Verizon Wireless iPhone

If you are an existing Verizon customer and you upgraded your phone before January 10, 2011 you must return the new device and reactivate your original phone. The problem with exchanging your upgrade for an iPhone is that Verizon has a 30-day limit on exchanges and returns. Reactivating your old phone gives you more time before the Verizon iPhone launch date so you can use your upgrade to get an iPhone 4.

Verizon will charge a $35 restocking fee and reinstate your eligibility for upgrade after the return.

Not eligible for an upgrade yet? Verizon customers can purchase the iPhone 4 without a contract at full retail price. You can also help defray the cost by trading in your old phone with the Verizon Wireless Trade-In Program. The going rate for a used phone can be determined at the Verizon trade-in website.

Yes. You can avoid a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless buy purchasing the iPhone 4 at full retail price. The cost runs $649.99 for the 16GB model and $749.99 for the 32GB model. These prices are $50 higher than the full retail price of the AT&T iPhone 4.

For comparison, signing a two-year contract with Verizon results in subsidized pricing of $199 for the 16GB iPhone 4 and $299 for the 32GB model, same as AT&T.

If you already own an iPhone 4 case it might fit the Verizon iPhone 4. This depends on the design of the case. Anything form-fitting with separate cutouts for the volume buttons and ring/silent switch will NOT fit the Verizon iPhone. Verizon's model is different, with the ring/silent switch moved down closer to the volume buttons to accommodate changes in the antenna.

This means that cases like the Apple iPhone 4 Bumper sold to AT&T customers will not fit the Verizon iPhone. Manufacturers are now producing special form-fitting cases that will fit the Verizon iPhone.