Slew of upgrading ?'s

[rye9]

1) I'm going to want to keep the same phone number I've got on my iPhone 3G... but the SIM can't be placed into the iPhone 4 obviously since it's a microSIM... I assume this is taken care of though when activating the iPhone 4?

2) I think I'd prefer to be one of the crazies in line at an Apple Store to buy my iPhone 4 with other Apple fanatics, than to have it come to my house where I have to activate via iTunes or whatever the process is. So, assuming I do go to the Apple Store, will THEY (not AT&T) be able to port my number?

3) What exactly happens to my old iPhone 3G at this point? Specifically, I'm on a family plan with my brother and mother, and say one of them wants to take my old 3G... so for a short while, is my iPhone literally an iPod touch? And then in order for them to get my old iPhone, what needs to be done? I assume that they'd take the SIM out of their old cell phone, and then place it in the iPhone 3G. What steps preceed/follow that?

4) My contacts will transfer over to my iPhone 4 I assume, but not all my texts? Not like it's a biggie, but I would find it kind of nice to be able to look back at the texts one day if possible. I won't cry if they don't transfer over.

5) If/when I give my old iPhone 3G to either my mom or brother... how do I go about clearing it. When they put it into iTunes, do they just "restore as new phone" or something? Or do I do that on my computer? And before of after the whole SIM/phone number transfer on the 3G?

Sorry for so many ?'s, but I hope this will be all I need to clamor about before I get my hands on the new iPhone

 

[ulbador]

1) I'm going to want to keep the same phone number I've got on my iPhone 3G... but the SIM can't be placed into the iPhone 4 obviously since it's a microSIM... I assume this is taken care of though when activating the iPhone 4?

Every time you get a new phone with AT&T you get a new SIM. The phone will come with a microSIM in it.

2) I think I'd prefer to be one of the crazies in line at an Apple Store to buy my iPhone 4 with other Apple fanatics, than to have it come to my house where I have to activate via iTunes or whatever the process is. So, assuming I do go to the Apple Store, will THEY (not AT&T) be able to port my number?

Whether you go to the Apple Store, activate it within iTunes at home or go to AT&T, the phone will have your old phone number. At some point during the signup/registration process it will collect your old number and associate the new phone with it. I'll be having my phone shipped so I don't have to wait in any lines.

3) What exactly happens to my old iPhone 3G at this point? Specifically, I'm on a family plan with my brother and mother, and say one of them wants to take my old 3G... so for a short while, is my iPhone literally an iPod touch? And then in order for them to get my old iPhone, what needs to be done? I assume that they'd take the SIM out of their old cell phone, and then place it in the iPhone 3G. What steps preceed/follow that?

It becomes an iPod touch. The existing SIM that is in it becomes invalid. If your mother/brother/whoever wants to use it, they need to pop in their SIM or request a new SIM from AT&T. Nothing proceeds or follows it. If you get a new SIM you have to call up AT&T and give them the number off the SIM before it will work.

4) My contacts will transfer over to my iPhone 4 I assume, but not all my texts? Not like it's a biggie, but I would find it kind of nice to be able to look back at the texts one day if possible. I won't cry if they don't transfer over.

I'm honestly not sure how this works, because I use MobileMe. I'm not sure if you can just restore a backup of the old phone. The contacts and everything else will transfer assuming that you have it set up to sync in iTunes.

5) If/when I give my old iPhone 3G to either my mom or brother... how do I go about clearing it. When they put it into iTunes, do they just "restore as new phone" or something? Or do I do that on my computer? And before of after the whole SIM/phone number transfer on the 3G?

Just set it up as a new phone in iTunes. The phone number is tied to the SIM, so it should activate and be good to go (though it'll probably add another data plan to your account)

 

[kas23]

It becomes an iPod touch. The existing SIM that is in it becomes invalid. If your mother/brother/whoever wants to use it, they need to pop in their SIM or request a new SIM from AT&T. Nothing proceeds or follows it. If you get a new SIM you have to call up AT&T and give them the number off the SIM before it will work.

I think it's unfair of AT&T not to unlock you old phone if you buy a new one. I would like to unlock my 3G so I can use it overseas when on vacation.

 

[ulbador]

I think it's unfair of AT&T not to unlock you old phone if you buy a new one. I would like to unlock my 3G so I can use it overseas when on vacation.

I think it's silly and a bit anti-competitive that they don't unlock iPhones in the US at all. Especially if you are one of those people who paid full price for an iPhone, you should be able to use it however you damned well please.

At least with the 3G and 3GS there SHOULD be an unlock available through dev-team or geohot shortly after the iPhone 4 is released. I believe they've said they actually already have one but want to hold out on it so Apple can't patch it.

 

[Geckotek]

4) My contacts will transfer over to my iPhone 4 I assume, but not all my texts? Not like it's a biggie, but I would find it kind of nice to be able to look back at the texts one day if possible. I won't cry if they don't transfer over.

If you choose to restore from iTunes, yes. If you choose to set it up as a new phone, your texts and app data/prefs will not restore. But you can re-sync w/ whatever you choose to sync your contacts w/ before to get them back.

5) If/when I give my old iPhone 3G to either my mom or brother... how do I go about clearing it. When they put it into iTunes, do they just "restore as new phone" or something? Or do I do that on my computer? And before of after the whole SIM/phone number transfer on the 3G?

You can fatory restore which will wipe the data. If you like, you can perform a wipe to fully clean it (takes a couple of hours).

Please take a moment to read through our upgrade guide.

I think it's unfair of AT&T not to unlock you old phone if you buy a new one. I would like to unlock my 3G so I can use it overseas when on vacation.

I think it's silly and a bit anti-competitive that they don't unlock iPhones in the US at all. Especially if you are one of those people who paid full price for an iPhone, you should be able to use it however you damned well please.

At least with the 3G and 3GS there SHOULD be an unlock available through dev-team or geohot shortly after the iPhone 4 is released. I believe they've said they actually already have one but want to hold out on it so Apple can't patch it.

Agreed 100%.

 

[dach2k3]

These answers and the FAQ answer most of my questions as well. Just to clarify let me see if i get this straight.

I have an iphone 3g. My wife has an original iPhone.

If i pre-order online 2 phones from apple, i can go in on the 24th and pick up our phones. I am the primary account holder. I will be able to activate both phones will i am there. She has the old $20 unlimited plan and I have the $30 unlimited data plan and $5 for 200 texts plan. I will have to upgrade her plan, but i can choose the same unlimited $30 plan but will have to get her a text plan as well.

If I sync our phones the night before I will be able to backup our contacts and her music? Those are the 2 things i care about the most. I have no music on my phone so i don't care about that.

My mom might be interested in my old 3g, so I would probably take care of that later as I would have to go to an ATT store to do that.

Am I missing anything here?

 

[maflynn]

I think it's unfair of AT&T not to unlock you old phone if you buy a new one.

Fairness has nothing to do with it, in fact business is rarely fair. I'm not disagreeing with you, just that I'd not expect them to do that out of the niceness of their hearts (if they had a heart )

 

[Geckotek]

These answers and the FAQ answer most of my questions as well. Just to clarify let me see if i get this straight.

I have an iphone 3g. My wife has an original iPhone.

If i pre-order online 2 phones from apple, i can go in on the 24th and pick up our phones. I am the primary account holder. I will be able to activate both phones will i am there. She has the old $20 unlimited plan and I have the $30 unlimited data plan and $5 for 200 texts plan. I will have to upgrade her plan, but i can choose the same unlimited $30 plan but will have to get her a text plan as well.

If I sync our phones the night before I will be able to backup our contacts and her music? Those are the 2 things i care about the most. I have no music on my phone so i don't care about that.

My mom might be interested in my old 3g, so I would probably take care of that later as I would have to go to an ATT store to do that.

Am I missing anything here?

Nope, looks like you have it covered. Except that the music only syncs from the iPhone to iTunes if it was purchased from iTunes on the phone. If you buy on the PC, sync to the phone, then delete from the PC, your out of luck.

 

[tknice]

If i pre-order online 2 phones from apple, i can go in on the 24th and pick up our phones.

This is what I am trying to decide. If we preorder online, I think the Apple store will call you to make an appt, which may or may not be on the 24th. It all depends on where you live and what the volume there is like. If we have it sent home, does that mean it will be shipped out on the 24th and then take several days to arrive?

Not sure...

 

[Geckotek]

This is what I am trying to decide. If we preorder online, I think the Apple store will call you to make an appt, which may or may not be on the 24th. It all depends on where you live and what the volume there is like. If we have it sent home, does that mean it will be shipped out on the 24th and then take several days to arrive?

Not sure...

Last year Apple had 2 lines, "Reserved" and not reserved. I'm not sure about pre-ordering from Apple and picking up at the store. Haven't see that done.

Reserving does not utlize their appt process. You stand in line and first come first served.

 

[agjake01]

Any reason you can't just unlock your 3G before you pull your sim and switch to the 4G? JBing wasn't that hard, unlocking was just one more button if I remember correct...

 

[dach2k3]

ok, now i am a bit confused... Reserved was not the same thing as pre-ordered?

I want to surprise my wife, so i am going to take that day off and not tell her. head to the apple store to get our phones and then head back home with the surprise. I don't mind waiting but i want to make sure i get them that day since i will have to ask for the day off shortly.

I also just printed out the apple guides to backing up your phone and upgrading from an old iphone to a newer one and how to keep the old info.

My wife has bought all her music from itunes so that issue isn't a problem.

 

[djransom]

These answers and the FAQ answer most of my questions as well. Just to clarify let me see if i get this straight.

I have an iphone 3g. My wife has an original iPhone.

If i pre-order online 2 phones from apple, i can go in on the 24th and pick up our phones. I am the primary account holder. I will be able to activate both phones will i am there. She has the old $20 unlimited plan and I have the $30 unlimited data plan and $5 for 200 texts plan. I will have to upgrade her plan, but i can choose the same unlimited $30 plan but will have to get her a text plan as well.

If I sync our phones the night before I will be able to backup our contacts and her music? Those are the 2 things i care about the most. I have no music on my phone so i don't care about that.

My mom might be interested in my old 3g, so I would probably take care of that later as I would have to go to an ATT store to do that.

Am I missing anything here?

She will not be able to obtain $30 unlimited data plan and may be forced to select one of the new data plans @ the $15 & $25 price point. I could be wrong, but AT&T only made mention of those with the $30 price point prior to June 7th being grandfathered in though.

 

[tknice]

Last year Apple had 2 lines, "Reserved" and not reserved. I'm not sure about pre-ordering from Apple and picking up at the store. Haven't see that done.

Reserving does not utlize their appt process. You stand in line and first come first served.

and you print out and bring in your "pre-order" page from the website?

I know for sure that the apple store in my area was giving out appointment cards to people once they were confirmed eligible so they could come back and not have to wait in line. I think it also "held" a phone for them as well, but I'm not 100% certain of that.

 

[Geckotek]

She will not be able to obtain $30 unlimited data plan and may be forced to select one of the new data plans @ the $15 & $25 price point. I could be wrong, but AT&T only made mention of those with the $30 price point prior to June 7th being grandfathered in though.

Nope, the $20 original iPhone plan is grandfathered as well.

 

[djransom]

Nope, the $20 original iPhone plan is grandfathered as well.

Good info