How does the activation process work when the iPhone is delivered home?

[zooby]

.

 

[duaneu]

Yes, yes and yes.

 

[Appl3FTW]

This is the first time I will have my iPhone delivered to my house, and I was just wondering how the activation process works. It says on the Apple website that all I have to do is turn it on and it will be activated... So does this mean I don't have to switch the sim card from my old phone? Will my 5S be automatically deactivated once I activate my 6+? And what if I want to give my phone to a family member - in this case, do I switch *their* sim card to my old 5s?

No, the phone comes reinstalled with a new sim, just turn it in and proceed with the setup.

Yes

Yes just swap their sim to your old 5s

 

[Ladybug]

Good question OP. What if your sim is the wrong size? My phone uses a micro sim not a nano so how does that work? Thanks

 

[CEmajr]

Good question OP. What if your sim is the wrong size? My phone uses a micro sim not a nano so how does that work? Thanks

Call your carrier and give the sim card number of the one that came with your new phone and they can switch your service to the new sim card over the phone.

 

[wxman2003]

Since you have a 5S and it has a nano sim, and if you want to make it easy for yourself, just switch nano sim from 5S to your 6, then turn on your phone. I never use a new sim unless it is a different size. If you use new sim, and it fails to activate properly, then you will have no phone you can use until your carrier figures it out. Your old sim becomes invalid if you try to use new one as it ties to your phone number. Use the one that you know that works.

 

[Ladybug]

Call your carrier and give the sim card number of the one that came with your new phone and they can switch your service to the new sim card over the phone.

Thank you so much.

 

[ecschwarz]

I found that Apple used a different numbering scheme for the nano SIM in the 6/6 Plus than the 5/5s/5c because it had some authorization for NFC. I haven't looked into the specifics, but this is why some people who used an old nano SIM they brought over from a prior phone received automated text messages from AT&T's system to get a new one.

That being said, I had it shipped to my home - basically went through the steps to set it up (I did an iTunes backup from my 5, restore to my 6 - old-school style) and it activated. I had to turn off both and when I powered them back on, my 6 was up and running and my 5 had 'No Service'. At-home activations are pretty easy, as long as it's not the first day people have them.

 

[zooby]

.

 

[ecschwarz]

Actually, I want to give my 5S to a family member who had a 5... Does the 5 also have a nano sim?

Yep - they can just take their 5 SIM and put it in a 5S with no issue.

 

[wxman2003]

I found that Apple used a different numbering scheme for the nano SIM in the 6/6 Plus than the 5/5s/5c because it had some authorization for NFC. I haven't looked into the specifics, but this is why some people who used an old nano SIM they brought over from a prior phone received automated text messages from AT&T's system to get a new one.

That being said, I had it shipped to my home - basically went through the steps to set it up (I did an iTunes backup from my 5, restore to my 6 - old-school style) and it activated. I had to turn off both and when I powered them back on, my 6 was up and running and my 5 had 'No Service'. At-home activations are pretty easy, as long as it's not the first day people have them.

AT&T did that with many phones for NFC but that really only pertained to android devices. Apple's NFC chip does not require an NFC sim card like android devices do. ApplePay will work perfectly without a sim installed. The new sim for the iphone may have been needed for other services. My Verizon iPhone 6 plus did not need a new sim. Used the sim that was in my 5, and then put that in my 5S and when I got the 6 used that same sim for my new phone.

 

[ecschwarz]

AT&T did that with many phones for NFC but that really only pertained to android devices. Apple's NFC chip does not require an NFC sim card like android devices do. ApplePay will work perfectly without a sim installed. The new sim for the iphone may have been needed for other services. My Verizon iPhone 6 plus did not need a new sim. Used the sim that was in my 5, and then put that in my 5S and when I got the 6 used that same sim for my new phone.

Yeah - it was my understanding that they didn't need to have a special one for NFC (unlike the Android phones that did), but people were getting constant texts to swap SIMs - I asked when I went with a friend who went 5->6 with a SIM swap, followed by the texts and all the person at the AT&T Store said that they provisioned the 6 differently. Either way, I'm guessing that's why Verizon (and other carriers?) didn't have this requirement.