Apple has published a support document for those planning to upgrade to new iPhone 3G and were wondering how to replace their original iPhone with new iPhone 3G.
The details have raised a concern for all those who might have already sold their original iPhone to buy the new iPhone 3G.
iPhone owners in the US:
If you are in the US then you don’t need your original SIM as the new iPhone 3G includes a SIM. Your original iPhone account information will be transferred to iPhone 3G’s SIM at the time of purchase.
iPhone owners in other countries planning to use the same carrier:
If you are not in the US then you can use your original iPhone’s SIM with iPhone 3G.
iPhone owners in other countries planning to use a different carrier:
Since Apple has decided to move away for its single carrier strategy, you will soon have the option to change carrier.
If you want to upgrade to iPhone 3G using a different carrier then you will need to purchase iPhone 3G from the new carrier and then figure out from the carriers on how to transfer your original iPhone’s mobile phone number from your existing carrier to your new account with the new carrier.
Procedure to transfer personal data from your original iPhone to iPhone 3G:
To transfer your personal data such as saved SMS messages, email accounts and passwords, photos, notes, or other personal settings from your original iPhone to your new iPhone 3G you need to take a backup of your original iPhone in iTunes 7.7. You then need to restore that backup to the new iPhone 3G. You can read this post to find out more on how to backup and restore your iPhone.
After you have verified that your new iPhone 3G has been restored with your personal data from the original iPhone, you can erase the personal data from the original iPhone with the new secure erase feature that will be available in iPhone firmware 2.0.
Concern for all those who might have backed up and already sold their original iPhone:
Apple has mentioned that before you follow the above steps to ensure that you have the latest version of iTunes (i.e. iTunes 7.7) and iPhone firmware (i.e. iPhone firmware 2.0). However, I am not sure if its mandatory to take backups with iTunes 7.7 and iPhone firmware 2.0 as that would mean that all those who have already sold their iPhone (like iPhone Hacks reader, Louis) might have an issue restoring their personal data from their original iPhone as they would have done it with an older iTunes and iPhone firmware versions.
I don’t think it should be an issue, but I guess only time will tell.
[Source: TUAW via Apple Support]
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