Earlier reports suggested that the original iPhones abandoned for upgrade to iPhone 3G would be orphans and not available for anything else but use as a iPod Touch. AT&T has changed the story an posted a video to You Tube on the subject. Answering the questions "What can I do with my old iPhone?" and "Can I give my original iPhone to a friend?
The way it works is simple. The hand-me-down adoption process of an original iPhone:
- First check and clear all your voice mail from the original iPhone - it doesn't transfer to the new iPhone.
- You should also clear all your information from the oPhone via iTunes.
- The phone number from original iPhone will be transfered to the new 3G iPhone.
- The new owner of the iPhone O will need a new SIM card.
- If the adopted parent of the original iPhone has a SIM already he/she can activate it via iTunes.
The iTunes activation process will perform a credit check when activating a new line of service.
iTunes will also allow you to transfer your number from a different wireless carrier, select a rate plan and required data plan, upgrade your text message package, set up your iTunes account, accept iPhone and AT&T Terms and Conditions, and downloadthe latest version of software to your iPhone.
More information is available at the AT&T iPhone website.
I am glad that Apple changed the rules and are now allowing the old iphones to continue to be used by others. Do you know if you can buy the original iPhones as refurbished cell phones anywhere? I would like to buy one to use as an iphone touch. I would assume that it would be more affordable to buy a refurbished iphone than a new ipod touch.