Sell new iPhone 4, use old 3G?

June 19, 2010 8:35 PM

Is there anything preventing me from getting a new iPhone 4 from AT&T/US, selling it, and then using an iPhone 3G on the account in its place (by swapping out the sim)? What could I get for it? Would it be locked?
posted by diffengr to Technology (8 answers total)

For starters, the sim card won't be swap-outable, because the iphone 4 uses microsim.
posted by jangie at 8:41 PM on June 19, 2010

it wouldn't be too hard just to go to an at&t store and getting a replacement sim card though. wouldn't cost you anything either, typically.
posted by yeoz at 8:58 PM on June 19, 2010

you can also look at like this: if the phone was damaged/destroyed they couldn't prevent you from using any other phone, right?
posted by yeoz at 8:59 PM on June 19, 2010

(and, yes, the phone will be locked. no way to know when it will be jailbroken and unlockable, but, it'll probably happen eventually.)
posted by yeoz at 9:00 PM on June 19, 2010

My brother did exactly this when the 3GS released. He used his upgrade eligibility to buy the new model, sold it, and kept his old iphone. Pocketed $600. The downsides are: (1) You don't have the newest phone, (2) you've extended your contract for two years, and (3) if your old phone breaks or gets lost you will have to pay the full price to replace it.

But if you don't really care about the latest greatest, it makes sense. Upgrade eligibility is actually an asset, might as well cash in on it.

In case you're interested, I cash in on it in a slightly less lucrative way (but more satisfying way), where I'll always sell my previous model for $250-$300 and buy the new model for $199. New hardware and cash in my pocket. And since they keep pushing up eligibility to sync with new releases, I get to do this every year.
posted by visual mechanic at 9:34 PM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

I imagine the selling price of an iPhone 4 will be somewhat inflated over the no-contract price initially as supplies are low - over $600 is my guess. I sold an iPhone 3GS for $500 last year on eBay even when they were readily available.
posted by meowzilla at 10:55 PM on June 19, 2010

You could easily put the micro-SIM from the iPhone 4 into your iPhone 3G. You'd just need an adapter. But keep in mind your 3G is not going to support multitasking, and you won't be eligible to upgrade again until probably two years from now, at which time your iPhone 3G will be four years old and likely won't be receiving any more OS updates at all (consider that the first generation iPhone is now only three years old and is not going to support OS 4).
posted by Nothlit at 5:47 AM on June 20, 2010

One other consideration is the battery in your old iPhone: it might not last another two years. I know a couple of people who have first generation iPhones that only hold a few minutes of battery charge. They've both been holding out for the release of the iPhone 4 before upgrading. You could find yourself in the same position a couple of years from now if you buy an iPhone 4 but keep using your old phone.
posted by alms at 11:18 AM on June 22, 2010