Report: Apple’s iPhone 3G will require double activation

According to some setteB.IT international sources the iPhone 3G will need a double activation.

One will be the carrier activation made in carrier stores or in carrier’s partners stores, exclusively.

The other activation is required by the App Store via iTunes using the iTunes Store account. It must be made using a Mac or Windows PC.

Full article (in Italian) here.

Full article (in English via Google Translation) here.

MacNN reports, “If confirmed the plan would contrast sharply with that for the original iPhone, under which people were able to simply buy an iPhone and take it home, and subsequently sign up for a carrier contract on their own time through iTunes. Apple is said to have become frustrated, however, by the number of people buying iPhones and unlocking them for an unofficial carrier, thus depriving Apple of shared revenue streams.”

Full article here.

54 Comments

  1. Take this for what it’s worth, but I was at the Apple store in Topanga over the weekend. I asked a salesperson about the in-store activation issue, and she told me that this would only apply to AT&T;stores. According to her, you will still be able to buy the iPhone at Apple stores and activate at home through iTunes. Maybe she was mistaken, but she seemed pretty clear about it.

    No word on “double activation” though…

  2. @Skeeter,

    Well you can thank all the opportunistic douche bags who bought numerous iPhones to sell them unlocked on the black market. They ruined for us all. It is ignorant and irrational to point the finger at Apple for this, their hand was forced.

  3. @fastmemory

    “An iPhone? No way in hell.” Is that where you live? And they let you use a computer there? Dang. Where I live, an iPhone seems like another little piece of heaven. You might want to think about moving!

  4. Whiners.
    It reminds me of the ATT controversy.
    If Verizon had been the carrier we’d be hearing nothing but whining.
    If Sprint had been the carrier we’d be hearing more whining.
    If the iPhone had been made open for ALL carriers we’d be hearing unending bleating about how unfair it is that Verizon’s terms are 2% cheaper than ATT’s and how Sprint gave all THEIR customers a free chapstick and 100 minutes with their phone…

    America. Land of the free, home of the whiners.

  5. MDN – STOP it with the annoying pop-up ads and pop-behind windows!!! Your site is literally the most annoying one I still visit…please change this nonsense or risk losing a pair of eyes… —spudley

    I second that! And third it! And fourth it! Really obnoxious.

  6. I don’t see any difference between this plan and the ‘original’ plan. You still have the register the phone with your carrier, and create an Apple account to access iTunes (which is also the App store). So what is the differnece?

  7. re: Well so much for the Apple “Experiance” – That Sucks!

    Yep!

    An we can blame the idiots who bought an iPhone and tried to use it via unauthorised means.

    FUCKING IDIOTS – THANKS FOR RUINING IT FOR PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY ARE LAW ABIDDING.

  8. “MDN – STOP it with the annoying pop-up ads and pop-behind windows!!! Your site is literally the most annoying one I still visit…please change this nonsense or risk losing a pair of eyes… —spudley”

    It has already reached ridicules levels and just think, this is the next big thing in generating revenue on the web.

    Just as people are waking up to the security that is OS X, so too will they awaken to this force feeding nonsense and revolt.

    In fact, I find myself revolting already. (as does my wife)

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