using a different line's upgrade

Millie Pagan wrote:
is there anyone who has the family package and is using one lines upgrade, but putting your number on the phone. has anyone done this yet? was att able to switch the numbers on the sim cards? just want to know if it was successsful or not.

Millie: I'm in the same boat; I will be using my wife's upgrade to get the phone (me: 3GS --> iphone 4; wife: original iphone --> 3Gs).

I called AT&T and got a friendly -- but bit flustered -- CSR who said my process will go like this: 1) I activate iphone 4 with itunes using my phone number; 2) I remove the sim im my 3Gs (that sim is deactivated upon activation of iphone 4); and 3) I put my wife's sim in the iphone 3Gs and activate that (and make necessary feature changes, e.g., picking new data plan, adding text package, etc.).

I think this will work, but can't confirm until tonight, when I get a chance to do it. Good luck!

Just got mine iPhone 4 in and the SIM card is a different size than the 3GS so you can't just replace it like you could with the 3G and 3GS. Please post if you've successfully switched and how you did so.

I was not sucessful in following the instructions on the iTunes activation. The instructions were to first activate the iphone using the phone number assigned when ordered. Then call AT&T to switch lines assigned to the phone. This information was incorrect. After confirming with Apple that the instructions were valid, I went ahead and activated under the suggested phone line. Post activation, I called AT&T and they stated that they can not switch numbers after the micro-sim card has been activated. AT&T has offered to FedEx me a new sim card at no cost for the misinformation that is on Apple's website. Apple, though very polite, has not offered anything for giving me the wrong advice.

AT&T cannot do it over the phone because of the MicroSIM card. The only way they would be able to do so if you were able to have a MicroSIM of the number you want and put that in the iPhone then they could switch it. But since the SIM is hardcoded with the specific phone number, they either have to send you a new MicroSIM for the number you want to use or go to the store and they will swap it out for you. If you are willing to wait have them send you a MicroSIM version of the line you want the iPhone on and then they can swap the IMEI over the phone.

lmickjr wrote:
I was not sucessful in following the instructions on the iTunes activation. The instructions were to first activate the iphone using the phone number assigned when ordered. Then call AT&T to switch lines assigned to the phone. This information was incorrect. After confirming with Apple that the instructions were valid, I went ahead and activated under the suggested phone line. Post activation, I called AT&T and they stated that they can not switch numbers after the micro-sim card has been activated. AT&T has offered to FedEx me a new sim card at no cost for the misinformation that is on Apple's website. Apple, though very polite, has not offered anything for giving me the wrong advice.

lmickjr: if you had tried the sequence I wrote about (see above), do you think that would have worked for you? Can you tell from your (bummer) experience whether if you ordered a phone from Apple and during the transaction said the upgrade was on line "x", if during activation itunes would have allowed you to activate line "y" instead? Thanks.

P.S. Do stores not have micro sims in stock? (I.e., why wait for FedEx if an AT&T store is nearby you?)

I would like to know the answer to this question as well. I put in the first line's number one Apple's preorder page and I'll be picking it up in store tomorrow, but I was to use the second line's upgrade instead. There won't be any problems with that, I hope?

I posted this in another thread.

"
I received my iphone 4 about an hour ago. It says during activation that if you would like to use a different number to complete the activation process first and then call att customer care to have them swap the imei to match the sim. DO NOT DO THIS unless you want to go to a att corporate store to get a new micro sim. My local stores don't even have any yet. I ended up doing the sim card modification on my 3gs sim to make it the right size to fit in the micro sim tray. This works perfect."

Yes. I believe it would have worked had I called AT&T instead of relying on Apple. They were going to switch it for me using the ICCID of the sim card, but because I had already activated the card they could not change it. I think you will be okay following AT&T's instructions. Good luck!

Activated my new iPhone4 no problems. Called 611 from another at&t phone and the nice lady at at&t took the information from the new phone and transferred the number from the one the phone had been order with(mine) to the one that will be using it (hubby). You will need to have the new phone or the box in front of you when you call.


1. As soon as you receive your new iPhone 4, charge your device fully.
2. Contact AT&T at 1-800-331-0500 or 611 from a different wireless device. At the prompt, enter the wireless number that received the upgrade to iPhone 4.
3. At the next prompt, choose option #2 to activate your phone on a different mobile number, and an AT&T representative will help you from there.
4. After speaking with the AT&T representative, you will be instructed to launch iTunes (www.itunes.com) and connect your device.

Millie Pagan wrote:
I just wanted to post back my results. I called AT&T and spoke to a very nice guy who switched everything over for me, no problems. He even stayed on the phone with me till everything was synced and I was able to make a phone call. This was a lot quicker than goinbgto the store. I forgot to post earlier cuz I've been playing with the phone ever since. I love it!!! I didn't think to come back here and post a result until now. So far no complaints from me!!!

Sadly, I had the total opposite result. I called AT&T and spent a long time switching phone/sim associations. However, when I went to activate the iphone 4 I got an error message telling me the sim card was already activated and that I need a new sim card in order to activate. A call to after hours support led nowhere (except the conclusion that I need a new sim card). Where do I stand now? Looks like my wife will have the 3Gs tonight, and I have no phone until I can get a new micro sim tomorrow. The after hours rep said the stores would have micro sims, but who knows how many, etc. What a disaster. At least I can marvel at the screen resolution while staring at the "connect to itunes" screen. Faaaaaaaaaantastic.

Thanks winston for posting this!
I also made the mistake of following the Apple prompts that said to go ahead and activate, THEN call AT&T to sort out the telephone number swap issue.
Just called AT&T (but I chose option to speak with live person) and Kristin told me that number swaps need to be done BEFORE activating phone.
She said she could mail me microSIMs (3-5 days delivery) OR I could go to AT&T corporate store to get them. I asked if she could call AT&T store to verify if they are in stock- she did and they were!
Being on a family plan is great until you decide to update phone that is not in the name of the person who set up the account 😟
Now I'm off to the AT&T store!

AT&T will switch it. They do not care what line you use the iPhone on as long as they got that contract renewal it is fine with them.

Message was edited by: scorpiodsu