How would I go about this?

MattMJB0188

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I pre-ordered the iPhone 4s 32GB Black as a new customer from AT&T on 10-14. Well I am still loving it just as much as day one but one thing that has popped into my head is the WHITE iPHONE. I kinda want it now. So I was asking myself, how exactly would I go about getting the white iphone 4s?

The most obvious way I'm thinking of is ordering the unlocked version from Apple.com and then selling my black 4s on eBay or Craigslist. Only thing concerning me is the AppleCare+ which I currently have on the phone. Would I have to do anything special once its sold to have it transfered to the new buyer?

Then once I get the new white iPhone 4s unlocked, all I do is pop my sim in there and I'm good to go? I would just restore from my previous 4s? Would I maintain my current plan? Would I have to reactivate anything?

Is it really that easy or is there an easier way? Thanks
 

iLive an iLife

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I'm not 100% sure about the AppleCare on the phone. I thought it was somehow associated with your Apple ID, but I could be wrong.

I'm thinking if you buy a new unlocked/AT&T iPhone, you'll end up getting a new sim card as well - it'll be preloaded into the phone. I, personally, have Verizon so I'm not very familiar with SIM card swap out. I used to sell cell phones (Verizon/AT&T/Sprint) awhile back. When an existing customer upgraded, we always gave them a new SIM card - it was part of the phone package.

As far as transferring the data over, all you'd have to do it just sync you iPhone with the computer and restore as a previous iPhone. That's the easy part.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is "Is it really worth all this trouble to change the color of my iPhone?" This seems little an expensive endeavor. Why not look into getting a white case or skin? Sure it's not a white iPhone, but it would be A LOT cheaper. Just an idea.
 

noaim

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I'm not 100% sure about the AppleCare on the phone. I thought it was somehow associated with your Apple ID, but I could be wrong.

I'm thinking if you buy a new unlocked/AT&T iPhone, you'll end up getting a new sim card as well - it'll be preloaded into the phone. I, personally, have Verizon so I'm not very familiar with SIM card swap out. I used to sell cell phones (Verizon/AT&T/Sprint) awhile back. When an existing customer upgraded, we always gave them a new SIM card - it was part of the phone package.

As far as transferring the data over, all you'd have to do it just sync you iPhone with the computer and restore as a previous iPhone. That's the easy part.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is "Is it really worth all this trouble to change the color of my iPhone?" This seems little an expensive endeavor. Why not look into getting a white case or skin? Sure it's not a white iPhone, but it would be A LOT cheaper. Just an idea.

Unlocked phones don't come with sim cards only carrier locked phones do. All you have to do is swap your sin to the new phone.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk
 

MattMJB0188

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I'm not 100% sure about the AppleCare on the phone. I thought it was somehow associated with your Apple ID, but I could be wrong.

I'm thinking if you buy a new unlocked/AT&T iPhone, you'll end up getting a new sim card as well - it'll be preloaded into the phone. I, personally, have Verizon so I'm not very familiar with SIM card swap out. I used to sell cell phones (Verizon/AT&T/Sprint) awhile back. When an existing customer upgraded, we always gave them a new SIM card - it was part of the phone package.

As far as transferring the data over, all you'd have to do it just sync you iPhone with the computer and restore as a previous iPhone. That's the easy part.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is "Is it really worth all this trouble to change the color of my iPhone?" This seems little an expensive endeavor. Why not look into getting a white case or skin? Sure it's not a white iPhone, but it would be A LOT cheaper. Just an idea.

Thanks for the reply. Would the unlocked iPhone from Apple.com come with a SIM? I'm probably gonna say no. I'm probably not gonna do it, I was just curious to how it would work if one did want to attempt this.
 

iLive an iLife

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Ok, so from what noaim said, the unlocked iPhones don't come with a sim card. That makes sense though, because you aren't purchasing the phone for a certain network, so how could they supply a sim?

I think not doing it is the smart choice. It just seems like a lot of trouble to change the color of your phone (and it'll still cost you time and, most likely, some cash). There's always the white iPhone 5 haha!
 

LVMHgirl

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Ok, so from what noaim said, the unlocked iPhones don't come with a sim card. That makes sense though, because you aren't purchasing the phone for a certain network, so how could they supply a sim?

I think not doing it is the smart choice. It just seems like a lot of trouble to change the color of your phone (and it'll still cost you time and, most likely, some cash). There's always the white iPhone 5 haha!

+1 on waiting for a white iPhone 5! You could always get a white Speck Candyshell case (the discount code "goodbetterspeck" may still be valid) with a White Moshi Visor screen protector. It will look just like you have a white iPhone. ;)
 

Cleveland

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Unlocked phones don't come with sim cards only carrier locked phones do. All you have to do is swap your sin to the new phone.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

This is not true, mine is unlocked (paid full retail) and mine came with a new SIM for the line on my acct but it's unlocked
 

Guacho

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Unlocked phones don't come with sim cards only carrier locked phones do. All you have to do is swap your sin to the new phone.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

I doesn't work like that, I bought the at&t iphone 4s a couple of weeks ago, I paid full price since i dont want to renew my contract, a day later Apple relases the unlocked version so I went ahead and ordered it online, i got it yesterday and went to the Apple store to return the at&t iPhone and when I tried to use the sim card in the new phone i got an error message saying the sim card was invalid , the Apple employee later told me that once a sim card is used in an iphone 4s it cant be used somewhere else so i got a new sim card and had to call at&t to activate it...
 

noaim

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I doesn't work like that, I bought the at&t iphone 4s a couple of weeks ago, I paid full price since i dont want to renew my contract, a day later Apple relases the unlocked version so I went ahead and ordered it online, i got it yesterday and went to the Apple store to return the at&t iPhone and when I tried to use the sim card in the new phone i got an error message saying the sim card was invalid , the Apple employee later told me that once a sim card is used in an iphone 4s it cant be used somewhere else so i got a new sim card and had to call at&t to activate it...

That guy was wrong I don't know where he got that story from I took the sim out of my iPhone 4s and put it into my 4 right now and it works just fine between the two. I have no idea why you got an error but that's def not the case!


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk
 

Guacho

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That guy was wrong I don't know where he got that story from I took the sim out of my iPhone 4s and put it into my 4 right now and it works just fine between the two. I have no idea why you got an error but that's def not the case!


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

It was confirmed by two apple employees, it's probably between two iphones 4S but i got an activation error. it does sound fishy though..
 

Leanna Lofte

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It was confirmed by two apple employees, it's probably between two iphones 4S but i got an activation error. it does sound fishy though..

My guess is that since you returned the iPhone, the sim card associated with it also got deactivated as part of the process. But I guarantee that if you put your current sim card in your friend's iPhone 4S, it would work just fine.
 

LVMHgirl

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It was confirmed by two apple employees, it's probably between two iphones 4S but i got an activation error. it does sound fishy though..

Perhaps the Apple guys canceled the sim when you returned the phone? Like noaim said, sims do work between phones. People swap them out all the time even between completely different models.

When we returned our phones that were originally pre-ordered (we bought two others on launch day in person at the store) and arrived almost a month later, the employee said he had to activate the phones (another lame story) before he could return them (and yes we later got a usage bill in the mail for the two numbers that we never owned, or even touched). He then returned the phones using the sim card, therefore canceling out the sims.
 

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