iPhone 3G purchase and activation will be in-store only
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted June 9th 2008 9:35PM
posted June 9th 2008 9:35PM
"There is no question that many enjoyed the convenience of at-home activation, but we also found that many others wanted to complete purchase and activation in one step so they could walk out of the AT&T store with their iPhone up and running. We have decided to take the latter approach and we think customers will like it. It will be especially helpful if any questions or issues arise during activation. They can be resolved on the spot and in-person.
This is the way our wireless phones have been activated for years and customers have been very happy with it.
And, activation should take just a few minutes."
Someone told me, that someone he knows, went to an Apple Store and asked if the iPhones would have to be activated in store. They said, no. YOU MAY BE ACTIVATING ON ITUNES LIKE THE OLD PHONES. He stressed the fact that Apple sells other products as well and they cant risk having the Apple store clogged up by potential ATT clients.
here's an idea, why not have everyone got to the store on july 11, and just stand there, asking questions, annoy the reps and not buy anything. If the sale rate are down, they have to take out the 'activation in store' cuz they're losing more money by not taking it out.
If at&t are so worried about the clients/users not signing up for at&t, and thus taking it home and unlocking it themselves, then why don't they have something in the contract with apple to factory brand the phone to at&t. I have a cingular phone, but I unlocked it to work with t-mobile, I remember when I first got it I put in my t-mobile sim just to see if it worked on the off chance, and it didn't. Thus making me go thorough all the hex edits and such to unlock it. They do infact have some kind of branding, although its hardly as difficult as a regular phone.
For the joe blow person, that would be difficult to unlock a phone via editing hexadecimal.
Personally I think that apple does not care if you are buying the phone to unlock it, firstly because they are still getting profits obviously from buying their phone. But moreover it seems that they don't really care about at&t. They are doing all this stuff to please at&t. Obviously if you paid someone to be their service provider on some exclusive product for 5 years, wouldn't you want some kind of security to ensure that you are actually going to make a profit. Thats like saying here apple have 50 million dollars for an exclusive 5 year contract, and then seeing millions upon millions of phones being sold, and only a small fraction being signed up for at&t.
@slimy33: I agree. Here, in Canada (at Rogers or Fido), I hope the carriers like will do a non-contract price for the iPhone.
So, since Apple and AT&T has made moves to prevent unlocking their phones, in my situation (1 year remaining for my contract with Rogers), I think I will get the current version of the iPhone (sell my iTouch), since I will not be using Edge because I am connected at 99% on a Wi-Fi network at work and home. Plus the battery improvements will not make a difference because if you're using 3G (which sucks up a good amount of battery) on the 3G iPhone it will be the same on a less ''improved'' battery using Edge (which sucks up less battery).
That's what I'll do, if theres no way to get an iPhone without going with the whole thing in store..
-I'm not sure about 2 things on the current version of the iPhone...
*Can I use standard iPod earbuds on the iPhone (for listening music)?
*Will I be able to use the iPhone (will never use Edge) with a standard 100mins per day plan?
You're going to be surprised, The new iphone does not have SIM Card Slot, It's builtin, that's why it's slimmer and can't be unlocked by using hardware unlocks (shadow cards). Also, the hardware has network verfication that will check the serial # with the provider to verify activation.
That's what I heard, So good luck!
Then why would they include a "sim ejector tool"?
My problem with this thing is I don't really care about the contract, or ATT or any of that crap, I just want to be able to order it from their website and be done with it. Having me go to the store to deal with them is my problem. It's a waste of time and given that they are going to transfer a number from another carrier when they activate me, it will do me NO GOOD at all having to stand around some brick and mortar.
Hopefully they will open up net sales eventually.
I can't wait to get my new iPhone! I waited and waited and waited for the 2.0 Now that It's finally here I will be happy to get in line at the Apple store in Seattle next Friday rain or shine. (yes we get rain in July, it's raining as I type this.) It's too exciting and too much money to waist on a boring online purchase anyway....this is an event!
dasdsad sa
i work as a mac specialist in one of the apple retail stores. this is how activation in store is going to work.
1. you are going to have to have a valid state or federal ID (not a passport, or federal Tax ID number. it has to be a license or military ID)
2. you need your account number from your current mobile phone service (available on your bill)
3. you will need a Social Security Number to run a credit check on the spot
4. You will need a Credit card to purchase the phone, if you are paying with a gift card, you still need a credit card, incase you need to pay a deposit for the phone
5. if you are a current ATT customer, you need to call ATT to see if you are eligable to upgrade to the new iphone 3G for the $18 upgrade fee (you can do this by calling "611" on your current ATT phone)
6. if you are not an ATT customer, you will be able to get the iphone 3G with the activation price of $36
7. all iphones will be activated in either an ATT store, or Apple store. the employee that sells the iphone to you, will first sign you up for your plan, then cut off the plastic wrappings. we are not allowed to open the box for the customer.
8. within an apple store, all iphone purchases will be done on the infamous EZ-Pay (all employees hate it, you guys arnt the only ones that do)
9. after we ring you out with the EZ-Pay, we will have to connect you to a computer for up to a couple of minutes to activate the iphone.
10. all iphones customers will walk out of the store with a working iphone in hand.
11. we will not get any more foreigners with their entire extended family coming in to buy 5 iphones each, and cleaning us out of iphones within 10 minutes of getting over 100 phones (it happened all the time, and we all hate it!!!! it got pretty ridiculous after a while when customers that wanted to buy one would come in every day for 3 weeks to get one, but just 5 mins before hand, we sold 50 to an entire extended family)
there are still a lot of questions that we have, that will not be answered until the upcoming days of the iphone launch. keep checking apple.com for any updates on the release.
Hmmm kk just answer me something. I live in this f***king place called Brazil and 3g iphones will take much longer to get here. So i intend to buy one right after it releases in UK. Will i be able to do that? Buy a 3g iphone in UK WITHOUT contracts and then unlock it over here?
Personally, I'm going to buy the phone, do the whole stupid in store activation, leave the store, terminate my service = $375. Still a whole lot cheaper than the first generation was. If I cant hack it within a couple of weeks, someone will, then i'll be good to go :)
What the heck is the big deal already?? Buy the iPhone 3G STFU already, go home restore it, unlock it, jailbreak it, bake it some cookies and wipes it's ass with some baby cream damn. You can do all you want too to do. Pay the ETF and you done.
All this talk about shit that will not change anyway. The rebels always find a way out, not to worry!!!
Guys can anyone reply for this post here,,
iphone 3g wont launch in my country, so i planned to get one from singapore when it launches there,,maybe 3 units,, im confused about all the data plan from service providers,, what problems could i face???
Question: I am a current at&t customer but I am not yet eligible for an upgrade. I know I'll be paying the higher price on the phone but will I have to go through another credit check?
Stop crying guys, I bought an Ipnone and love At&t. T-mobile is only looking good right now because they need your business. I've been a T-mobile customer since 2002 and they where great because they where cheap however I always had dropped calls and crappy service. I dropped them after my contract was over and have never looked back. Just accept the fact that that it may be a little more expensive, but In the long run you'll be happier with the better service.
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The prices advertised for iPhone 3G are not what they are at store. If you are not eligible for AT&T upgrade. You cannot get these prices. These prices are nothing but a scam.