Accessing numbers on existing AT&T phone once iPhone activated?

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Level 1

0 points

Accessing numbers on existing AT&T phone once iPhone activated?

I have an AT&T/Cingular phone now, and was wondering how it would behave (a general cell phone question, perhaps) if I was to activate a new iPhone, with my current phone number, with the iPhone's SIM card- if I would still be able to turn on my existing phone and get numbers out of the address book, and use the other phone features other than actually making calls. Without a SIM card at all I know that's not possible, but my impression is that you use the card that comes with the iPhone, so my old phone would still have one.

Yes, ideally I'd have my phone now sync'd with my desktop, but last time I checked, at least, it wasn't supported by iSync, and I don't want to lose my data.

Posted on Aug 1, 2007 11:32 AM

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Answer 1

cderalow

Level 2

290 points

Aug 1, 2007 11:45 AM in response to d17

most cell phones use the SIM card to store contact information.

As such, as long as you still have the previous SIM card, your phone should be able to turn on, and be accessed.

If you activate an iPhone and have your number transferred to the iPhone, your previous phone will not be able to make and receive calls (in essence, you'll have an electronic rolodex).

So yes, you should be able to buy an iPhone, transfer your number to it during activation, and still use your old phone to lookup phone numbers to add it to the iPhone manually.

You will not be able to use an older AT&T or Cingular SIM card in the iPhone, so don't bother trying that route.

Just buy the iPhone, activate it through iTunes, and learn to enter contact information manually on the iPhone. After 4 or 5, you should get pretty good at it.

Message was edited by: cderalow

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Answer 2

PTBoater

Level 4

2,857 points

Aug 1, 2007 11:45 AM in response to d17

Yes, you can take the SIM card out of the iPhone, stick it into your older phone and have it work. I can use my old Treo 680 with my iPhone SIM card.

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Answer 3

Sep 6, 2007 11:38 AM in response to PTBoater

But can you go the other way around and use your Treo 680 sim card in your iPhone?

I currently have an AT&T/Cingular smart phone with data package (less than a year old), and I'm wondering if I can use it's sim card in an iPhone so I won't have to activate a new phone with AT&T and have a new 2-year commitment all over again.

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