Apple Begins Offering Unlocked, SIM-Free iPhone 5s Models in U.S. with 1-2 Week Shipping

senseless said:

If I'm a US user and don't travel internationally, it doesn't seem to make economic sense to spend $650 for an unlocked phone. Am I missing something?

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To get the true cost of an AT&T or Verizon contract, add the cost of 24 months of their monthly rate plans to that $199 subsidized iPhone price.

Compare that to the cost of one of the discounted monthly rate plans over 24 months plus an unsubsidized, full-price $649 iPhone.

In a lot of cases, the AT&T or Verizon two-year contracts work out to be more expensive. And gets worse if you stay with AT&T or Verizon after the contract is up, because their monthly rates don't drop after the obligation for the subsidized phone has been met.

John.B said:

To get the true cost of an AT&T or Verizon contract, add the cost of 24 months of their monthly rate plans to that $199 subsidized iPhone price.

Compare that to the cost of one of the discounted monthly rate plans over 24 months plus an unsubsidized, full-price $649 iPhone.

In a lot of cases, the AT&T or Verizon two-year contracts work out to be more expensive. And gets worse if you stay with AT&T or Verizon after the contract is up, because their monthly rates don't drop after the obligation for the subsidized phone has been met.

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What major carriers offers discounted rate plans for unlocked phones?

senseless said:

If I'm a US user and don't travel internationally, it doesn't seem to make economic sense to spend $650 for an unlocked phone. Am I missing something?

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Yes. You are not locked or locked to a single GSM provider.

Coleman2010 said:

Yes. You are not locked or locked to a single GSM provider.

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Right, but why does this save me money?

senseless said:

Right, but why does this save me money?

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You are not locked to one carrier and can switch carriers when and as often as you want.

senseless said:

What major carriers offers discounted rate plans for unlocked phones?

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There are many options; you'll have to do your own homework w/r/t carriers in your area and what options you need.

As a simple example, many people go with Straight Talk: $45/month for 2.5GB of data plus unlimited texts and minutes. By my back-of-the-envelope calculation, assuming a $649 unlocked full-price 16GB iPhone 5S, that will cost $1729 over two years.

In contrast, AT&T has a $90/month plan for with 2GB of data plus unlimited texts and minutes with a locked, subsidized 16GB iPhone 5S that will set you back $2359 over two years. A similar plan from Verizon is $100/month for a two-year cost of $2599, though the VZW iPhone isn't locked (but won't work on Sprint's networks).

Make sense?

senseless said:

What major carriers offers discounted rate plans for unlocked phones?

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For T-Mobile's 2.5GB month plan at $60/month with an unsubsidized iPhone 5S, the two year cost works out to be $2089.

John.B said:

For T-Mobile's 2.5GB month plan at $60/month with an unsubsidized iPhone 5S, the two year cost works out to be $2089.

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Yes thanks, I see now. But I really don't want to leave Verizon so this doesn't work for me unless they offer an unsubsidized option in the future. I have 2 phones on a 1 gig a month shared plan that's not much more than the T-mobile deal.

I have been following this thread;
since I was not sure if I would be pleased with the iPhone 5s on my Sprint grandfathered (SERO) service I purchased an Apple Replacement phone on eBay.
That way I could try it out an not extend my contract with Sprint.

The phone was a bit less expensive for me than a full price "new" phone.
The phone was listed as for use on Sprint only. I activated the phone and I like the phone but as I expected am not thrilled with Sprint service.

I used the appleimei unlock/ warranty checker which says my phone is unlocked.

Since it is listed as unlocked and originally came from Apple (with no SIM card) Do you think it would be possible for me to use this phone with any carrier?

If so do you think I can just pop in a T mobile SIM card (which I have acquired from T mobile recently online) to test it out?

If I do that will it affect my Sprint plan just by testing another SIM card in it? Or Should I swap my phone to something else as a place keeper just to keep my plan safe while I just test the phone to see if it will function with another co's SIM card.

I also have other co SIM cards I could test like straight talk etc. sorry for long post but this info may be helpful to others also. Tia

John.B said:

For T-Mobile's 2.5GB month plan at $60/month with an unsubsidized iPhone 5S, the two year cost works out to be $2089.

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If you can keep talk under 100 minutes/month, there is a (pre-paid) plan with unlimited messages and 5GB of 4G for $30/month, bringing the total down to $1369. That ends up being half the cost of AT&T once taxes are figured in, at least here where there are no taxes on prepaid plans.

Hello mates,

I am planning on buying iPhone 5S 16 GB Gold, unlocked (sim free) version from USA. Since I live in Bosnia, will this mean that I will be able to use my countries SIM card without any problems? It's unlocked, so I don't see if there should be any problem.

Cheers.

Let the unlocked phone revolution begin!