Got to my local Apple Store at 6am (pacific). I was #63 in line.
Line started moving (to very loud cheers) at 7:55am.
Line moved very slowly for first 45 minutes. Then it started picking up.
Reached the front door of the Apple Store at roughly 9:00am.
Waited for 4-5 minutes in a short line inside the store.
Apple associate greeted me and escorted me to the back counter. Asked which iPhone I wanted (16GB Black please) and he pulled one out of a drawer and put it in a white iPhone bag and escorted me to a different counter.
Apple associate used his hand held scanner device to take my name and cell phone number and verify my account information. He had me sign for the changes to my AT&T account ($30 data plus $5 for 200 SMS). He then scanned various UPC numbers on the iPhone 3G box, put the iPhone back into the bag, and had me sign for the contract (which was E-mailed to me).
Associate escorted me to another associate who told me they were having problems with activation but they would give it a try. He unwrapped the iPhone box and let me remove the iPhone. I left the protective plastic on the iPhone 3G as he connected it to a Mac running iTunes.
After several minutes of "Accessing iTunes Store" on the screen, iTunes finally gave up with an error message. Associate told me I would have to finish activation when I got home.
Left the Apple Store with iPhone 3G in hand at approximately 9:10am.
In the car, my navigation display showed a connection to my (original) iPhone via Bluetooth but I had no network signal. That's when I realized I was without a cell phone of any kind. The iPhone 3G's serial number had already been assigned to my account (replacing the original iPhone) and, since the 3G wasn't activated yet, I was without phone service.
Arrived home at approximately 9:45am and immediately started trying to activate the iPhone 3G via iTunes. No luck for 10 attempts.
On the 11th attempt, while iTunes was still showing "Accessing iTunes Store", an SMS message from AT&T popped up on the iPhone 3G's screen. At that time, I could see I had cell service and all of the standard icons were on the home screen of the iPhone 3G. Basically, the phone sort of activated itself!
Just after that, I got the iTunes error message again. However....
On the next attempt to connect the iPhone 3G through iTunes I had success! iTunes prompted me to register my new iPhone 3G (I had to enter my iTunes account password) and then it asked if I wanted to restore from the backup of my original iPhone.
The restore from backup (of my original iPhone) took about 10-15 minutes. When it was finished, my iPhone 3G was 99.9% exactly how I had my original iPhone set up. The only exceptions were....
1) I had to manually set up Voicemail by selecting a password and creating a new greeting.
2) I had to enter my WiFi network password to join the network.
My new iPhone 3G was ready to go by just shy of 11am (pacific). That was about 1 hour and 15 minutes after I got home and only about 2 hours after I paid for the new iPhone 3G.
BTW, once I got the Welcome SMS message from AT&T, I had full cell service. I've already taken and made calls from my new iPhone 3G.
I LOVE the feel of the new iPhone 3G! It fits the hand much more comfortably. The plastic is "grippier" so it doesn't feel like I might drop it as easily. And there is most definitely an improvement in the sound quality!! Not really louder, but much cleaner and more full sounding!
No dead pixels!!
Lastly... you guys that think the screen is too yellow are NUTS! Yes, the iPhone 3G has a different color cast compared to the original. But it's not that the iPhone 3G is too yellow, it's that they original iPhone was WAY too blue! The new iPhone 3G is MUCH more color accurate! But then, I'm a serious amateur photographer with professionally calibrated displays so what the hell do I know?
Mark
Line started moving (to very loud cheers) at 7:55am.
Line moved very slowly for first 45 minutes. Then it started picking up.
Reached the front door of the Apple Store at roughly 9:00am.
Waited for 4-5 minutes in a short line inside the store.
Apple associate greeted me and escorted me to the back counter. Asked which iPhone I wanted (16GB Black please) and he pulled one out of a drawer and put it in a white iPhone bag and escorted me to a different counter.
Apple associate used his hand held scanner device to take my name and cell phone number and verify my account information. He had me sign for the changes to my AT&T account ($30 data plus $5 for 200 SMS). He then scanned various UPC numbers on the iPhone 3G box, put the iPhone back into the bag, and had me sign for the contract (which was E-mailed to me).
Associate escorted me to another associate who told me they were having problems with activation but they would give it a try. He unwrapped the iPhone box and let me remove the iPhone. I left the protective plastic on the iPhone 3G as he connected it to a Mac running iTunes.
After several minutes of "Accessing iTunes Store" on the screen, iTunes finally gave up with an error message. Associate told me I would have to finish activation when I got home.
Left the Apple Store with iPhone 3G in hand at approximately 9:10am.
In the car, my navigation display showed a connection to my (original) iPhone via Bluetooth but I had no network signal. That's when I realized I was without a cell phone of any kind. The iPhone 3G's serial number had already been assigned to my account (replacing the original iPhone) and, since the 3G wasn't activated yet, I was without phone service.
Arrived home at approximately 9:45am and immediately started trying to activate the iPhone 3G via iTunes. No luck for 10 attempts.
On the 11th attempt, while iTunes was still showing "Accessing iTunes Store", an SMS message from AT&T popped up on the iPhone 3G's screen. At that time, I could see I had cell service and all of the standard icons were on the home screen of the iPhone 3G. Basically, the phone sort of activated itself!
Just after that, I got the iTunes error message again. However.... On the next attempt to connect the iPhone 3G through iTunes I had success! iTunes prompted me to register my new iPhone 3G (I had to enter my iTunes account password) and then it asked if I wanted to restore from the backup of my original iPhone.
The restore from backup (of my original iPhone) took about 10-15 minutes. When it was finished, my iPhone 3G was 99.9% exactly how I had my original iPhone set up. The only exceptions were....
1) I had to manually set up Voicemail by selecting a password and creating a new greeting.
2) I had to enter my WiFi network password to join the network.
My new iPhone 3G was ready to go by just shy of 11am (pacific). That was about 1 hour and 15 minutes after I got home and only about 2 hours after I paid for the new iPhone 3G.
BTW, once I got the Welcome SMS message from AT&T, I had full cell service. I've already taken and made calls from my new iPhone 3G.
I LOVE the feel of the new iPhone 3G! It fits the hand much more comfortably. The plastic is "grippier" so it doesn't feel like I might drop it as easily. And there is most definitely an improvement in the sound quality!! Not really louder, but much cleaner and more full sounding!
No dead pixels!!
Lastly... you guys that think the screen is too yellow are NUTS!
Yes, the iPhone 3G has a different color cast compared to the original. But it's not that the iPhone 3G is too yellow, it's that they original iPhone was WAY too blue! The new iPhone 3G is MUCH more color accurate! But then, I'm a serious amateur photographer with professionally calibrated displays so what the hell do I know? Mark
