I have a couple of questions about activation and contracts, mainly for those iPhone 3G owners who had to activate their device at home, rather than in store. I'm guessing that the contract had to be signed in store even if you left with a sealed iPhone package? Regarding the activation process, does it involve any contract set-up? If the contract is done in-store as I've been led to believe, what does the activation of the phone via iTunes do?
I've seen many 3G iPhones on eBay - am I right in thinking that the people selling these have signed up for contracts which they intend to use on other phones, and are now selling the contract-free iPhone itself? I know it's obviously still carrier locked, but if an iPhone is obtained without a contract, can activation be done with any AT&T (or O2) sim? Or would the use of a sim other than one on an approved contract plan be simply rejected (without unlocking)? Sorry if this sounds convoluted, I'm just trying to get my head around the way this works. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help get me get my head round this.
EDIT: Nevermind, similar question being discussed here - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/519495/
I've seen many 3G iPhones on eBay - am I right in thinking that the people selling these have signed up for contracts which they intend to use on other phones, and are now selling the contract-free iPhone itself? I know it's obviously still carrier locked, but if an iPhone is obtained without a contract, can activation be done with any AT&T (or O2) sim? Or would the use of a sim other than one on an approved contract plan be simply rejected (without unlocking)? Sorry if this sounds convoluted, I'm just trying to get my head around the way this works. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help get me get my head round this.
EDIT: Nevermind, similar question being discussed here - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/519495/