Skip to Content

Signup with AT&T before visiting the Apple Store

by Dave Caolo Sep 23rd 2008 at 3:15PM

In an attempt to speed up the notoriously slow iPhone activation procedure, Apple and AT&T will now let you get the ball rolling before you leave home.

Customers can go to the new iPhone "Buy" web page and fill out preliminary information like billing information, select an AT&T plan and review eligibility pricing information.

I haven't purchased an iPhone since my good old original 4GB model went on sale back in June of '07, so I can only assume the process has improved. If you take advantage of this pre-sale registration, let us know how it goes.

[Via MacRumors]

View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Retail iPhone

In an attempt to speed up the notoriously slow iPhone activation procedure, Apple and AT&T will now let you get the ball rolling before...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

21 Comments

Filter by:
Bertil Holmberg

I ordered my iPhone online from Swedish carrier Telia. After two weeks (that was just after the launch) a SIM card arrived in the post and I could pick up the phone at the local post office. Simple and efficient.

You people must live in another universe ;-)

September 24 2008 at 12:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jon Wise

1st Gen 4GB FTW!!
I have the same phone, and its unlockability has come in very handy, and the

September 24 2008 at 10:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
TJ

Am I missing something Im kinda confused. When I signed up for a contract they sent me a sealed iphone, I turned it on it says to plug in to activate. I plug it in and it activated in a second. Or is that an ATT restriction?

September 23 2008 at 10:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to TJ's comment
Michaelsviews

More than likely your IMEI number was scanned into the system under your name and last 4 of SSN, and than when you activated it through iTunes/AT&T everything was preset.

September 24 2008 at 6:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MRCUR

Where did you order the phone from? What you're describing is pretty much at-home activation, minus selecting a plan.

September 24 2008 at 9:57 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex Paris

I tried this today. It didnt woork for me... the "review and save" step just kept spinning and spinning. hmm.

September 23 2008 at 10:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Alex Paris's comment
Alex Paris

I would like to amend my statement. I tried again in Safari (Vs FF3) and it worked just fine.

September 24 2008 at 3:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Wry Cooter

it was the only way to make the lines go away.

If you have a process that takes 30 minutes because of one of your business partners att, you have waiting in line.

And Lines.

And people who will not buy because of the lines and their available time.

September 23 2008 at 6:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Denny

I just tried it and it's "checking my credit". The message says:

"You're almost done.

Please wait while we process your request.

This may take up to 3 minutes."

3 minutes, ha! How about it's been 15 minutes. Safari is working fine, so it's not locked up. We'll so much for that.

September 23 2008 at 6:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Evan

I tried to do this earlier and when it got to part where they were running my credit - the browser (firefox) kept locking up.

September 23 2008 at 5:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
barrow.jay

If this phone ever makes it into a sleek sexy package like the iphone, I think it will definetly put some competition on apple in the consumer market. Some competition for Apple in this area would be great, maybe then we would see some faster improvements with the app store and mobileme...

September 23 2008 at 5:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

Well you live and you learn. They are at the least making a pro-active attempt to speed up the process. And yes Apple better kick it up another notch or Android will. Here is a hint: Stop policing the Apps so strictly and give more leeway or all these open source apps that are coming to Android will make you!

September 23 2008 at 4:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Chris's comment
I_Love_TUAW

Great idea. APPLE: ARE YOU HEARING THIS?

September 23 2008 at 5:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cameron David

Shame on them for not implementing this for the 11th.

September 23 2008 at 4:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.