every now and again I'll start the process but with the same result every time. bleh, I want to play!
 
I got mine around 9am CDT and still haven't been able to activate it. :( :mad:

Hope it hurries up because I used my wife's upgrade and she's taking over my iPhone 4 until November 25th when my upgrade goes through. She needs to have a working phone today, but fortunately she doesn't have any morning appointments, nothing until 2pm. HURRY UP AT&T. This happens every year. You'd think that they would have it all figured out by now.

AND I WANT TO USE SIRI!!

You'd think that if this happens every year you would be the one to learn by now and wait until the evening to activate.
 
just plug it into tunes. i was having the same problem, but once i plugged it in, it worked on the first try.
NOTE: activate through itunes, not on the phone.
 
Last edited:
the dude at ATT told me to just keep an eye on the phone till the ATT logo came up in the carrier spot. I waited a few hours, nothing. Decided to go ahead and try the set up, and during the set up i was able to activate it. I turned off the WiFi and used the cellular network to do it. Did the same thing with my wife's phone. Restoring from backups as we speak.
 
Apple should follow the gsm standard like the rest of the world and reuse sim cards. Requiring anew card every time puts an insane and unneeded strain on the system.

That's only true if coming from iPhone 4, right? Other iPhones and folks migrating from other cell phones/carriers still need to activate. I would guess there are more of those than iPhone 4 migrations.
 
Actually, it is what many companies require.
Funny that you mention that. Why do you think Amazon has their "Elastic Cloud"? It's because they have to build out a huge infrastructure to handle the rush of Christmas shopping orders that occur just after Thanksgiving. It sits idle for the rest of the year, and they rent it out for additional revenue.

Good analogy, but one could make the argument that if Amazon's servers can't handle the peak load, they won't get business since people will shop elsewhere. Those trying to activate on AT&T are already locked into them, so the company already has your business, just may be delayed.

I'm with the others that say it's not fiscally responsible to build a system able to handle these loads 1 day a year. It would improve the user experience though if they looked at ways to handle the traffic better, such as the "Elastic Cloud" mentioned above.
 
I have 2 4S's here waiting to activate, stuck on the same screen - but one shows "No service" while the other has several bars (and both are connected to a WiFi network). Should I be concerned about the No Service message? What does everyone else's say while stuck on this screen?
 
Is it only AT&T that is suffering or are Verizon and Sprint iPhone 4S activations seeing the same problems as well?
 
I have 2 4S's here waiting to activate, stuck on the same screen - but one shows "No service" while the other has several bars (and both are connected to a WiFi network). Should I be concerned about the No Service message? What does everyone else's say while stuck on this screen?

I have two iPhones sitting next to each other. one an iPhone 4 and the other my new iPhone 4s, the 4s's cellular connection shows only one (1) bar while the old iPhone 4 shows four (4) bars.
 
Is it too much to ask that iPhone owners just wait a few hours?

Apparently. We live in the 'right now' culture, I guess.

The fact that many of these people went out their way just to get the phone on launch day should answer your question.
 
Not surprised

Wondering why everyone, at least most here, is surprised this is happening.
This will happen no matter how much AT&T, Verizon and Sprint prepare for the influx of account activations. This is all normal. Everyone needs to wait about a day or two, then it will activate just fine. OR, you can keep trying, but please, dont complain !

I have my new iPhone 4S waiting for me at home. I will wait and not get frustrated. Grow up guys.
 
Wondering why everyone, at least most here, is surprised this is happening.
This will happen no matter how much AT&T, Verizon and Sprint prepare for the influx of account activations. This is all normal. Everyone needs to wait about a day or two, then it will activate just fine. OR, you can keep trying, but please, dont complain !

I have my new iPhone 4S waiting for me at home. I will wait and not get frustrated. Grow up guys.

If these phones were free, we would have less of a reason to complain. However, we are paying OUR money for them and getting locked into a contract. If you want to pay our bill and for our phone, we will stop complaining. Until then, why don't you grow up!
 
That's only true if coming from iPhone 4, right? Other iPhones and folks migrating from other cell phones/carriers still need to activate. I would guess there are more of those than iPhone 4 migrations.

Prove your claim.
We know my claim that Apple puts a new sim in ever iPhone and that sim needs to be activated is a fact.
No matter how you cut it Apple requirement puts a massive unneeded strain on the system (upgraders)
 
Stop whining!

It happens every year! They sell hundreds of thousands of iPhones and it is the same thing every year People are activating them at the same time. The servers cannot handle it! That's what happens when you are early adapters to a new product. Get over it! Crybabies...
 
Come on people all of you can't activate your new phones at the same time. So lets all play nice and draw straws to see who goes first. :D

Sorry not trying to poke fun at anyone discomfort, but this always makes me laugh. Just take a deep breath and relax. In a few hours this will all pass.
 
just plug it into tunes. i was having the same problem, but once i plugged it in, it worked on the first try.
NOTE: activate through itunes, not on the phone.

Can anyone else confirm that this is the more reliable method to activate?
 
No surprise. Absolutely insane demand.

I'm not even sure if there is a way to prevent AT&T getting slammed when new iPhones are released. Not everyone can handle Apple's consumer load.

Sure there is, Apple should just let us reuse our existing SIMs.
 
Your activation is still pending. You will receive an email notification once your activation is complete.
We’re sorry. There was a problem connecting to the server. Please try again later.

This is maddening.. Way to go, at&t!

Didn't you know that AT&T stands for "Activation Torment and Torture"?
 
Anyone who is upset by this and has dealt with ATT launches in the past, I give you a thumbs up to the face. This is the least shocking news of the day.

For those that have never experienced an iPhone launch w/ ATT, I am truly sorry it has to be this way.

To Apple: Stop reusing sim cards. Thank you.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.