Upgrade your iPhone without a new (Faustian) contract
With the release of the new 16GB iPhone yesterday, there was some question over whether or not AT&T would make you sign a new two-year contract if you merely upgraded your phone. Wired reported that some complaints on Apple’s discussion boards indicated they were being told they had to get a new contract, while others were saying “not so much.”
iLounge got the skinny, direct from Mark Siegel over at AT&T:
“If you upgrade from an 8 to a 16 GB iPhone, you sign a new contract. However, we automatically backdate it to the starting point of your contract on the 8 GB phone.” He added that the company “will make every effort to ensure that our reps provide customers with the correct information,” and clarified that customers should activate the SIM card that comes with the new model.Personally, I guess that seems somewhat overly complicated to me. I mean, if you’re backdating it anyway, why do they even have to sign a new one? Why go through the whole rigmarole? Ah well, I guess they wouldn’t be in the cell phone market if they did things the sensible way.
Category: AT&T
ABOUT iPHONE CENTRAL
Get the latest news, reviews, and opinion about Apple's groundbreaking iPhone from the Apple experts at Macworld.
Want more information? Be sure to check out our complete iPhone coverage.
iPHONE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
Send your iPhone thoughts:
via e-mail
via voicemail
and we may use them on the site.
BLOG ARCHIVE
- July 2008 (1)
- June 2008 (1)
- May 2008 (39)
- April 2008 (34)
- March 2008 (33)
- February 2008 (50)
- January 2008 (34)
- December 2007 (33)
- November 2007 (42)
- October 2007 (45)
- September 2007 (53)
- August 2007 (67)
- July 2007 (111)
- June 2007 (82)
CATEGORIES
- Accessories (39)
- AT&T (47)
- Hacking (31)
- Hardware (26)
- Musings (102)
- News (217)
- Reader Experiences (5)
- Reviews (51)
- Software (139)
- Tips & Troubleshooting (79)
- Videos (9)
- Wi-Fi (15)
Comments (3)
What's to stop you from simply buying a new phone and moving your sim card to it without ever activating the new sim?
Posted by Jon | February 6, 2008 6:12 PM
Um, why not just put the sim you have from the old one into the new. My iPhone's sim works in my Razr, why wouldn't it work in a new iPhone.
No new sim, no new contract, no hassle.
Posted by DistortedLoop | February 6, 2008 10:57 PM
So what happens to the used 8Gb phones that people may start selling on ebay and craiglist? Do buyers of a used iPhone still have to sign a two year contract? Can I pickup a used iPhone and signup with AT&T on a month to month basis?
Posted by alq | February 11, 2008 2:48 PM