I'm the account holder on an AT&T family plan (that my two parents and sister are on with me) with a few lines that are ready to upgrade to newer iPhones and I had a couple of questions because I have never bought an iPhone on launch day or pre-ordered and it has been a little while since the last time I bought an iPhone and I'm curious if things work the same (not that I'm sure I remember how that went).
My first iPhone was a 3G I bought for myself at the AppleStore where I started a new contract with AT&T (left for T-Mobile a few years prior and had a horrible time there) and activated in the storethat was nice and easy. Later when I converted my plan to a family plan at an AT&T store I picked up another iPhone 3G for my dad.
The following year, as the contract holder, I was going to place the order for a 3GS for my sister. I seem to remember first going to the Apple website to place the order, but either having trouble placing the order/extending the contract on a family plan or that it was unclear to me how things were working so I decided to order with AT&T. When ordering with AT&T, my only optionas far as I could tellwas to have the iPhone 3GS shipped to my address (which was no problem as it was a Christmas present so she didn't need it at her address anyway). So there is my first question: are there any differences between ordering from Apple vs AT&T? I need (find want) to per-order myself a new iPhone whatever is released so I get it on release as I'm traveling shortly after when I'm guessing it will be releasedalso want to stop using this slow 3G with a dying battery. Also, if I order from Apple, am I able to order to a different address than my AT&T billing address? I'd like to have it ordered to the address that is the billing address of my credit card, which is not the billing address of my AT&T account (I'm a musician/composer/programmer who travels a lot). I've read some things about people changing their shipping address after placing a preorder, but I wonder if my situation is more complicated with my credit card billing being different than my AT&T billing (it wasn't when I ordered with AT&T, but don't know about apple). Do you think I'll be able to order this to my current address (if there are preorders of course) or have any of you had order problems with address stuff like that and am I better off going to the store on launch day to try to get one?
I was also wondering about purchases in-store. Do they still do the activation in-store or is that done at home with iTunes like when you order an iPhone? If the activation is done at home, is the new contract period extended when you activate with iTunes or when you buy the phone in the Apple Store? I'm curious about trying to call AT&T to give my sister authorization to pick up a new iPhone at an Apple Store.
I know most of this might be available by searching, but I saw some conflicting posts and some info might be outdated so I wanted a fresh opinion.
Thanks!
My first iPhone was a 3G I bought for myself at the AppleStore where I started a new contract with AT&T (left for T-Mobile a few years prior and had a horrible time there) and activated in the storethat was nice and easy. Later when I converted my plan to a family plan at an AT&T store I picked up another iPhone 3G for my dad.
The following year, as the contract holder, I was going to place the order for a 3GS for my sister. I seem to remember first going to the Apple website to place the order, but either having trouble placing the order/extending the contract on a family plan or that it was unclear to me how things were working so I decided to order with AT&T. When ordering with AT&T, my only optionas far as I could tellwas to have the iPhone 3GS shipped to my address (which was no problem as it was a Christmas present so she didn't need it at her address anyway). So there is my first question: are there any differences between ordering from Apple vs AT&T? I need (find want) to per-order myself a new iPhone whatever is released so I get it on release as I'm traveling shortly after when I'm guessing it will be releasedalso want to stop using this slow 3G with a dying battery. Also, if I order from Apple, am I able to order to a different address than my AT&T billing address? I'd like to have it ordered to the address that is the billing address of my credit card, which is not the billing address of my AT&T account (I'm a musician/composer/programmer who travels a lot). I've read some things about people changing their shipping address after placing a preorder, but I wonder if my situation is more complicated with my credit card billing being different than my AT&T billing (it wasn't when I ordered with AT&T, but don't know about apple). Do you think I'll be able to order this to my current address (if there are preorders of course) or have any of you had order problems with address stuff like that and am I better off going to the store on launch day to try to get one?
I was also wondering about purchases in-store. Do they still do the activation in-store or is that done at home with iTunes like when you order an iPhone? If the activation is done at home, is the new contract period extended when you activate with iTunes or when you buy the phone in the Apple Store? I'm curious about trying to call AT&T to give my sister authorization to pick up a new iPhone at an Apple Store.
I know most of this might be available by searching, but I saw some conflicting posts and some info might be outdated so I wanted a fresh opinion.
Thanks!