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Jason D. O'Grady & David Morgenstern
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Early release iPhone 4 activation problems

By | June 22, 2010, 12:38pm PDT

Summary: Recipients of early iPhone 4 units aren’t able to activate the devices — yet.

Don’t get jealous of the folks that are receiving their iPhone 4’s a full two-days early just yet – they’re not able to activate their new toys.

Despite a report from a MacRumors forums poster that his early iPhone 4 was able to be activated:

FedEx just dropped off my iPhone 4 just a few moments ago… Activation was snappy and smooth.

…it appears that either Apple or AT&T has closed that loophole and iPhone activations now appear to be suspended.

Tip and photo: Ars Technica

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Apple iPhone, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
jwelsh_z 24th Jun 2010
just an FYI. If you did LNP to your new iPhone, you must call and not activate from online. Maybe it was buried in fine print, I didnt see it. FYI #2. No mysterious blotches, drop calls from left hand covering bottom left band, WiFi range beats my 3G by a longshot. To spread the wealth, adding a line will be a Droid. I like them both!
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Well that sucks
bobiroc 22nd Jun 2010
I guess I will not be picking mine up tonight even if the Best Buy Store Manager allows me to. What is the big deal if people activate their early? Seems unnecessary to lock them out without reason. So some people will get jealous and maybe even mad that Johnny got his phone a day or two before Sally. Who cares.
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When it Rains, It Pours..... DRM!
i2fun@... 22nd Jun 2010
@bobiroc I wonder who was missing their thinking caps on this one. Who cares if you get early delivery if you can't use it? Hope they get it sorted for you people in a day or two at least! grin

Meanwhile Samsung Galaxy S (same designed processor w/better screen) has launched in Europe and Asia to rave reviews with full video conferencing and a simply brilliant super contrast, Super AMOLED screen used in an F-1 Racing Car's Dash n Wheel. Also in it's sponsor's Ads embedded in the sides of it's carbon fiber body!

btw... in case you didn't notice..... DRM stands for Digital Rectal Manipulation! wink
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
bobiroc 22nd Jun 2010
@i2fun@...

I heard a rumor that activation may be available starting tomorrow. My buddy at Best Buy said he would call me if I can come in and get it early. If not then I wait. No Biggie.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
fatman65535 23rd Jun 2010
@i2fun@...

Actually, I feel that the manner in which this has been handled smarts of someone in charge suffers from `SFB syndrome`. (Little hint: grey matter is actually brown in color.)

Taking the latest gaffes into consideration, and wishing to be a `fly on Steve Jobs' wall`; I have to wonder if Jobs has not had his `Ballmer moment` yet?? (Hint: think `chair throwing` incident.)

Oh well, the amusement continues.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
Jphilipmiller@... 22nd Jun 2010
Interesting that earlier today the FEDEX tracking showed delivery scheduled for tomorrow for mine from AT&T. Now the tracking number is not found ??
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
JamieW 22nd Jun 2010
So what new?
I attempted to upgrade to a 3GS. After nearly 4 hours I was told that I would have to cancel my current account(and cell number that I have had for years) and open an entirely new account with a new phone number to accomplish the upgrade.

AT&T SUCKS

When will Apple get smart and allow some other company to offer IPhones?
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
trent1 22nd Jun 2010
@JamieW - That must be something about your account or who you were speaking with. I dropped in one of the ATT stores around here to inquire about my account and how much it would cost to get a 3GS. I was quoted full price since I'm not eligible for an upgrade, but other than that - they could do it right now - same number and they would transfer over all my contacts and email info.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
bobiroc 22nd Jun 2010
@JamieW

Been with AT&T and never had trouble upgrading or changing my plan. I really do not think your experience is typical but if it is true then I would be calling to get it resolved by someone higher than the person that told you that you needed to cancel your account.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
Pete "athynz" Athens 23rd Jun 2010
@JamieW I've never had that issue with any carrier... and when my wife and daughter both got iPhones this past fall my wife's account was the only one not able to get the early upgrade so she was allowed to use mine - both of them went from LG Shine to iPhone 3G... and this was all done in 20 minutes. Perhaps the person you were dealing with was new or just did not know what they were doing...
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Who cares
Jimster480 22nd Jun 2010
I dont really think anyone cares about geting their iPhone 4's they were nothing special when they were shown at WWDC and they aren't anything special now. the only thing nice about it is its screen. Everything else pales in comparison to other smartphones specs.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
pcwace2 22nd Jun 2010
@Jimster480

Oh ya? Name it. I'd love to hear about any smartphone out there that makes the iPhone pale in comparison. Quit being a whiney Droid-carrying iPhone hater and either see the light or come to the table with something a little less retarded than your opening statement. 600,000 orders in the first few hours of launch is not what any sane person would characterize a product that no one cares about.
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600,000 orders pre-release
HugoM 23rd Jun 2010
shows that lots of people don't know why they want one, but they want one anyway
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
Pete "athynz" Athens 23rd Jun 2010
@HugoM And you know this how? Dude, troll elsewhere.
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What a skew headline!
minardi 23rd Jun 2010
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
i-Pete 23rd Jun 2010
Black Friday is coming for AT&T and Apple. The connectivity problem will explode. The orange network is already overwhelmed and if they add at least 800,000 new customers it will go deaf. It is public secret that GSM towers (AT&T, T-Mobile) has less capacity than the CDMA towers (Verizon, Sprint). This means that a GSM tower supports less # of wireless than the CDMA.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
ntward@... 23rd Jun 2010
I received my iPhone 4 two hours ago and had no problem activating.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
petbutterfly 23rd Jun 2010
Not an issue today, I know two people happily using their 4's since this morning
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I got mine this AM and had no problems with activation
MacUserDan 23rd Jun 2010
It was probably about 11:00 central time...it went without a hitch and was relatively fast (the longest time was transferring my data).
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No problems this am for me either - @ 11 or so ET
srj@... 23rd Jun 2010
I activated without any problems this am around 11am or so. Actually the conversion from my 3GS to this was about as seamless as I could have expected. Only thing I had to do was put my email passwords back in to the new device settings. That's about it...

ITunes offered to use my previous backup of my 3GS - which I chose to do (I had upgraded the 3GS already to iOS4.) It then restored that backup and sync'd the device and activated it.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
briwilk 23rd Jun 2010
FexEx dropped my iPhone 4 off and within 30 minutes I was able to activate and am up and running. Way to go Apple & AT&T!
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Early activation
wvugal89 23rd Jun 2010
I had no trouble activating my iphone 4 today. I made a phone call entered my phone number and my phone was active within 3 minutes.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
wvugal89 23rd Jun 2010
Took less than five minutes to activate my iphone 4 and I love it!
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
bergrrt@... 23rd Jun 2010
Who really cares?!!!!! Didn't you just go through this crap a short time ago? Each launch gets worse and in the end it's not that big a deal...
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
akoobra 23rd Jun 2010
@bergrrt@...
Thank you. Its a friggin phone, jeez do people really have such shallow lives that a phone makes them ecstatic, please go out and get a life
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
kryten2x4p@... 23rd Jun 2010
LOL here in the UK all the cellular providers sell the iPhone so we can shop around for the best deal.
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HAHAHA
yesplease@... 23rd Jun 2010
APPLE LEMMINGS. Who cares? A ton of ignorant people have chosen a well marketed path. It does not mean it was a good choice. Mind you Beta would have been a better choice than VHS, so go figure. The educated few are on a better ticket, but for the masses, ignorance is bliss. If Apple told you to jump off a cliff, you would have to, because you would not have any choice. To be fair, they would have told you that it was good, and you would enjoy it happy
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
iheartiphone4 23rd Jun 2010
I don't know if this will help anyone else, but when my iPhone 4 arrived today I couldn't get it to activate (it just said no service). When I tried to place a call anyway, it said to turn off airplane mode. I hadn't put it on airplane mode, and the airplane mode icon wasn't showing. But I went to that screen anyway and just turned airplane mode on, then off and immediately I had service and the phone was activated. Just wanted to share in case anyone else had a similar problem.
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
iheartiphone4 23rd Jun 2010
I don't know if this will help anyone else, but when my iPhone 4 arrived today I couldn't get it to activate. (it just said no service). When I tried to place a call anyway, it said to turn off airplane mode. I hadn't put it on airplane mode, and the aiplane mode icon wasn't showing. But I went to that screen anyway and just turned airplane mode on, then off and immediately I had service and the phone was activated. Just wanted to share in case anyone else had a similar problem.
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Eye Phones Need Glasses?
bj70117@... Updated - 23rd Jun 2010
Sorry Sir, your screen on your new fancy schmancy phone flunked our QC inspection. Would you like a refund?
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RE: Early release iPhone 4 activation problems
jwelsh_z 24th Jun 2010
just an FYI. If you did LNP to your new iPhone, you must call and not activate from online. Maybe it was buried in fine print, I didnt see it. FYI #2. No mysterious blotches, drop calls from left hand covering bottom left band, WiFi range beats my 3G by a longshot. To spread the wealth, adding a line will be a Droid. I like them both!

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