[SnapThrow]

I have an AT&T account with two lines and I flip flop the iPhone upgrade every year, usually I just head to an AT&T store and get new SIMs and have them straighten out what line goes on what iPhone -- but I'm wondering if I have to do that. The 5S arriving is Thursday it was an upgraded on my son's line, I will give him my 5 and put the new 5S on my line -- can I just switch the SIM cards? Should I activate the 5S on his line and then switch the SIMs? Or should I switch the SIMs before powering the 5S on and then do the restore from his backup via iTunes? Just trying to save a trip to AT&T if I can... thanks if anybody has done this and knows for sure...

[jburke82]

If I am not mistaken, you shouldnt have to go to an AT&T store. The sim cards (I'm assuming) are the same size. When you get the 5s, I would backup your 5, wipe it clean, and give it to your son. Then just throw your sim into the 5s, activate it, and restore from the backup you had. You should be good to go.

If I am incorrect, please someone correct me!

[SnapThrow]

Kind of what I was thinking since the SIMs are compatible. I'm just not sure if I need to activate the 5S with the SIM it comes with first or if I can switch the SIMs and activate/restore after...

[Fausty82]

Kind of what I was thinking since the SIMs are compatible. I'm just not sure if I need to activate the 5S with the SIM it comes with first or if I can switch the SIMs and activate/restore after...

I would simply activate the phone as they sent it to you... then swap the SIMs and be done with it.

BTW, the only time I’ve ever had to visit an AT&T store for assistance with this was going from a BB to the iPhone 4 and again going from the iPhone 4S to an iPhone 5 - any only then because of the change in the size of the SIM.

[Eileen89]

Thread moved to the Carrier discussion lounge for better exposure.

[SnapThrow]

Agreed... like I said, I've done this every year with each new iPhone but in thinking about recent years there has been a SIM form factor change requiring me to go into an AT&T store and get new SIM cards. This year obviously is different and I hope to avoid the AT&T store altogether.

So I guess my plan is to backup each iPhone in iTunes and iCloud, turn on the new 5S and let it activate on my sons line, then switch the SIM cards and restore the backups to the right iPhone.

[vn906c]

Everything said above is correct. The only issue after you switch the SIMS would be that the IMEI numbers in at&t's system would be reversed. But I don't think it would cause any problems to leave it be. You can always call customer service and have them swap the IMEI numbers if you want. Hope everything works out for ya!

[SnapThrow]

Cool, hopefully I can just call them and take care of that

[SnapThrow]

I would simply activate the phone as they sent it to you... then swap the SIMs and be done with it.

So if anyone care this is what I did and both iPhones are working normally. Also as pointed out AT&T probably has the wrong IMEI numbers associated with each line due to my SIM swap... but I'm not going to worry about that unless something comes up.

[Fausty82]

So if anyone care this is what I did and both iPhones are working normally. Also as pointed out AT&T probably has the wrong IMEI numbers associated with each line due to my SIM swap... but I'm not going to worry about that unless something comes up.

Great to hear... it’s usually a pretty painless process. Also, it’s my understanding that the IMEI issue will get resolved automatically by the system ... as they "see" the IMEI differences, they will be reconciled internally within the AT&T systems.

[vn906c]

Great to hear... it’s usually a pretty painless process. Also, it’s my understanding that the IMEI issue will get resolved automatically by the system ... as they "see" the IMEI differences, they will be reconciled internally within the AT&T systems.

When I worked for at&t as a rep not too long ago, I had to manually change IMEI's. I thought they would get reconciled too but I came across many situations where the wrong IMEI was on a customers line for a long period of time. But generally it doesn't really cause any problems. But I'm glad everything worked out for the OP.