When you pen a column like Macworld’s Mac 911, people naturally ask you questions. And to look like you’re deserving of the three pages allotted to you each month, you try to answer them. But I’ve got one that’s got me stumped and I’d like your help.
A friend purchased an iPhone from AT&T. It was not working as it should-there were some screen problems-but he still activated it hoping the problems would disappear. They didn’t.
He called AT&T and was told that if he lived near an Apple Store he could return it for a new one. The nearest Apple Store is 150 miles away and he’d rather not make the drive. The other option is to send the phone back to AT&T and wait 4 – 6 weeks for a replacement. This he chose to do. He pulled the SIM card from the iPhone and put it in his old phone, where it works.
Because some of you may have already been through this process, I seek the benefits of your experience. Like so:
• Will AT&T continue to charge him for the iPhone plan while he waits?
• When he gets the new iPhone, will he be able to slip the original SIM card into the iPhone and expect it to work right then and there or will he have to reactivate the phone-either with a new SIM card or with the old one?
• Will bad mojo result from using the iPhone’s SIM card in a phone other than the iPhone?
• Any gotchas we haven’t considered?
"Will AT&T continue to charge him for the iPhone plan while he waits?"
He needs to call them and tell them to change his plan, I've never had an issue w/ changing a plan any time I wanted at least (done it a couple times).
Can't answer all the questions, but Apple swapped out my iPhone at an Apple store (screen problem), took the SIM from the first phone which was already activated and put it into the new phone. When I hooked the phone to my computer, I had to go through the reactivation process again. (I was lucky; both activations only took about 3 or 4 minutes each).
• Will AT&T continue to charge him for the iPhone plan while he waits?
AT&T might, unless he specifies a temporary deactivation of the iPhone plan.
• When he gets the new iPhone, will he be able to slip the original SIM card into the iPhone and expect it to work right then and there or will he have to reactivate the phone-either with a new SIM card or with the old one?
I think he can move the old SIM card, but he would have to do another activation with iTunes, although it should be a shorter one as the number is already activated with AT&T. I had my iPhone replaced at a local Apple Store, and they just moved my SIM card to the new iPhone. I wasn't able to use my iPhone until I got home and plugged it into iTunes. As soon as iTunes recognized the iPhone, it showed on the iPhone screen that it was waiting for activation with AT&T, and then seconds after, that it was activated. It then allowed me to restore with previous iphone settings backed up on my computer.
Activating the iPhone with the new SIM, might be similar to requesting for a transfer of his number, I am just not so sure. But reactivation of the iphone with a previously activated iphone SIM was just so easy.
• Will bad mojo result from using the iPhone's SIM card in a phone other than the iPhone?
I have been reading around, people have said it does well with voice calls but SMS would not work. I have not tested it yet myself, but I imagine it would have something to do with message settings. I have transferred SIM cards between several other phones, and I cannot see why an iPhone SIM would not work with another GSM phone perfectly.
Actually, no need to even call, you can change your rate plan right on their website by logging into your account and going to the "Rate Plan & Features" section.
Sorry, don't have any answers for your other questions though.
There should be no problem using the iPhone SIM card in another phone, since Apple says you can do it right in the iPhone manual.