Apple Now Selling Unlocked GSM iPhones in the U.S.

Tiger8 · Nov 30, 2012

JazzyGB1 said:
Hi,
Does anyone know if these unlocked iPhones are the same as the unlocked iPhones in the UK?
By that I mean will they work with any UK network SIM?
I ask because I'm in the USA in January and at the current exchange rate the 64GB model works out £100 less if purchased in the USA (and yes I have factored in the 8% tax).
Thanks in advance

GB

It will work (GSM and 3G) but LTE is questionable, check the LTE bands

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wikus said:
$650 for a 16gb phone?

How much koolaid does one have to drink to justify spending THAT much cash on ANY phone?!

With the exception of Nexus 4, this is the standard price for any smartphone

Just like back in the early 2000s your 'free' clamshell phone was actually a $300 phone, you pay for it over the contract.

Nothlit · Nov 30, 2012

aziatiklover said:
iphone 4/4S were $699 plus tax! So this is indeed cheaper!

Raftysworld said:
Wow. Apple hit it out of the ballpark with these prices. The biggest update to the iPhone ever, and the off-contract price comes down compared to the 4S.

No, the unlocked/off-contract price for iPhone 4 and 4S was the same ($649/749/849).

Mr Hill said:
Also Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile will unlock devices for customers traveling abroad if they request it. Not sure about Sprint.

AT&T will only unlock an iPhone if the contract term is up.

waloshin said:
In the States they also have a federal tax and state taxes. When you see the price of $200 US D that is before taxes.

There is no federal sales tax in the U.S. Most states have a sales tax, and some local municipalities have one as well. (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon do not have a state sales tax.) The combined state & local sales tax is generally somewhere on the order of 5-10%.

katanna said:
So only unlocked GSM iPhones, not CDMA phones... what is going on? Why not CDMA phones? Guess I am STILL waiting...

There isn't really such a thing as an unlocked CDMA phone. You can, however, buy a Verizon iPhone 5, and the SIM card slot will be unlocked for use on any GSM carrier.

Lefteous said:
Do you have to pay the tax when ordering in the Apple Online Store?

Yes, if Apple has a physical presence in the state where you live, then they are required to collect sales tax. And even if they didn't, most states require customers to pay the tax on their own if it's not collected by the retailer (this is typically called "use tax" rather than sales tax, but it's essentially the same thing). So anyone who buys anything from Amazon or other online retailers and doesn't pay tax on it is technically breaking the law in most states.

KPOM · Nov 30, 2012

EbookReader said:
Nexus 4 at $299 and $349 GSM unlocked seem to be popular. Google can't keep up with demand. But they might not have many in stock in the first place.

And it's also pretty clear that Google is selling them basically at cost (or maybe even taking a loss by subsidizing LG to an extent). Google makes its money from search revenue.

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JazzyGB1 said:
Hi,
Does anyone know if these unlocked iPhones are the same as the unlocked iPhones in the UK?
By that I mean will they work with any UK network SIM?
I ask because I'm in the USA in January and at the current exchange rate the 64GB model works out £100 less if purchased in the USA (and yes I have factored in the 8% tax).
Thanks in advance

GB

The unlocked phones in the US are the AT&T model, so they won't work with EE's LTE network in the UK. The Verizon version might, though, so that could be an option if you can get the store to sell it to you "device only." However, the US unlocked version will work on HSPA+ networks in the UK.

Gregintosh · Nov 30, 2012

So here are your choices:

- Buy the Verizon model and get GSM unlocked anyway so you can use it with any carrier you want (Just no LTE if you select AT&T) PLUS you have the choice of using it with Verizon in the future.

- Buy the Apple version and you basically get the same GSM unlock, you gain LTE if you are going with AT&T, but you never can use it on Verizon so that's no longer an option for you.

Personally, I think if I were going to go T-Mobile or some 3rd party GSM carrier I would go with the Verizon model! At least if I ever change my mind (or want to resell) it has more options.

And if I am an AT&T customer or want to be, then I guess I would just pay for the subsidized phone or I would have already gotten my full price iPhone unlocked (since AT&T will unlock anyway if you pay full price).

KdParker · Nov 30, 2012

so the only benefit I get from this is that I will not have to sign a two year contract?

Seem like this the more expensive option unless I travel out of the country alot.

Cursor · Nov 30, 2012

So I guess this means that Virgin Mobile US will finally get the iPhone 5 soon?

Foxykhat · Nov 30, 2012

I'm confused. Why is the phone still GSM?

Unless I'm ignorant to the terms. Can someone please clarify.

I'm not in the US but I have been waiting to purchase the unlock phone to work with my carrier which has 4G capabilities.

So are you guys saying I should just got to Apple store or on the site and purchase a verizon version, rather than the unlock ATT that is being offered?

Please help

Foxy

John.B · Nov 30, 2012

KdParker said:
so the only benefit I get from this is that I will not have to sign a two year contract?

Seem like this the more expensive option unless I travel out of the country alot.

Many people in the US will use these unlocked iPhones with cheaper GSM carriers like Straight Talk, Virgin Mobile, etc.

Cursor · Nov 30, 2012

John.B said:
Many people in the US will use these unlocked iPhones with cheaper GSM carriers like Straight Talk, Virgin Mobile, etc.

Do you have to wait for Virgin Mobile to come out with the iPhone 5 themselves, or can you buy this unlocked phone and configure it tow work with Virgin Mobile yourself?

perealb · Nov 30, 2012

I've got my iPhone 5 on the first day it went on pre-sale without a contract. To my surprise, when I restored my phone to 6.0.1, iTunes showed a message saying "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked". Did i get one of those unlocked phones they are selling now? It's a MD636LL.

Carmenia83 · Nov 30, 2012

Mackan said:
All I see when I look at those iPhone pictures are the 50-70% profit margins Apple make on them. A 64 Gb iPhone 5, $849... when it costs at most $300 to build.

Then build one yourself...

fahadqureshi · Nov 30, 2012

Deanobear said:
What I can't understand is that UNLOCKED iPhones aren't available from day 1 in the US

I believe unlocked iPhone5's are unofficially available in the US long before they officially show up on their website as unlocked. If you buy a iphone 5 (ATT version) at the full $649 price bring it home and connect it to iTunes you will get that "Congratulations iPhone unlocked" message. I bought one about a week ago at the full price and asked 2 different apple employees about it and both said "officially we can't say its unlocked but you can buy it and try and if it doesn't work bring it back with 14 days and get a refund" So in other words they were indirectly telling me that its unlocked.

Plus it's not like apple will be shipping specifically marked unlocked iphone5's to all the apple stores. If you walk into an apple store today and ask for an unlocked iphone 5 today they will prob just hand you an AT&T one and tell you its unlocked.

mccldwll · Nov 30, 2012

Marrakas said:
$150'ish less for each model and they would actually be worth it. As it is now, there's no reason to not get an Android instead if you're buying unlocked, unless you're a true Apple fanboy of course.

Or unless you want a quality phone which will retain its value over time, instead of a cheap plastic piece of #%£.

Tiger8 · Nov 30, 2012

Deanobear said:
I can't understand the situation in the US. I live in Australia, and I bought my iPhone 5 outright from Apple, as it has always been - with iPhone 3, 4, etc., you can order from the online site, it's unlocked and you put in the sim of your mobile provider of choice. What hold do US carriers have over Apple? Perhaps someone can enlighten me ...

In the US there is a strong 'financing' mentality where people prefer to pay less upfront and more every month rather than pay a large amount upfront and pay less every month. Since the 90s really, we have been getting free phones (phones that would cost $200 - $300 if bought upfront) and in return phones get LOCKED to the carrier and the price is subsidized in your monthly plan. It doesn't say that on your bill, but if say 800 minutes are $30 per month, it shows as $35. The model was simple enough and convinient.

I guess with smartphones, the subsidy needed to increase to cover the cost of $650 phones. So now you pay $200 upfront, and $450 are subsidized mainly in your data plan (on average iPhone users spend $80 per month)

It is a GREEDY model. For example, if you finish your two year commitment, your rates don't drop, so carriers are making you subsidze a phone you paid for. Also, you are getting less data for more $$$$

That said though, the iPhone would have never happened if it wasn't for this model; when it first debut it was a TOUGH sell at $1000+, and Apple obviously needed a partner carrier. I hate AT&T, but they took a chance and subsidized the phone down with their plan.

CubusX · Nov 30, 2012

katanna said:
So only unlocked GSM iPhones, not CDMA phones... what is going on? Why not CDMA phones? Guess I am STILL waiting...

Matthew

No. The Verizon iPhone 5 is already unlocked out of the gate through the carrier, I believe due to a contract requirement with the FCC. You can get an unlockled iPhone 5 from Verizon on contract for $199, $299, $399 or an unlocked iPhone 5 off contract for $649, $749, and $849.

chmilar · Nov 30, 2012

I ordered the Nexus 4 on Tuesday for $349 (16GB, unlocked, no contract).

I will use it with prepaid voice + wifi (no data plan) so lack of LTE doesn't matter to me.

iPhone 5 at $649 is not competitive.

KdParker · Nov 30, 2012

Tiger8 said:
In the US there is a strong 'financing' mentality where people prefer to pay less upfront and more every month rather than pay a large amount upfront and pay less every month. Since the 90s really, we have been getting free phones (phones that would cost $200 - $300 if bought upfront) and in return phones get LOCKED to the carrier and the price is subsidized in your monthly plan. It doesn't say that on your bill, but if say 800 minutes are $30 per month, it shows as $35. The model was simple enough and convinient.

I guess with smartphones, the subsidy needed to increase to cover the cost of $650 phones. So now you pay $200 upfront, and $450 are subsidized mainly in your data plan (on average iPhone users spend $80 per month)

It is a GREEDY model. For example, if you finish your two year commitment, your rates don't drop, so carriers are making you subsidze a phone you paid for. Also, you are getting less data for more $$$$

That said though, the iPhone would have never happened if it wasn't for this model; when it first debut it was a TOUGH sell at $1000+, and Apple obviously needed a partner carrier. I hate AT&T, but they took a chance and subsidized the phone down with their plan.

Plus, since the iPhone retains most of its value after 2 years, upgrades really on cost at most 50 bucks depending on when you sell your phone for the new releases.

Will do good · Nov 30, 2012

photographypro said:
People are gripping about the delay and the price. I am an American living in Italy, and I've owned every iPhone up to the 4S. I moved here in August. The 64GB iPhone 5 is 949 euros here in Italy, http://store.apple.com/it/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone5

which is $1234 American dollars as of today. This does include tax.

Sorry, but I'm not paying that much. I plan to visit the US in July, so I will buy one for $399, and then I will probably pay the $325 termination fee.

Total cost for 64GB international unlocked iPhone 5: $724 plus taxes.

Why would you pay $849?

And you could have done this from day one!

Of course MacRumors says in June the iPhone 5S may be available

Smart move, I think I'll do that too.

Tiger8 · Nov 30, 2012

KdParker said:
Plus, since the iPhone retains most of its value after 2 years, upgrades really on cost at most 50 bucks depending on when you sell your phone for the new releases.

Absolutely. Indeed, i am now with Sprint on 4s and will break my contract at the end of the current month. ETF will be $180, the Sprint 4s is selling for $300+ on ebay, so not only will it pay for ETF, but also some money to put on my new phone (this time I am going 5 unlocked and prepaid).

I hate to do that to Sprint, I was rooting for them. Their service was fantastic the first year, but over the past few months has been unbearable in my area. The phone not only gets slow 3G, but 3G signal is so bad to the point where the phone battery dies on standby simply looking for 3G.

Once I turn the 3G off, the phone lives through the day, go figure

Nickerbocker · Nov 30, 2012

scotty321 said:
So what sort of prices does AT&T charge the customer if you bring them an already-unlocked iPhone 5?

AT&T? They charge the same. But you can get StraightTalk for like $45/month and that gets you basically AT&T service for cheaper (sans-LTE and sans-Visual Voice Mail).

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KdParker said:
Plus, since the iPhone retains most of its value after 2 years, upgrades really on cost at most 50 bucks depending on when you sell your phone for the new releases.

That's if you keep it in mint condition... Personally, I prefer to hold onto my old phones as "backups"... but I do agree that Apple products resell very well.

Hate to say it, but Google won me this round. Was loyal to Apple while I was on a 2-year contract carrier but now that I'm on a much cheaper pay-as-you-go plan I can't justify the $650 entry level cost of an unlocked iPhone. Sure it will retain its value much much better than the Nexus 4 (which is what I ended up getting). But the cost pretty much makes pay-as-you-go not a smart option when compared to just going with a very cheap post-paid 2-year contract plan.

If the 16GB one was $500 Apple would still have my heart...

Tiger8 · Nov 30, 2012

Nickerbocker said:
Hate to say it, but Google won me this round. Was loyal to Apple while I was on a 2-year contract carrier but now that I'm on a much cheaper pay-as-you-go plan I can't justify the $650 entry level cost of an unlocked iPhone. Sure it will retain its value much much better than the Nexus 4 (which is what I ended up getting). But the cost pretty much makes pay-as-you-go not a smart option when compared to just going with a very cheap post-paid 2-year contract plan.

If the 16GB one was $500 Apple would still have my heart...

How is the Nexus 4? I know fandroids are raving about it but would be interested to hear from someone who transitioned (i hope temporarily) to Nexus.

I am not saying anything, guess a bit g-curious

John.B · Nov 30, 2012

Cursor said:
Do you have to wait for Virgin Mobile to come out with the iPhone 5 themselves, or can you buy this unlocked phone and configure it tow work with Virgin Mobile yourself?

IDK. I was hoping they would announce a VM iPhone 5 deal when the unlocked iPhone 5 hit the market. Right now the VM 4S 16GB is $449 with voice/text/data plans starting at $35/month ($30/month auto pay). If they have the same deal but with the 5, I'd be all over that.

My backup option is to hand down my unlocked 3GS and get a Straight Talk SIM card, those plans start at $45/month (41.25/month prepaid annually).

Over two years, the VM plan works out to cost $180 more, but would include a new iPhone 5 in the deal.

Semaphoric · Nov 30, 2012

Can you use unlocked iPhone 5 on AT&T?

Can you use this on AT&T's prepaid plan? AT&T GoPhone prepaid is $60 for 1 GB data.

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans-new.html#fbid=eHmXH81qia_

SkoshOfSean · Nov 30, 2012

I thought it was $65?

Yes, you can use it. But you need to understand how to change the APN settings for data to work.

If you don't need unlimited data you can also use the $25 monthly plan and buy 1GB buckets of data for $25 as needed.

Semaphoric said:
Can you use this on AT&T's prepaid plan? AT&T GoPhone prepaid is $60 for 1 GB data.

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans-new.html#fbid=eHmXH81qia_

Nickerbocker · Nov 30, 2012

Tiger8 said:
How is the Nexus 4? I know fandroids are raving about it but would be interested to hear from someone who transitioned (i hope temporarily) to Nexus.

I am not saying anything, guess a bit g-curious

I haven't received mine yet... still rocking an iPhone 4, but thats about to become my backup phone. Still undecided on my 3GS...I might sell it or give it to one of my step-children....

I currently have FUD in my head about Photo syncing, Music syncing, and battery life.

I think the music syncing with Google Music is going to be pretty straight forward... Idk, I haven't messed with it too much. I'm mainly interested in Google Music syncing the changes in my playlists. I need to experiment some more.

I'm so used to having iPhoto sync with my iPhone and I can't find a really great solution to have iPhoto sync with Android. You can upload your photos to Flickr or Picasa Web Albums from iPhoto...but that is basically a manual step to get my photos there. I'm so use to just having my photos on all devices and being there effortlessly. If I move photos from my digital camera to iPhoto, my photos are on my iPhone and iPad. If I take a picture with my iPhone, that pictures is in iPhoto and on my iPad. Its always there and there is nothing that requires me to manually do anything. I hope I can get it setup like this on Android, but Idk...

Apple Now Selling Unlocked GSM iPhones in the U.S.

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