Using someone elses AT&T upgrade for iPhone 4

[NikolasMason]

This isn't about me. I already purchased an iPhone 4.

My friend, however is wanting to purchase one as well. He isn't eligible for an upgrade for several months, but his mom (he is on her family plan) is eligible for an upgrade. My question is, if SHE is eligible for an upgrade, and you order the iPhone from Apples website (using her information to get the discounted price), when you get the iPhone in the mail, it shouldn't matter what account it goes to, should it? He should be able to just plug it into iTunes and activate it on HIS account, shouldn't he? I can't see anything that would stop that from happening, and it wouldn't affect his mothers plan or phone either. Or would it?

I am the only one on my AT&T account, so I don't really know how that type of thing would work. But from my experience of activating my own iPhones, it seems like it should be able to work that way.

 

[VTAb182]

search for Upgrade Swap

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/iphone4upgradesupport.jsp

However, this may not work if you purchase from the Apple store. I got it in person from the Apple store and the microSIM card had already been assigned to the original number. Once assigned, it is permanently fixed to the number it is assigned to. So I had to go to the at&t store and get a new microSIM card in order to make the upgrade swap possible.

Better do it before Tuesday as that's when at&t starts selling the iPhone.

 

[JoeKerr21]

I did this and it worked out just fine, although I bought my phone in an Apple store rather than online. All I had to do was go to an AT&T store, buy two new SIM cards (one micro SIM for the iPhone 4 and one regular SIM for the old iPhone). They activated the micro SIM on my number and the regular SIM on my mom's number. All we had to do was put the new SIM cards in our phones and everything worked perfectly fine.