Where did you read this? Has O2 made any official statements on this matter? I'm just curious.
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Upgrade to 16GB iPhone Without Extending Contract
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Where did you read this? Has O2 made any official statements on this matter? I'm just curious.
I was within my 14 day return policy with o2 so I went into the store today to ask about upgrading.
I took my iphone in and was able to pay the £60 (thankfully I didn't have to pay apple's restocking fees) for the upgrade and the guy took my current sim out and put it in the new 16gb iphone. All i had to do was activate the new iphone through itunes with my current o2 account and number. It's working fine.
So with o2 at least, you don't have to start a new o2 contract just to upgrade to the 16gb iphone.
Hope this helps at least some queries on the matter.
I took my iphone in and was able to pay the £60 (thankfully I didn't have to pay apple's restocking fees) for the upgrade and the guy took my current sim out and put it in the new 16gb iphone. All i had to do was activate the new iphone through itunes with my current o2 account and number. It's working fine.
So with o2 at least, you don't have to start a new o2 contract just to upgrade to the 16gb iphone.
Hope this helps at least some queries on the matter.
To you, maybe. My iPhone's still in perfect condition. $200 for 8 more GB? I'll pass and wait for 2.0.
$200 for 8 GB?
Hmmm, I still have a 4GB phone. I probably couldn't give it away on ebay. Well, maybe in another year I'll just cave and get whatever version is available then. maybe it'll make coffee and I can sell my Keurig on ebay.
Hmmm, I still have a 4GB phone. I probably couldn't give it away on ebay. Well, maybe in another year I'll just cave and get whatever version is available then. maybe it'll make coffee and I can sell my Keurig on ebay.
Yeah. For you and anybody else reading this, the answer is simple: you don't HAVE to "activate" the phone by signing a new contract with AT&T. There are ways around it, and they are well worth it. This "default" way is just for those who are either too lazy to figure out how to get around it, or too rich to care.
I'm fine with people being either of those, or a combination of the two, but I thought I'd help get the word out.
my brother busted his iphone and went out and bought a new one. as far as i know he did not have to start the 2 year contract (that he already put months into) over.
Why does AT&T have to overcomplicate such a simple thing?
Just let us switch the SIMs. Or Apple could just give iTunes the ability to deactivate and reactivate. Say I own an 8GB iPhone now, and go out and buy a 16GB. I should be able to plug the 16GB in and have the options presented in such a way as:
- New Customer, Sign Contract
- Existing Customer
- Existing iPhone user, deactivate previous and upgrade.
This would make life a whole lot easier. Perhaps this is how it's handled, but who really knows for sure? It'd be interesting to learn.
Just let us switch the SIMs. Or Apple could just give iTunes the ability to deactivate and reactivate. Say I own an 8GB iPhone now, and go out and buy a 16GB. I should be able to plug the 16GB in and have the options presented in such a way as:
- New Customer, Sign Contract
- Existing Customer
- Existing iPhone user, deactivate previous and upgrade.
This would make life a whole lot easier. Perhaps this is how it's handled, but who really knows for sure? It'd be interesting to learn.
my wife wants an iphone and i'd love to give her my 8GB and get the 16GB, but i called ATT and they said that we'd have to start a new contract from the date of purchase of the new unit.
Are you on a family plan? If so, it's all the same contract. Does she have an ATT phone? If so, the contract is what is paying for it, and just like the iPhone, she should be able to UPGRADE that phone to an iPhone, since the iPhone isn't subsidized.
They should let you do it if she currently has an ATT acct. Seems logical to me. The only reason for making people sign a new contract is because they're buying a subsidized phone. Otherwise people would just get a new $50 phone every month (which actually costs ATT $300) and ATT would lose their shirt.
Heres a thought...
Rather than buy a new 16GB iPhone and swap your existing sim card into it which then leaves you with two iPhones, cant you just open your existing 8GB iPhone and upgrade the memory to 16GB?
How have Apple done it? It is still essentially the same phone as the 8GB version but with extra memory. It must be a simple process though... something like an extra 8GB flash chip inserted? Is there not a third-party company that produces memory that can be inserted manually by the user?
I am not an iPhone owner and have not see what it is like inside. So apologies if my thoughts are way off track.
Rather than buy a new 16GB iPhone and swap your existing sim card into it which then leaves you with two iPhones, cant you just open your existing 8GB iPhone and upgrade the memory to 16GB?
How have Apple done it? It is still essentially the same phone as the 8GB version but with extra memory. It must be a simple process though... something like an extra 8GB flash chip inserted? Is there not a third-party company that produces memory that can be inserted manually by the user?
I am not an iPhone owner and have not see what it is like inside. So apologies if my thoughts are way off track.
But what's the downside to activating? If you sign a "new" contract, but it doesn't extend any longer than your original 24 months would have, who cares? What's the point of subverting that?
Considering the memory is most likely soldered in and they probably are using the same number of chips with double capacity per chip so that the actual board layout is the same, I'm pretty sure that a self-service upgrade would exceed all but the most hardcord modders' willingness to rip apart and reassemble their iPhone.
Very simple answer to the "why can't I just swap SIMs" question, this is from high up the Apple Corporate chain, and related to problems with activation I had with a replacement iPhone: You can't swap SIMs from once iPhone to *brand new* one because Apple has whitelists of iPhone IMEI numbers on their end of things. When you activate a new iPhone, it doesn't only talk to AT&T - more importantly, it talks to Apple. In other words, if there's no record of the brand new iPhone on Apple's end, it won't work with your current SIM (unless you unlock the hardware, of course).
Situations like this really show how awful Apple's tactics with this phone are. You purchase the phone at 499 dollars, and are forced into a two year agreement. Now if you want to upgrade the phone, you purchase a new phone at another 499 dollars. They do the minimal in backdating the contract, but your old phone is a 499 dollar paperweight at that point. Apple should have the decency to unlock the damn thing at that point.
Thing is, what can you do with the old phone as it's still locked to the Sim that's in it, yet that sim is now invalid. Can you sell it and have someone apply for an iPhone sim-card for it?
Otherwise it's going to be a bloody expensive upgrade, £269 down for your 8gb iPhone plug £329 for the 16gb one! All for an extra 8gb..
Otherwise it's going to be a bloody expensive upgrade, £269 down for your 8gb iPhone plug £329 for the 16gb one! All for an extra 8gb..
Your post, 9:35 ET
This post, 4:34 ET
I don't think you were typing that post for 5 hours.
You're just going to have to take my word for it for the time being I'm afraid...there's a detailed page somewhere on the O2 site but I can't for the life of me track the damn thing down.
It is not an upgrade, they don't give you credit for your old phone. You have to buy a new phone, so it cost the price of the new model of the phone which is 100 more than the 8 version.
Ok so I'm selling my 8GB iPhone on eBay right now and am going to pick up a 16GB today.
How do I deactivate and wipe clean the iPhone I'm selling? Do I have to do that? how is it that the new one will work and the old one won't.
I really do wish this was a simple SIM card swap.
How do I deactivate and wipe clean the iPhone I'm selling? Do I have to do that? how is it that the new one will work and the old one won't.
I really do wish this was a simple SIM card swap.
agreed. can we get one. simple. definitive. post. on how exactly this works. or what the best way to do this is. if you're selling your old phone do you do it with the sim in it? do you take it out. I read over on tuaw that if you activate a new sim in the new iphone with your same number it kills the old sim entirely, if you're selling your phone how do you give a sim to the new owner. Do you have to go get a new sim from at&t? Do you have to pay for that?
That's the badger. I can't find anything on the damn O2 site - rang up earlier today with a PAC code, was told to do it on the website instead, couldn't find it so rang back and the guy I spoke to said he had no idea how to find anything on the site as it's so unclear so did it manually for me
Hmmm, I still have a 4GB phone. I probably couldn't give it away on ebay. Well, maybe in another year I'll just cave and get whatever version is available then. maybe it'll make coffee and I can sell my Keurig on ebay.
Actually you could probably get a nice little profit for your OLD 4GB phone. Just sell it on ebay to a poor canadian who isn't allowed to buy one from an apple store.
I have a week 52 phone and have "Unlocked" it by using a turboSIM knockoff (SimpleSim) It works... but it sucks cause the phone will say "INVALID SIM" randomally, and then you have to reboot the phone before you can connect again.
Since your phone is older, it probably isn't tooo hard to unlock it using software which I hear, once you do, it works well.
So don't give up on your 4 gig iphone yet!