My whole family recently got new phones from ATT -> Verizon. I live several hours away from home, so they were going to ship my phone after they got them and we were all going to activate them all together. Well, my idiot brother (who we both got the same exact iPhone PM color and everything) went against my mom to NOT turn on the phones until we said it was ok. He thought he was grabbing his phone but it was mine. Out of nowhere I lost cell signal from my current iPhone on ATT and can’t message/call anyone, even on iMessage. My phone doesn’t recognize my number anymore. My new phone is not going to get here until Monday and the one thing I’m really worried about is losing the iMessages or texts that are sent between now and then. My new phone that’s in the mail is still on the set-up screen (the ‘Hello’ screen). When I set-up my new phone, will the messages that were sent between my phone shutting off and when I set-up my new phone, will the iMessages not received pop up or are they stuck in limbo?
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iPhone 13 Pro Max Will I lose my iMessages?
- Thread starter Ihavenophome
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You can call your new carrier and tell them you’d like to switch back to your old device temporarily. I don’t think it’ll mess up your device payments
They might come up with a fee or something but switching devices is regular business for them I guess.
As long as you don’t delete your old phone with the existing messages you should be able to transfer them to a new device later on via the usual migration paths.
As long as you don’t delete your old phone with the existing messages you should be able to transfer them to a new device later on via the usual migration paths.
I know I can transfer old messages, but I’m more worried about the messages that are being sent to me between my current phone shutting off and my new phone coming in two days.
Well, since going from ATT to Verizon, number is ported already, so to get it back to ATT, would need to activate a new line of service. Might be able to get a compassionate sales or support person, but will need to port the number back, so more visits to the store or on-hold with tech support. Basically, a no-go.
Bigger issue, you brother has your number now and the phone you will be getting will be their number. Really need to swap phones. Or if still using physical SIMs, can swap those. If eSIMs, ugh, might need mom to go to Verizon and sort it all out. But even with physical SIMs, probably need mom to go to the local Verizon store to get this sorted out, getting the phone numbers swapped on the two phones, otherwise two phones that are bricks as SIMs are being mailed back and forth.
Apple Messages should still go to your account, as that's tied to Apple ID (though the phone number swap might cause issues). Text on the other hand is probably going to the brother's phone.
Bigger issue, you brother has your number now and the phone you will be getting will be their number. Really need to swap phones. Or if still using physical SIMs, can swap those. If eSIMs, ugh, might need mom to go to Verizon and sort it all out. But even with physical SIMs, probably need mom to go to the local Verizon store to get this sorted out, getting the phone numbers swapped on the two phones, otherwise two phones that are bricks as SIMs are being mailed back and forth.
Apple Messages should still go to your account, as that's tied to Apple ID (though the phone number swap might cause issues). Text on the other hand is probably going to the brother's phone.
Me and my brother both got the exact same iPhone color, size and model. So that’s why he opened mine instead of his. I just didn’t choose the right side of the coin. They’re sending my phone in the mail that he opened, so I’m still getting my number.
Apparently he didn’t go past the set-up screen, so it’s in the mail on the set-up screen. This still shouldn’t be an issue, should it?
Should clarify ALL the phones were shipped to my moms house and the plan was that my mom will send in my phone in the mail individually afterwards.
Do you have esim on the old ATT phone (the one hat you have currently). If so Verizon may be able to activate it on esim on your current line until the new device comes in. If not you could ask your mom to add you as an authorized user and go to a local store, pick up a physical sim and swap in store.