Carrier Question re preordering and new AT&T service

[Ilikechainrestaurants]

Hi all, I tried to ask this in a buried thread a few weeks ago but I'm not sure if my Q was very clear. I'm coming from a Nexus device on Project Fi, and want to move to AT&T for the 8 launch. As far as i can tell, options are

1. Buy unlocked for full price (no installments, I think) from Apple, then take it to AT&T once I get it to start the process of porting my number over.

2. Initiate service and buy directly through AT&T (not Apple); or

3. Switch to AT&T now, and buy an AT&T version through Apple at launch.

Does that sound accurate? I don't think I can initiate service and buy the iPhone through Apple, from what I can tell. From poking around here it looks like Option 2 is less reliable than going through Apple - is that true? Also, if anyone knows how much is involved in the porting/sim process in option 1, I'd appreciate it (do I need to go to a store?). Thank so much, I've learned a lot here.

 

[wxnats]

For option 1, you still need to select a carrier even if you purchase outright (at least I think!). I would not recommend option 2 - it seems that there are horror stories every year of people who preorder through AT&T instead of Apple. Option 3 would work - is your phone paid off and you’d be bringing that over?

Yes, if you sign up as a new customer, you can’t do AT&T Next but you could buy it outright and set up new service through Apple.com (I just tried this and it wouldn’t let me do Next but it said I could try another purchase option).

I would recommend moving to AT&T now, especially if you’d be bringing your phone over for the time being. Then you’d be able to preorder through Apple as an existing customer - and could sign up for Next, too if you wanted.

 

[Ilikechainrestaurants]

Thanks so much. I think that's the best option too since I'm dealing with awful service issues anyway.