So the USA is finally catching up to Australia on something! We've had unlocked phones for sale since the 3G
If you define 'catching' up as being able to use an iPhone on TMobile without access to data. Wow.
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Apple Now Selling Unlocked iPhone 4 in U.S.
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If you define 'catching' up as being able to use an iPhone on TMobile without access to data. Wow.
A friend of mine in the US is paying 87$ every month for his 2yr AT&T contract and he doesn't even have past 2GB data. So in 2 years, 12*2*8 = 2088$. I think it's cheaper to buy it unlocked and go for a virtual carrier with super low fees and no restrictions when travelling abroad.
Yes, thanks to that wonderful general deregulation (of telecom, banking&finance, energy, etc.) that you guys vote for whenever you vote for the GOP.
And here's the difference, in most European countries, the heavy regulation either imposes no carrier lock, or voluntary unlocking at the end of the contract term, or with a small pay (EUR 50) anytime during the contract.
In Romania, ANCOM (the regulatory authority), only had to ask for the carriers to voluntarily come up with a decent policy, and they did. The alternative was for ANCOM to come up with a mandatory regulation for carrier-lock free phones. The carriers instantly came up with a more than fair policy and no regulation was required.
And if you don't get a subsidized phone, you get much better contracts. 1000 outgoing minutes (incoming are never charged) per month, insane amounts of text messages and 1.5GBytes of traffic (to use as you see fit including tethering) for EUR15+VAT, with options for a lot more for little money. I think that an American would have to pay more than USD100/month to get as much usage. Let's do the math now:
1) Phone - EUR 830
2) 24 months contract - EUR 446
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European total: EUR 1276 ~= USD 1850 (EUR15+VAT/month) and you can use your phone however you see fit.
1) US Phone - USD 200
2) 24 months ATT contract - 2880 (USD120/month with all taxes)
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US total: USD 3080 and if you don't renew you're paying for a new phone.
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I suspect they do not want to confuse the market by adding the option here in the US where the 3GS is $49. Likewise, I doubt they wish to confuse people for three months of benefit IF they retire the 3GS when the iPhone 5 is out which might be only 3 months.
This! All you people saying it's cheaper to just buy the phone straight out don't understand that the carriers in USA don't provide a lower price for non-subsidized phones. Therefore, it's in consumer interest to at least get the cash from the carrier, and also keeps consumers buying a new phone every 2yrs since you might as well get the kickback since they aren't giving you a lower monthly rate anyway
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iOS 5, unlocked iPhones (officially in the US).
Anyone seeing a pattern here?
iOS 5, unlocked iPhones (officially in the US).
Anyone seeing a pattern here?
That has not been announced. There are a number of dual GSM/CDMA phones out there.
In fact the Verizon iPhone 4 already has a Qualcomm dual-mode GSM/CDMA chip in it (MDM6600). It is just not active (yet?) and may never be, but in my opinion the iPhone 5 will have a dual mode chip in it. I think it is a foregone conclusion that the iPhone 5 will be a unified hardware platform.
Whether Apple will activate it so that you can use both without some type of firmware switch is unknown*, but it is extremely important for Apple to have a single model of hardware for a large number of reasons which should be obvious.
* e.g. the GSM mode may be active with one slightly different firmware version and the CDMA another version. The question is whether if you buy a GSM iPhone 5 you can switch it to CDMA in the software or not - and visa versa.
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Quick Question
So with the iPhone unlocked does that mean you would still have to get a plan with a data package? I know someone is going to respond why have a iPhone without a data package, because work has wi-fi and I use it for personal email alerts at work, and as an iPod, not to mention texting and of all things talking on it because its a phone.
So with the iPhone unlocked does that mean you would still have to get a plan with a data package? I know someone is going to respond why have a iPhone without a data package, because work has wi-fi and I use it for personal email alerts at work, and as an iPod, not to mention texting and of all things talking on it because its a phone.
This is all true. However one of the problems people have with this is the fact that they would have to spend 830 euros out of the blue on the phone to begin with, no option for several payments. You are right though. And it is AT&T's problem as well, charging such incredibly high fees for their service.. and to add icing on top, they wouldn't even unlock the phone after the 2 year contract is over.
I have been using a factory unlocked iPhone 4 on AT&T for a while now, that I purchased outside the US and the person you spoke with did not know what they are talking about. It works perfectly fine. Did you dispute it with your credit card company?
For me, one advantage of providing your own iPhone 4 (or 3GS) that is factory unlocked is no contract with AT&T. And if needed and you don't mind running Edge, you can stick a T-Mobile SIM in there (it is easy to trim with an x-acto knife).
For me, one advantage of providing your own iPhone 4 (or 3GS) that is factory unlocked is no contract with AT&T. And if needed and you don't mind running Edge, you can stick a T-Mobile SIM in there (it is easy to trim with an x-acto knife).
The advantage of having an unlocked phone is that you can do whatever you want with it, with whatever carrier. So you could choose what is right for you, without having X, Y or Z imposed on you from, say, AT&T. For all you care, you could just use a prepaid system from a low cost carrier. You get the freedom to choose.
Yes, provided the plans you're comparing all have the same features (minutes, amount of data, speed, etc)? My AT&T is about $90/month with 450 minutes, unlimited nights weekends, 1500 texts, unlimited data, unlimited minutes to other AT&T cell phones, and it roams no charge across the entire USA. Your plan is 1000 minutes total, no free nights and weekends nor roll over minutes on a monthly basis, expensive roaming once you cross the border of your "country" (which we would call a single state in the USA) where you get to buy a sim card (at least 20E) which only works in that country for ~90 days thereafter you get to buy another one if you forget to buy more time on the SIM. What a joke.
Oh, and Europeans always harp on the stupid incoming minutes are free thing! What a JOKE! The person calling you spends ~$2/minute, but hooray it's cheap for the receiver. Cell phones in europe cost more overall for what you get than in the USA.
Yes, choose from the single carrier in the USA which the iphone will work at 3G speeds. Ooooh, hooray for freedom!
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What's that work out for a Florida trip Inc tax etc in GBP?
I have an iP4 currently but like the White. Take it you can buy in US and it will work on all UK mobile networks?
Cheers
Adidas Addict said:
What's that work out for a Florida trip Inc tax etc in GBP?
I have an iP4 currently but like the White. Take it you can buy in US and it will work on all UK mobile networks?
Cheers
Yes. I am on AT&T with a non-US factory unlocked iPhone 4 with no contract. That should be the same thing you will get if you buy it from Apple.
We can hope the iPhone 5 follows.
We can hope the iPhone 5 follows.
The fact that incoming calls are free doesn't mean that the caller pays double, read up before you criticize (I'm from Spain, also lived in UK and the system doesn't work like that). Cell phones cost the same with their relative currency exchanges. If you see someone pay more for a subsidized phone it's because in many European countries carriers are only allowed to contract for up to one year, and thus ask you to pay more for the hardware at the beginning of the contract.
He didn't really specify whether he was using his iPhone in USA or not, and the point of his post was to actually ask if he could skip on the data plan.. so I doubt not getting 3G speeds is an issue for him.
Most of them anyway, check what frequencies the iPhone supports and compare it to your UK carrier frequencies (all of them are pretty much 'standarized')
It would work on all networks, yes. To buy an iPhone 4 16GB in the UK is £499. I'd imagine plus taxes you'd get to a similar figure in the US. Just check the frequency bands match.
what the heck r u talking about, i pay 6 cent for outgoing calls (and nothing to t-mobile and home lines) and of course nothing for incoming calls as it should be unlike the us
Not saying they pay double saying that you pay a LOT to call a cell phone in Europe -- specific costs may be off. When I am in Europe, calling from a land line to a cell phone costs a LOT more than calling land line to land line. Friends I stayed with have left me notes saying PLEASE do not call cell phones using their land line since it costs so much money.
Who cares? We all get screwed out of our money at some point, wherever we live in the world.
iPhone 4 16GB - 2,000 minutes, 5,000 texts, unlimited data. £69 ($113) for the handset then £35 ($57) per month. I think that compares well with AT&T's best offers and those prices include VAT.
What are you talking about? Out of plan calls to mobiles are rarely more than £0.35 per minute.
Actually, I don't think it's screwed. It's called an economy. People/Companies need to make profit in order to afford to have us all working etc.
Of course, the alternative is communism, which we all know how well that worked out...
Not saying they pay double saying that you pay a LOT to call a cell phone in Europe -- specific costs may be off. My number was just a guesstimate based upon what we pay calling European cell phones from the USA and what have experienced using calling cards from european land lines to european cell phones. $0.50/min is not exactly cheap, thats a phone chatline in the usa lol
Apple is the epitomy of corporate greed. You can buy unsibsidized iPhone for 599/699 but it'll still be locked despite the carrier not incurring any expenses. You're not giving them $50 to unlock the phone, instead you're paying $50 not to lock the phone. Talk about greed.
Do you work for free? People are nuts, don't like the price go get a cheap android phone. Companies are free to charge whatever they want, just like you're free not to buy the iphone. Really don't get the whining here.