activation fee

Hey there! We hear you and let's share the information you are looking for.

In response to your question, no, you will not be charged an activation fee if you transfer the line from one device to another on the same account. However, if you add a new line to the new device, you will be charged $35 of activation fee.

Hope this information helps!

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Kelly, Community Forums Specialist.

If you buy a phone from AT&T your charged an upgrade fee. It's not the same thing as activation.

If you purchase a phone on your own and transfer service between the phones, there's no fee.

That’s news to me!  I bought my phone from Apple, am making payments to Apple, never gave my number or said I was upgrading my line when I ordered from Apple, and still got charged a $35 upgrade fee by AT&T.  Only thing I can think of was that my previous iPhone 13 had a physical SIM, and iPhone 15 is eSIM only, so during the setup process, an eSIM was created on my new phone.  This was done during the iPhone Quick Start process (iPhone to iPhone setup), and AT&T wasn’t involved.  I can only assume that if you get a new SIM, they will charge you the $35.

i have an iphone XS but it has no number and it’s not activated yet how much would it be to activate it and pay for a month of service? ( i already have 3 phone lines with at&t)