Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Become Upgrade Eligible for iPhone 3G?

haha. How about this?

If I have two accounts, do I need two iPhones to try to do this, or do you think it will work to do the "iPhone Switcheroo" twice in a row with two different SIMs?

BTW, can I patent the phrase? :)
 
any fees associated with doing this?

If I use my buddy's iphone with my sim card to activate an iphone onto my account, will there be any activation fees associated with this? Then, after he puts his sim card back in, will he have to pay another activation fee?
 
There should only be a $18 or a $36 charge for a new signing of a contract through itunes. I upgraded my iphone about 6 months back, but i dont remember how much the new signing of the contract cost. But there should be no problem with your buddys phone after you activate your sim card. All you have to do on itunes is put existing customer, and then just add the $20 data bundle for that phone number. Then on friday, at&t will see that you have the iphone data plan already, and it will let you upgrade.
 
toromac said:
If I use my buddy's iphone with my sim card to activate an iphone onto my account, will there be any activation fees associated with this?
Click to expand...

Look at the old posts - I didn't recall an upgrade fee for the original iPhone.

toromac said:
Then, after he puts his sim card back in, will he have to pay another activation fee?
Click to expand...

Probably not - but according to the other posts, you have until July 10th. On the 11th, all iPhones are considered hand-me-downs.
 
Wow not a whole lot of people with principles in this forum.

I guess they believe that anything goes if they hate AT&T or if the company is rich. Robin Hood all over again but serving self and not the poor.
 
SINCE PPL DONT READ POSTS ILL POST THIS AGAIN

I can verify that this WILL WORK. Ive just done it with my wifes phone. She really wanted an iPhone as well, but since we upgraded her phone less than a year ago she doesnt qualify. I removed her sim card and placed it in my iPhone, went through the activation process on itunes that added the data plan. After doing so and returning to my account online at ATT.com it now shows her phone as an iPhone and is Now eligible for the upgrade like mine has shown all along. SO I CAN CONFIRM THAT THIS INDEED WORKS. As long as they see an iphone plan active on that number thats all they need. They dont care if it was done on July 10th as long as it was before July 11th. Who are they to prove that i dont own 2 iPhones? This works and i even called the ATT store to ask a rep if my wifes line (now active with my old iphone ) qualifys and they said yes and line with an iphone plan activated prior to July 11th gets the 199/299 price. CASE CLOSED.
 
futurecaptain said:
I guarantee that this will not work. Do people really think that AT&T hasn't thought of this like 3 months ago?? Come on people... I'm guessing that AT&T are going to look at who owned the phone at the original purchase and if they see that you just activated it a month ago I'm sure they will have something against that. You don't need the iphone when it comes out so why not just wait?? I waited after the first released and now this one is out which is cheaper and better....
Click to expand...

Let's think about this for a minute. First of all, why would ATT keep track of who has owned what iPhone? That would be a waste of space in their database and would yield very little usable information for them (do a little cost-benefit comparison). Second, the upgrade exception for current iPhone owners has created a bit of a conundrum for ATT because it is uncharted territory for them, at least on this scale. A loophole was bound to appear somewhere because it is a new process. You are absolutely correct that if ATT was loosing a substantial amount of money via this loophole, it would not exist. It seems apparent that it does exist because many have reported the change in their upgrade status. So the assumption must be that ATT is not really giving up that much by allowing this loophole to continue, which makes sense given they gross something like 11 billion a year. Waiting is fine for those of us who just don't care about technology that much. And there are those who will wait even with the knowledge of the loophole. It could be a moral dilemma for some. I can assure you that when you are in line to upgrade your iPhone, no one is going to take a detailed look at your account. It would not make much sense for ATT to invest what it would take to change their upgrade eligibility systems just to ensure they capture the extra 200 dollars from the few of us who have to pay it. Bottom line, whether you were an iPhone subscriber for one day or one year, it won't matter to the person across the table because it is ultimately not their money. Frankly, (and no offense to anyone who might work for ATT) my own personal experience tells me that in order to work for ATT at the actual customer service/store level, intelligence is not a prerequisite.;) They need to get you in and out as quickly as possible.
 
to dannyar

Were you charged any fees for doing all of this? And after you put your sim back in your iphone did you have to reactivate?
 
toromac said:
Were you charged any fees for doing all of this? And after you put your sim back in your iphone did you have to reactivate?
Click to expand...

I was not charged anything since all i was really doing was adding the $20 data plan to my wifes plan since we have a family share plan. On top of that i sold my original iphone so theres no need to put my sim back in the iphone. it worked flawlessly and now reflects so on Myaccount on ATT.com. I even called to confirm and the simple system they use to check eligibility is the same one we have access to on our account as i was told by the rep. Her words exactly " If your account shows you upgrade eligible thats all you need to know since its essentially the same thing we check here. As long as the line or lines that are being upgraded are under iPhone plans prior to July 11th, you qualify for the 199/299 upgrades".

Most of you are making this very difficult when its very simple to comprehend. You have an active iphone plan prior to july 11th and you get it. They dont care if you have the actual phone with you or not. you think they are going to force everyone to bring their current iphone to the store? No. Me like everyone else will say they didnt bring it since they dont need to swap out the sim, they use a new sim, or you gave the phone to your wife,etc.
 
AT&T is not "being nice"...

TXCraig said:
People always try to scam people. AT&T is being real nice to allow us to upgrade while we are still under contact. Now people will try to scam the system and try to get something for nothing.
Click to expand...

If AT&T were being nice they'd do exactly what Steve Jobs said: sell the iPhone for $199 & $299 to all customers in the US. AT&T still makes their subsidy back in monthly charges. But what about those AT&T customers who just upgraded and received a subsidy on another kind of phone? Well those customers are required to turn in that subsidized phone in exchange for the iPhone. Those phones would be sold as refurbs or donated for a tax write off.

BUT AT&T is not "being nice" so they're going to charge $399 & $499 to their existing customers who'll likely jump ship when the iPhone is opened up to other carriers eventually.

NOTE TO AT&T: BE NICE!
 
dannyar said:
SINCE PPL DONT READ POSTS ILL POST THIS AGAIN

I can verify that this WILL WORK. Ive just done it with my wifes phone. She really wanted an iPhone as well, but since we upgraded her phone less than a year ago she doesnt qualify. I removed her sim card and placed it in my iPhone, went through the activation process on itunes that added the data plan. After doing so and returning to my account online at ATT.com it now shows her phone as an iPhone and is Now eligible for the upgrade like mine has shown all along. SO I CAN CONFIRM THAT THIS INDEED WORKS. As long as they see an iphone plan active on that number thats all they need. They dont care if it was done on July 10th as long as it was before July 11th. Who are they to prove that i dont own 2 iPhones? This works and i even called the ATT store to ask a rep if my wifes line (now active with my old iphone ) qualifys and they said yes and line with an iphone plan activated prior to July 11th gets the 199/299 price. CASE CLOSED.
Click to expand...


That's it guys!
Why do you guys keep arguing if it's possible or not after this post?

The question is, as somebody else pointed it out: "Are you that desperate to get an iPhone this Friday?"
What if the battery life sucks? What if the screen is worst than the first iPhone? It happened before with the video iPods.
I guess I was impatient too, but the more I think of it the more I feel like a slave. I'm going to wait until my account is good in November and probably a little more, like after January announcements.
I'm sure I'll get a better memory in January and the phone will be tested enough to get something solid and durable.
Not to mention the fact that I will have saved $200 on my phone bill by then.

My 2 cents (per sms...)
 
I had an iPhone, but was eligible for an upgrade, so I used it to get a USB data device. For a week or so it showed my account as "eligible for upgrade on 6/15/10" (2 years from when I got the USB device). When they changed their eligibility phrase to include the iPhone information, my line got reset and says I'm currently eligible for an equipment upgrade! I'm guessing this is for the same reason as the original article. I still have my iPhone Unlimited + 200 texts $20 data plan on the line and AT&T must have done a sweep of their accounts when they changed the phrase and just said anyone with this plan must be eligible.

Also, I used the USB device to connect my laptop to their 3G network and just got last month's bill...seems 3G traffic gets included in the original iPhone $20 data plan so I'm really hoping I can keep it, but I know I probably can't, once I get the 3G. I just found it interesting that I got to upgrade my device and it reset to eligible a week later. Technically the website will let me upgrade my device again if I wanted to, and our device activation is waved on this account because of our corporate FAN, so I don't lose anything with new "free" devices.
 
Question about prepping my att number for the 3g upgrade.

Wife has an iphone, I have a cheap go phone with my att sim card (waiting for iphone 3g).

My number is not eligible for upgrade, her's is (checked on ATT.com). If I put my sim card into her iphone and "activate it" in itunes can I just put her card back in afterwards and have it work as normal or do I need to "re-activate" her sim card in the iphone? Will this screw up her use of the old iphone / account?

Also, I assume that I will need to leave my sim card "iphone friendly" and not put it back in my go phone. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance.
 
algernon said:
Question about prepping my att number for the 3g upgrade.

Wife has an iphone, I have a cheap go phone with my att sim card (waiting for iphone 3g).

My number is not eligible for upgrade, her's is (checked on ATT.com). If I put my sim card into her iphone and "activate it" in itunes can I just put her card back in afterwards and have it work as normal or do I need to "re-activate" her sim card in the iphone? Will this screw up her use of the old iphone / account?

Also, I assume that I will need to leave my sim card "iphone freindly" and not put it back in my go phone. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

This seems to be the question...can someone who has actually done it answer?
 
algernon said:
Question about prepping my att number for the 3g upgrade.

Wife has an iphone, I have a cheap go phone with my att sim card (waiting for iphone 3g).

My number is not eligible for upgrade, her's is (checked on ATT.com). If I put my sim card into her iphone and "activate it" in itunes can I just put her card back in afterwards and have it work as normal or do I need to "re-activate" her sim card in the iphone? Will this screw up her use of the old iphone / account?

Also, I assume that I will need to leave my sim card "iphone friendly" and not put it back in my go phone. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

No you will not have to reactive your wifes sim card once placed back into the iphone.
 
algernon said:
Also, I assume that I will need to leave my sim card "iphone friendly" and not put it back in my go phone. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

I'd like to know the answer to this as well. Once I add the iPhone data plan to my account using a friend's iPhone, can I put my SIM card back into my own (non-iPhone) phone?
 
loudasthesun said:
I'd like to know the answer to this as well. Once I add the iPhone data plan to my account using a friend's iPhone, can I put my SIM card back into my own (non-iPhone) phone?
Click to expand...

Sure, but you will get a text message for each voicemail and no MMS.
 
loudasthesun said:
I'd like to know the answer to this as well. Once I add the iPhone data plan to my account using a friend's iPhone, can I put my SIM card back into my own (non-iPhone) phone?
Click to expand...

I can confirm that you can. If you read above i posted my experience in doing this. I activated my wifes non iphone sim card on my iphone to make her line eligible. After doing so i was able to put her sim card back in her regular non iphone and it works perfectly. We both now are without iphones since i sold mine in prep for the 3g and both our phones still work perfectly and ATT shows us as eligible and both owning Iphones.IT WORKS
 
dannyar said:
I can confirm that you can. If you read above i posted my experience in doing this. I activated my wifes non iphone sim card on my iphone to make her line eligible. After doing so i was able to put her sim card back in her regular non iphone and it works perfectly. We both now are without iphones since i sold mine in prep for the 3g and both our phones still work perfectly and ATT shows us as eligible and both owning Iphones.IT WORKS
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot, dannyar.

I'm borrowing a buddy's iPhone tonight and definitely going to try this.
 
toromac said:
If I use my buddy's iphone with my sim card to activate an iphone onto my account, will there be any activation fees associated with this? Then, after he puts his sim card back in, will he have to pay another activation fee?
Click to expand...

there's the $18 activation fee for your 1st gen iphone and then another $18 activation fee for the 3G iPhone which you would presumably buy shortly thereafter.
 
Be careful of IMEI tracking

Be careful, because AT&T probably records the IMEI of the phone and then when the actual owner comes to upgrade they will be out of luck (or worse)...

A buddy of mine used to work in the wireless biz, and told me that IMEI number is the golden rule for determining what a customer really has. He used to have customers try to bring in a different trashed phone to several stores over several days to "upgrade" using the same SIM card in each phone they got busted every time because the IMEI number is tracked along side your phone number.

If you register service with someone else's iPhone, you run the risk of disassociating their number with their IMEI number... which after one billing cycle will get rectified and their account canceled.
 
chayner said:
Be careful, because AT&T probably records the IMEI of the phone and then when the actual owner comes to upgrade they will be out of luck (or worse)...

A buddy of mine used to work in the wireless biz, and told me that IMEI number is the golden rule for determining what a customer really has. He used to have customers try to bring in a different trashed phone to several stores over several days to "upgrade" using the same SIM card in each phone they got busted every time because the IMEI number is tracked along side your phone number.

If you register service with someone else's iPhone, you run the risk of disassociating their number with their IMEI number... which after one billing cycle will get rectified and their account canceled.
Click to expand...

thanks for making me poop my pants. i had my sim in my brothers iphone and was about to start the activation process till i read your post. i think ill play it safe and pay the $499. Ill regret paying the extra $200 until i turn on my very first apple product (never owned an ipod or mac) and realize, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!!!!!!
 
chayner said:
Be careful, because AT&T probably records the IMEI of the phone and then when the actual owner comes to upgrade they will be out of luck (or worse)...

A buddy of mine used to work in the wireless biz, and told me that IMEI number is the golden rule for determining what a customer really has. He used to have customers try to bring in a different trashed phone to several stores over several days to "upgrade" using the same SIM card in each phone they got busted every time because the IMEI number is tracked along side your phone number.

If you register service with someone else's iPhone, you run the risk of disassociating their number with their IMEI number... which after one billing cycle will get rectified and their account canceled.
Click to expand...


Yea I was gonna do this too. I think I had better just hold out.
 
ceuyan: Can you prove that ATT keeps track of the IMEI? And if that is the case can you just have your friend lend you the iphone during the activation process?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back