I got the same 'Waiting for activation' message and no signal on the iPhone when I tried thru' iTunes. Then I called ATT, the ATT rep asked for SIM card number (need to take SIM out - note that there is a pin in the package for this purpose) and IMEI number (on the iPhone package cover). In about two minutes it was activated.
Why didn't you just use a sim from a AT&T Pre Paid Go Phone, it works.
I don't think anyone could have really predicted just how huge the demand was going to be for the 3G S.
With all due respect, there are people at Apple and AT&T whose only job is to anticipate market demands. They literally have nothing else to distract them from gathering every bit of info they need to accurately predict things like this. Just sayin'.
I don't think anyone could have really predicted just how huge the demand was going to be for the 3G S.
on the contrary, both companies knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. they took pre-orders for ten days, so that was a known quantity.
and they architected the servers, so they knew capacity.
both things were and are quantifiable.
it seems that the activation issue is an at&t issue. given their level of customer service it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. one might have thought they could take some of last year's billions [with a "b"] in net profit and invest a little but hey, that would mean things might go right. and it's only the customer getting screwed, right?
my phone sat in the "take some time" state for 50 minutes before i picked up the phone and called at&t. all that needed to be done was to pop the sim and re-insert it. i feel for those of you not getting activated; i know i would be verily pissed. in a major way.
My activation doesn't work also. But I just pop the old sim card from my iPhone 2G into the 3GS and it activated it. I guess this only works if you already have an activated iPhone (sim card) with you. I'm now using the 3GS. Very excited.
So exactly when during the process can you take the SIM card from your old 3G and put it in the new 3Gs? Can you do that right out of the box? Do you need to connect to iTunes first?
So how does this work exactly. If I'm on AT&T now, and go update to an iPhone tonight, does my old phone die while I wait for the iPhone to activate? Will I be phone-less indefinitely?
I got in line at 7AM and waited for just over an hour and a half at the Apple store at La Encantada in Tucson AZ and couldn't get in to get my two reserved iPhone 3GSes. There were 50-60 people ahead of me and in that 90 minutes I'd say maybe 10 people got their phones. I figured it would take at least 3-4 hours at that rate for me to get my phones. I will try back later (and maybe try my local Walmart, ATT etc.).
I was at the back of a line of maybe 100 people on day one in 2007 in San Diego and got my 1st gen iPhones within 45 minutes, but back then you could activate at home. The policy of activating in the stores is terribly counter-productive IMHO. If only I had known that if you buy it online, it is activated by ATT before it ships -- according to an Apple rep at the store.
Consider ordering online if you haven't already purchased. At least today, waiting in line may not be worth your time.
My boyfriend's phone wasn't activating within the 10 minutes the Apple dude told us, so after about 20 I turned it off and on, then it was fine. This was a little after 10 am PST.
I activated and it said it could take time. Two minutes later my buddy called me. I thought it was an AT&T confirmation call at first. So it was pretty much instantanious for me. This was about fifteen minutes ago.
I'm really shocked this happened again. I thought releasing the 3.0 Update two days early and taking pre-orders would have helped prevent a repeat of last year's debacle (maybe those measures did help to some degree). Good work to the people who braved the early-morning lines and beat the rush. Tough luck for those still awaiting activation. Hang in there. I can't imagine any pending activations actually taking the full 48 hours.
So how does this work exactly. If I'm on AT&T now, and go update to an iPhone tonight, does my old phone die while I wait for the iPhone to activate? Will I be phone-less indefinitely?
If you pick it up at an Apple store and do not activate it there, I think so. If it's shipped to you, then no. It won't die until you activate your new phone. I had mine shipped to me and just activated the 3GS and my 2G lost service right after. (tear)
So exactly when during the process can you take the SIM card from your old 3G and put it in the new 3Gs? Can you do that right out of the box? Do you need to connect to iTunes first?
I first connect the new 3GS to iTune. It already has a sim inside. iTune tried to activate it but show me the "wait 48 hours" message. I then swap the sim from my 2G phone and 3GS activated itself. Simple as that. I think the step is
1. Connect the new 3GS to iTune, allow it to attempt to activate.
2. When failed, swap the old sim in. 3GS will now activate itself.
So exactly when during the process can you take the SIM card from your old 3G and put it in the new 3Gs? Can you do that right out of the box? Do you need to connect to iTunes first?
agreed, i need more details, fedex just dropped mine off, i really have no desire to carry 2 phones around for the weekend.
Hopefully the 48 is a worst case warning, in the vein of "underpromise, overdeliver." Warn people of 48 hour delays, and then if it's only 12 hours, you've managed the same exact event into better PR just by the wording of a message
Comments
I got the same 'Waiting for activation' message and no signal on the iPhone when I tried thru' iTunes. Then I called ATT, the ATT rep asked for SIM card number (need to take SIM out - note that there is a pin in the package for this purpose) and IMEI number (on the iPhone package cover). In about two minutes it was activated.
Why didn't you just use a sim from a AT&T Pre Paid Go Phone, it works.
One person did...... Steve Jobs.
Hehe, true.
Why didn't you just use a sim from a AT&T Pre Paid Go Phone, it works.
I do not have one
I don't think anyone could have really predicted just how huge the demand was going to be for the 3G S.
Seriously? The rush for the original and then 3G iPhones wouldn't have added up to just the tiniest hint?
I don't think anyone could have really predicted just how huge the demand was going to be for the 3G S.
With all due respect, there are people at Apple and AT&T whose only job is to anticipate market demands. They literally have nothing else to distract them from gathering every bit of info they need to accurately predict things like this. Just sayin'.
[/i]
Interesting.
What does that make people who post a string of z's as their only reply to a message?
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZing!!!
I don't think anyone could have really predicted just how huge the demand was going to be for the 3G S.
on the contrary, both companies knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. they took pre-orders for ten days, so that was a known quantity.
and they architected the servers, so they knew capacity.
both things were and are quantifiable.
it seems that the activation issue is an at&t issue. given their level of customer service it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. one might have thought they could take some of last year's billions [with a "b"] in net profit and invest a little but hey, that would mean things might go right. and it's only the customer getting screwed, right?
my phone sat in the "take some time" state for 50 minutes before i picked up the phone and called at&t. all that needed to be done was to pop the sim and re-insert it. i feel for those of you not getting activated; i know i would be verily pissed. in a major way.
My activation doesn't work also. But I just pop the old sim card from my iPhone 2G into the 3GS and it activated it. I guess this only works if you already have an activated iPhone (sim card) with you. I'm now using the 3GS. Very excited.
So exactly when during the process can you take the SIM card from your old 3G and put it in the new 3Gs? Can you do that right out of the box? Do you need to connect to iTunes first?
I was at the back of a line of maybe 100 people on day one in 2007 in San Diego and got my 1st gen iPhones within 45 minutes, but back then you could activate at home. The policy of activating in the stores is terribly counter-productive IMHO. If only I had known that if you buy it online, it is activated by ATT before it ships -- according to an Apple rep at the store.
Consider ordering online if you haven't already purchased. At least today, waiting in line may not be worth your time.
Why do you think they released the 3.0 update 2 days before?
Software update and activation use entirely different servers, so you're comparing apples & oranges.
So how does this work exactly. If I'm on AT&T now, and go update to an iPhone tonight, does my old phone die while I wait for the iPhone to activate? Will I be phone-less indefinitely?
If you pick it up at an Apple store and do not activate it there, I think so. If it's shipped to you, then no. It won't die until you activate your new phone. I had mine shipped to me and just activated the 3GS and my 2G lost service right after. (tear)
So exactly when during the process can you take the SIM card from your old 3G and put it in the new 3Gs? Can you do that right out of the box? Do you need to connect to iTunes first?
I first connect the new 3GS to iTune. It already has a sim inside. iTune tried to activate it but show me the "wait 48 hours" message. I then swap the sim from my 2G phone and 3GS activated itself. Simple as that. I think the step is
1. Connect the new 3GS to iTune, allow it to attempt to activate.
2. When failed, swap the old sim in. 3GS will now activate itself.
So exactly when during the process can you take the SIM card from your old 3G and put it in the new 3Gs? Can you do that right out of the box? Do you need to connect to iTunes first?
agreed, i need more details, fedex just dropped mine off, i really have no desire to carry 2 phones around for the weekend.
Software update and activation use entirely different servers, so you're comparing apples & oranges.
Really? The iPhone 3.0 Software Update is applied through iTunes, as is Activation. Or so I thought.