Apple Begins Offering Unlocked iPhone 4S in U.S. Online Store

MacRumors · Nov 11, 2011

Alongside today's round of international iPhone 4S launches, Apple also began offering unlocked iPhone 4S models for sale in the United States. Orders placed through the company's online store are currently listed with estimated shipping of 1-2 weeks.

Pricing for the unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S comes in at $649/$749/$849 for the 16/32/64 GB models respectively. The unlocked device is compatible only with supported GSM networks, and Apple offers some advice on which customers might benefit most by purchasing an unlocked iPhone.

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

If you don't want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you'll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the micro-SIM card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Apple had previously announced as pre-orders went live in the United States back in early October that unlocked models would become available in November. The company's retail stores, however, began selling off-contract phones immediately after launch, with customers discovering that those devices were also coming through unlocked.

Article Link: Apple Begins Offering Unlocked iPhone 4S in U.S. Online Store

kcamfork · Nov 11, 2011

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As much as I love Apple, I think the off-contract prices are too high. Begin the down-voting.

Goratrix · Nov 11, 2011

So it's $100 for a 16 GB memory difference and also $100 for a 32 GB difference? What kind of arbitrary pricing is that? If we assume they get a healthy margin on the 32 to 64 GB upsell, then the margin on the 16 to 32 one must be insane.

KPOM · Nov 11, 2011

kcamfork said:
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As much as I love Apple, I think the off-contract prices are too high. Begin the down-voting.

They are pretty consistent with off-contract prices for other phones. Nokia used to sell the N97 for $699 back in 2009, for instance.

snebes · Nov 11, 2011

Goratrix said:
So it's $100 for a 16 GB memory difference and also $100 for a 32 GB difference? What kind of arbitrary pricing is that? If we assume they get a healthy margin on the 32 to 64 GB upsell, then the margin on the 16 to 32 one must be insane.

I'm not going to argue about the margins, but flash cost isn't geometric like you think it is.

sutty5 · Nov 11, 2011

This takes the Piss!

US Pricing of iPhone 4S 64GB Handset only is $849! Yet that is £530! it costs £500 to buy the 16GB Version here in the UK! I paid £700 for the 64GB iPhone 4S here. That is equivalent to $1,120.

Why so cheap over there? It's basically the same phone. Yet in the UK we pay £170/$270 more for exactly the same phone?

joeshmo2010 · Nov 11, 2011

Goratrix said:
So it's $100 for a 16 GB memory difference and also $100 for a 32 GB difference? What kind of arbitrary pricing is that? If we assume they get a healthy margin on the 32 to 64 GB upsell, then the margin on the 16 to 32 one must be insane.

Huh??

acidfast7 · Nov 11, 2011

WOW!

You guys get those for quite cheap prices, I'm jealous.

sutty5 · Nov 11, 2011

kcamfork said:
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As much as I love Apple, I think the off-contract prices are too high. Begin the down-voting.

Too High! the UK Equivalent Pricing for the 64GB is £700 which is $1200!. You are getting it cheap!

johnhurley · Nov 11, 2011

MacRumors said:
Alongside today's round of international iPhone 4S launches, Apple also began offering unlocked iPhone 4S models for sale in the United States. Orders placed through the company's online store are currently listed with estimated shipping of 1-2 weeks.

If you currently have an ATT phone and sim but no data download payment can you use this phone "just as a phone" ( and an iPod touch ) of course without ATT adding in a data charge sooner or later?

kcamfork · Nov 11, 2011

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Goratrix said:
So it's $100 for a 16 GB memory difference and also $100 for a 32 GB difference? What kind of arbitrary pricing is that? If we assume they get a healthy margin on the 32 to 64 GB upsell, then the margin on the 16 to 32 one must be insane.

Yes it's quite healthy. Think of it as $100 to upgrade to 32gb and $200 to upgrade to 64gb. I saw an article somewhere on The web (forgive the lack of a source, I'm writing on my iPhone 4S) that showed the profit is highest on the 64gb version and lowest on the 16gb. I say this, and guess what version I bought?

Sent from my iPhone 4S 64GB

BeardedOrc · Nov 11, 2011

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I still don't get the advantage of unlocked phones here in the US unless you are a frequent traveller outside the country. You are gonna be paying same monthly recurring fees subsidized or not. And people keep on saying they don't want contract to justify the more expensive unlocked iPhone, seriously, you don't change carrier every 6 months or every year. Why would you do that? Unlocked phones will only work with AT&T anyways so might as well get subsidized by them and save yourself some money.

kcamfork · Nov 11, 2011

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KPOM said:
kcamfork said:

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

As much as I love Apple, I think the off-contract prices are too high. Begin the down-voting.

Click to expand...

They are pretty consistent with off-contract prices for other phones. Nokia used to sell the N97 for $699 back in 2009, for instance.

Compare Android phone off-contrast prices. Apple's are much higher. And who buys Nokia anymore anyways?

42streetsdown · Nov 11, 2011

Goratrix said:
So it's $100 for a 16 GB memory difference and also $100 for a 32 GB difference? What kind of arbitrary pricing is that? If we assume they get a healthy margin on the 32 to 64 GB upsell, then the margin on the 16 to 32 one must be insane.

You're right that the pricing is arbitrary, the difference in manufacturing prices between the devices is minuscule, but Apple has always used tiered prices to get higher profit margins on the high tiers. It's certainly not exclusive to Apple though, it's just a good business model. Because you're still gonna buy the model you want no matter how much you bitch about Apple's pricing scheme.

jonnyb · Nov 11, 2011

sutty5 said:
US Pricing of iPhone 4S 64GB Handset only is $849! Yet that is £530! it costs £500 to buy the 16GB Version here in the UK! I paid £700 for the 64GB iPhone 4S here. That is equivalent to $1,120.

Why so cheap over there? It's basically the same phone. Yet in the UK we pay £170/$270 more for exactly the same phone?

You're forgetting VAT at 20% which takes the price to £636. Then there's import duties on top of that. The US prices don't include sales tax.

So it's not quite the price difference you're suggesting.

yg17 · Nov 11, 2011

sutty5 said:
Too High! the UK Equivalent Pricing for the 64GB is £700 which is $1200!. You are getting it cheap!

We go through this every time there's a new product launch

US prices don't have sales tax included (anywhere between 7 and 10%) so you have to add that onto the price of the phone. Plus the VAT which is included in the UK price is 20%. Do a little math and the pre-tax price of the iPhone in the UK is £583, or $928. Still a bit more expensive than the US, but a far cry from the $351 difference you claim it is.

KPOM · Nov 11, 2011

Unfortunately, it isn't available for in-store pickup from the online store.

kcamfork · Nov 11, 2011

I am also going to draw a comparison between the iPhone 4 of last year, and the iPod Touch which was released a few months later. The price of the 32GB iPhone 4 at release was $699 without a contract. The iPod Touch with the same storage was $299. So... it costs $400 for the design and the fact it's a phone? Smells fishy.

But, I will probably always own an iPhone. I love it, and don't mind paying for it. I'm just being an instigator.

Goratrix · Nov 11, 2011

joeshmo2010 said:
Huh??

32 GB iPhone costs $749, 64 GB iPhone costs $849. The devices are the same otherwise, which means that you pay $100 for 32 GB flash. Let's say that 32 GB of flash costs Apple $80, so they make $20 profit margin if you choose the highest model (a low estimate, it's probably more in reality). So, if 32 GB costs $80, then 16 GB costs $40 (costs of flash at these sizes are almost linear). So if they sell those 16 GB for $100 (the difference between the two lower models), that gives them $60 profit margin on the middle model, triple the margin they make on the highest one.

iStudentUK · Nov 11, 2011

sutty5 said:
US Pricing of iPhone 4S 64GB Handset only is $849! Yet that is £530! it costs £500 to buy the 16GB Version here in the UK! I paid £700 for the 64GB iPhone 4S here. That is equivalent to $1,120.

Why so cheap over there? It's basically the same phone. Yet in the UK we pay £170/$270 more for exactly the same phone?

VAT. $849 = £530 add VAT and you get £640, retails at £699. I wouldn't complain too much at that difference, plus have you seen the price of the US phone plans?!

Complain about the price of Macs here instead, much more justifiable!

edk99 · Nov 11, 2011

sutty5 said:
US Pricing of iPhone 4S 64GB Handset only is $849! Yet that is £530! it costs £500 to buy the 16GB Version here in the UK! I paid £700 for the 64GB iPhone 4S here. That is equivalent to $1,120.

Why so cheap over there? It's basically the same phone. Yet in the UK we pay £170/$270 more for exactly the same phone?

Your price includes VAT and the US price does not include local sales tax which will add 5-10% so that brings it a little closer.

tinkafoo · Nov 11, 2011

Pardon me for being a noob, but what's the advantage of going with a non-subsidized phone, aside from avoiding an ETF over the next two years?

Would this reduce the monthly cost of my plan? (US, specifically) It would be worth it if I could get a cheap plan for about $20/month instead of $90.

MacDarcy · Nov 11, 2011

Question. Can you now use the unlocked 4S as an AT&T prepaid "gophone" here in the states?

daneoni · Nov 11, 2011

Even after accounting for tax, ripoff Britain still happening.

KPOM · Nov 11, 2011

tinkafoo said:
Pardon me for being a noob, but what's the advantage of going with a non-subsidized phone, aside from avoiding an ETF over the next two years?

Would this reduce the monthly cost of my plan? (US, specifically) It would be worth it if I could get a cheap plan for about $20/month instead of $90.

Unfortunately, AT&T doesn't offer cheaper plans for those not on contract. T-Mobile used to, and still offers non-contract plans, but the iPhone works only on T-Mobile's 2G/EDGE network.

The main advantage of getting the unlocked version is that you can use it overseas with a local SIM card. By contrast, AT&T overseas data plans start at $50/month and run as high as $200 for an 800MB overseas data allowance. Data roaming overseas is usually $20 per MB. With a local SIM, you can often get a pay-as-you-go plan for about $2-3 per day for the length of your trip.

Apple Begins Offering Unlocked iPhone 4S in U.S. Online Store

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