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Apple iPhone home activation definitely returning, but not what you think

We just got a tip from an Apple retail store employee letting us know that the rumors about in-home iPhone activation are true. The only catch is, this isn’t the old system of activating iPhones. It’s merely something to help reduce the amount of time it takes to activate and sign up new or existing customers in the store. Basically you can pre-activate at home by entering in your cellular contract details or social and billing information if you are a new subscriber. From there, you head into the Apple store, (and maybe AT&T store, but we’re not sure yet) tell them you got mad street credz, and purchase your phone. The iPhones will still be “unbricked” at the retail location. No iPhones leave the stores without being officially activated. We also heard from the same source that some Apple stores in the U.S. received 4GB iPod Nanos but they were quickly recalled, and that the rumors of the 8GB iPhone being discontinued are probably untrue and just related to the power adapter recall. We were told all the new shipments they are getting now have the new and “safe” power adapters.

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13 comment(s) for this post.

  1. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 6:19 am, blah Said:

    Shouldn’t that be “but”, not “buy” in the title?

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  2. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 7:47 am, Jason Salvatierra Said:

    Its too early to be reading about apple. -___-

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  3. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 9:44 am, 1jaxstate1 Said:

    Can I add a line and get a new iPhone.

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  4. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 9:48 am, Galvatron Said:

    entering your SSN? :sigh: nothing canges. makes it so much eiser for id theives. you enter you 411 at home to a server hmm packet capture via wifi anybody?

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  5. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 10:58 am, MadMike Said:

    @Galvatron: WPA2-PSK AES encryption coupled with SSL should stop all except the most dedicated and skilled crackers. If your that paranoid - use WPA2-PSK AES and pipe all your traffic through an SSH pipe to a local lan shell server that’s connected via ethernet and pick some nasty encryption for the SSH tunnel.

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  6. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 11:01 am, Carlos Said:

    Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but if you have an ATT premier account you can order an iphone and have it shipped to your door. I orderded mine like this over a month ago…

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  7. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 11:36 am, Tich Said:

    I dont get it. o2 in the UK got exclusitivity of the iPhone, and now they’re selling them on pay as you go. Whats the deal with that?

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  8. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 11:53 am, xmxpro Said:

    In Atlanta when I bought my 3g on release day the lines were so congested they sent us all home to activate our lines. So yes, people were able to leave with unactivated phones and Carlos is also correct regarding the Premier account. On release I was not able to order via phone but now you can if you have a Foundation Account.

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  9. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 12:38 pm, Don Said:

    After waiting 5 and a half hours in line at the Chicago NMA store. Apple wanted me to then “go downstairs and activate.”

    Being that I was using my Fiance’s upgrade to get the iPhone and I was then going to swap SIM cards later on, I just said screw it and went home and did it myself.

    I dont see what the big deal is.

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  10. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 12:52 pm, jen328 Said:

    When I bought my 3G at the end of August from an AT&T store here in the Phoenix area, they handed me the un opened, shrink wrapped box and said “Hey, um, we usually activate it here but our internet is down. So, uh, just try it at home and if you have issues, bring it back….”

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  11. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 1:52 pm, Dusty Said:

    I dont see how this involves any change in the backend to AT&T or Apple. AT&T Premeir (Business) customers can order the phones online, they show up, you dial an 800 number, then plug it into net connected iTunes…. done.

    even easier if you have the provisioning software.

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  12. On Sep 22, 2008 @ 9:05 pm, Hugh Said:

    When I bought my 3G at the Rogers store in Toronto, they could not activate the phone due to network problems. They told me to connect it to iTunes to complete the activation. All they did was to register the serial of the phone on their network (that’s what they told me anyway . . .)

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  13. On Nov 1, 2008 @ 4:00 pm, Sophie Said:

    So, In the uk, can i go to a carphone warehouse store buy the £100 handset (which is supposed to be on a 2 year contract) and bring it home to activate? Or unlock?

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