Upgrade Question

You will not be able to do that. Upgrades are line (phone number) specific and don't transfer.

The only workaround would be to upgrade your grandmother's phone to an iPhone. She would have to buy a data plan. You could then swap phones, but you'd have to buy a new micro SIM for her IP4 to activate it with your number, and a regular SIM for her to activate your old phone to her number. She would still have to keep the iPhone data plan.

Message was edited by: gdgmacguy

Get grandma a new iphone. Both of you switch phones and both get new numbers. Pay each others bills.

As others have said, yes have her get an iphone, and if she is willing to play the data plan then do so,

however, you can still buy an iphone 4 paying 200 bucks more on your current line as an early upgrade.

yes, the early upgrade was my only option, as i was eligible
for the full discount on june 2011.

seems a lot easier than having to deal with grandma's line, but
just a little more costly.

the good news is that you should be able to recoup most of it by
selling your 3gs! 🙂

milesmutt wrote:
the good news is that you should be able to recoup most of it by
selling your 3gs! 🙂

I think the OP has to give Granny his old 3G to make the deal. My advice would be to consider waiting until '11 for the next version (IP5/4G??). With Verizon getting into the IP act in January, that might be another way to go, especially if Verizon offers a better deal on tethering.

No she can't gift it to you

All you have to do is get the new phone from ur grandmother, take the micro-sim that came with the new phone out, cut your existing sim card down to micro-sim size, and activate the phone from itunes using the sim card to u cut down to size. it will work. check the internets

There's also the option of seeing if a AT&T Store will transfer your sim card for your 3GS to a micro sim card for the iPhone 4 and just use it in the iPhone 4. Call em and see.

milesmutt wrote:

the good news is that you should be able to recoup most of it by
selling your 3gs! 🙂

That's what I plan on doing as well, sell my 3G S, I do have about 393 bucks (am a student and don't have a job but I am planning on finding a job soon) and I am not eligible for an upgrade but I can purchase the iphone 4 at a price of $499

So technically selling my old iphone 3G or iphone 3G S will help me get the iphone 4. I would use my mother's upgrade, but I decided not to as she would have to pay the data plan when she is not even in the states so that is pointless for me.

jake2011 wrote:

If I use her line how long does she have to have the data plan for her to drop it?

She would have to have the data plan for 2 years.

Swap the sim card with yours and activate via iTunes. In other words put your present sim card in the new phone and then use iTunes. Ensure you backup first. Or go to ATT store and they will do the same thing.

bizzy44 wrote:
Swap the sim card with yours and activate via iTunes. In other words put your present sim card in the new phone and then use iTunes. Ensure you backup first. Or go to ATT store and they will do the same thing.

if he's buying an iphone 4 then he can't put his present sim card in the new phone.

Do not involve your relatives.
It never works out well in the end.

jake2011 wrote:
I understand what you are all saying but why couldn't she just "gift" it to me?

If I use her line how long does she have to have the data plan for her to drop it?

I think she CAN either gift or sell a new IP to you, but she still would be stuck with the data plan ($15 for 250MB per month) for 24 months. And you may not be able to transfer your present unlimited data plan to her phone if that means anything to you. Also, she probably will lose her present telephone number as it will be assigned to the new IP4. I don't think she will be happy about that.

Seems more and more like a bad plan of attack in order to get the new IP.