I maintain a family plan with 4 phones, 3 iPhones and an old school flip phone for my Dad.

Well, I figured it's time for him to finally enter the smartphone world at age 71 and he's been asking me about them anyway.

I ordered a 64GB iPhone SE (4 inch screen) for my stepmother who doesn't want a bigger phone and I was going to take her 16GB iPhone 5c and put a fresh battery in it and get an Otterbox type case for it and give to my Dad.

My question is, since this is his first iPhone coming from a dumb phone, what exactly do I need to do to make this switch? I plan to copy out his contact numbers by hand and add them manually to the iPhone but I don't know how the phone number transfers to the iPhone since the flip has a regular SIM card and IIRC, the iPhone does not? Should I just go to an AT&T Store and let them handle it?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PASig,

As you mentioned, the SIM card from the flip phone will likely not be compatible with the iPhone, so you'll need a new one. I vote for going to the ATT store and letting them handle the swap.

Some iPhone do,us a SIM card, the slot is on the right side of the phone. If he has a lot of contacts, I would take it to the att store and see if they could do it for you.

I just went from a flip to an iPhone and Verizon moved all my contacts for me when I bought the phone.

Thanks but I'm not worried about the contacts from the old flip phone, what I am trying to figure out is how do I activate this iPhone with the number from the flip phone? I know I've got to create an iCloud/iTunes account for him.

When you upgrade your phone, the store will automatically "program " your new phone with your number. It's seamless and instantaneous. Depending on your old phone, they might be able to transfer the contacts to your new one as well.

Your carrier should help you out here.
If ATT just into the ATT store.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Thanks but I'm not worried about the contacts from the old flip phone, what I am trying to figure out is how do I activate this iPhone with the number from the flip phone? I know I've got to create an iCloud/iTunes account for him.

I went from a cheap android phone that used a sim card to an iphone 7 that I ordered online from ATT. When I got the iphone, it went through the whole set up and it didn't need a sim card. I think it uses a "pseudo-sim card." This all happened in the comfort of my home.

Both phones were with AT&T.

If the old flip phone has the standard sized sim you can cut it down to fit the 5c.
AT&T should give you a new smaller card for no charge. I've had them do it twice for my son's phone.

I would just go into an AT&T store and do the switch right there. Shoukd take a few minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by pingman274:
I would just go into an AT&T store and do the switch right there. Shoukd take a few minutes.

Yup. Completely painless. But be aware that if he has a big contact list, AT&T may not transfer it. I switched from a 5 to a 6 and had to do it through iTunes.

Thanks for all the advice, I will go to an AT&T Store and let them handle the transfer.

As far as cases, what do you guys recommend? I think I need to get some sort of substantial Otterbox type case with a screen protector for him. Are there better options than Otterbox right now?

I have had an Otterbox on my phones for the last 5 years. 4+ on an Iphone 4S and 3 months on the Iphone 7. The 4S has been dropped stepped on and otherwise used as a tool. It still looks like brand new out of the case. I expect the Iphone7 to perform the same way in its case.

Also put my sisters Iphone 6S in an Otterbox as well. She is very hard on phones and drops them all the time. Still going strong and not worried about it. To put into perspective, over a 2 year span she went thru 4 phones before this new one with an Otterbox. She would always buy the insurance because she knew she would use it. This one I set up for her and told her to pass on any insurance because she wont need it.

Just my take on Otterbox cases. One of my buddies swears by Lifeproof cases for his.

I really, really like Lifeproof's Nuud cases. No screen cover = no response issues. Same everything-proof protection (including water). Just don't crack the screen directly on something hard, but that's generally true even with a screen protector.

They took forever getting the nuud for iPhone7 out, but damn, it's slick. Hardly any added thickness. Very sleek.

If you really need a screen protector, Lifeproof Fre is what you're looking for.

I've used plenty of Otterbox cases in the past. Quality has declined in recent years (since they bought Lifeproof, ironically).

-Rob

Pretty sure you'll need a new SIM card that is compatible with 4G.

Separately, all SIM cards are pretty much the same nowadays whether you're using an iPhone or an Android.