I'm not sure why anyone would want to do this. Isn't the pricing on a non-contract line much more expensive? I wonder how long it would take the average user to spend the $175 fee you're charged if you terminate (which is bullshit by the way), in the extra per-minute fees.

I might be wrong here (wouldn't be the first time), but without a contract you don't even get free nights and weekends right? So it wouldn't take much to spend a lot more money each month... Am I wrong?

Activating the phone without contract doesn't allow you to make calls.

This would basically be:

*walk into Apple Store*

*Buy iPhone*

*activate iPhone*

*go play with your new wifi iPod*

So can this be used to unlock an iPhone and use it with an existing SIM if you are already an AT&T customer (i.e. so you don't have to commit to a new 2 year contract, and can take advantage of corporate service discounts)?

sooo. i might buy a iphone now for this exact reason. :D

Would work perfectly for my wife. She wants an iPhone but doesn't think she'll have any need for the $20+ data plan. No need to extend her contract either. All she wants is the iPod features and a cell phone. If she wants to upgrade to a "iPhone Nano" in the future, we can always sell this off and get it (without extending her contract twice), but if not, she'll be happy with this one.

I don't believe the iPhone uses a SIM card...

I'd check into that if I were someone who wanted an iPhone with out the "data" plan.

@ Gooche

The iPhone is with ATT...ATT uses SIM cards [they are GSM]

The iphone most definitely has a SIM card, and you can get at it with a paperclip from the top where there is a hole to stick the paperclip to get the SIM out.

It's not a paperclip, it's a 'mac tool'. Really.

(Rats. There used to be a page on the apple site showing one... a straightened paperclip. They also had an 'official' one, with a nice triangular bent handle... as well as a 'big ball of orange static' = cat. Those being missing makes this post not nearly as funny as it would have been...)

Saying "Activate iPhone without contract" leads readers to believe they can get contract free service from AT&T and make calls on their iPhone. I think better wording would be "Activate iPhone features without AT&T Service." You can still have a calling plan without a contract.

Yeah, without the phone feature, it's almost useless. You could use it as a very expensive web surfing iPod though (since Safari will work with WiFi).

You wouldn't be able to get any phone service on the unlocked phone, it won't work with any other SIM card, only an officially activated iPhone SIM. By "activation" here they mean that it allows you to use the ipod (video) and wifi features without going through the AT&T process.