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Americans, would you pay $968 for an unlocked 32GB iPhone 5

  • yes

    Votes: 22 9.9%
  • no

    Votes: 201 90.1%

  • Total voters
    223

lowlypeace

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 19, 2012
55
0
this is the price in the UK for an unlocked iPhone 5 32 GB - £599

not sure if you can even buy it unlocked in the us?
 
Right now unlocked iPhone 5s are not available from Apple. I wouldn't pay that much, but I know it costs a little more in the UK than in America.
 
Almost a thousand dollars for a phone (regardless if its unlocked) is not something I'd be open too.
 
the price here in the states would be $749 plus tax, so something closer to $800. still, it's a big chunk of change for a phone.
 
In Canada an unlocked one goes for $799 for the 32GB version (+tax). Convert that at your leisure to see if the cost is comparable
 
this is the price in the UK for an unlocked iPhone 5 32 GB - £599

not sure if you can even buy it unlocked in the us?
£599 includes 20% VAT (Equivalent to "Sales Tax" here in the USA)

If you back out the sales tax, the unlocked iPhone in the UK would be £499 (£499 X 1.2 = £599)

£499 as of today would be roughly equal to $805

Unlocked iPhone 5 in the USA, before sales tax, would sell for $749

$749 in the US (before sales tax)
$805 in the UK (before sales tax)

UK is higher, but not drastically higher. Note that in the USA, the sales tax you pay varies from state to state, and sometimes also from city to city.
 
No way would I pay that much money for a phone, no matter what it was capable of.
 
this is the price in the UK for an unlocked iPhone 5 32 GB - £599

not sure if you can even buy it unlocked in the us?

You can buy it unlocked from Verizon if they have it in stock. $749. All Verizon LTE phones are unlocked. They were required to agree to those terms when they purchased the C band.
 
£599 includes 20% VAT (Equivalent to "Sales Tax" here in the USA)

If you back out the sales tax, the unlocked iPhone in the UK would be £499

£499 X 1.2 = £599

£499 as of today would be roughly equal to $805

Unlocked iPhone 5 in the USA, before sales tax, would sell for $749

$749 in the US (before sales tax)
$805 in the UK (before sales tax)

UK is higher, but not drastically higher. Note that in the USA, the sales tax you pay varies from state to state, and sometimes also from city to city.

As I said, €769 here, which are $1002 (google says, didn't check bloomberg and didn't do the conversion myself).

21% VAT here. So €769/1,21 = €635. $828. Higher than in the Uk and the US.

And I'm talking about Spain here, which is known to be the richest country ever. :rolleyes:
 
No way would I pay that much money for a phone, no matter what it was capable of.

Keep in mind many in the UK have access to cheap prepaid plans costing as little has $30/month in USD that includes unlimited data.

Lets do the math. $200 for subsidized iPhone from Verizon/att. $100-month for single line x 24 months.

Vs $1000 for unlocked iPhone plus $30/month x24 months.

So care to revisit ur answer if you would rather pay $1000 for an iPhone in the UK?

Also keep in mind. In Europe and Asia. There really are no "family sharing" plans to make average cost per line cheaper.
 
You can buy it unlocked from Verizon if they have it in stock. $749. All Verizon LTE phones are unlocked. They were required to agree to those terms when they purchased the C band.

it was a popular theory that was floated around when the verizon iphone 5 was first discovered to be unlocked, but it's been debunked. if it were true, all verizon lte phones would be unlocked, but they aren't.
 
UK is higher, but not drastically higher. Note that in the USA, the sales tax you pay varies from state to state, and sometimes also from city to city.

yes I understand we have a high 20% vat tax, but I was interested to know if americans would pay the real world price we have to cough up
 
You still need to factor in the cost of cellular service. In the US you pay the same monthly cost for a given data plan regardless if you have a subsidized phone or an unlocked phone. In other words it doesn't matter if I buy the $199 subsidized 16GB iPhone or the $699 unlocked phone, I'm still paying $100 a month for service. My understanding is that the monthly payments for on a plan for an unlocked phone in Europe is substantially cheaper than paying the monthly costs for a subsidized phone.
 
So care to revisit ur answer if you would rather pay $1000 for an iPhone in the UK?

Nope. I'm in the US, and if I were in the UK, I'd still not pay that much for a phone. If I had a choice between a $1,000 smartphone or a "dumb" phone, I'd choose the dumbphone.
 
Nope. I'm in the US, and if I were in the UK, I'd still not pay that much for a phone. If I had a choice between a $1,000 smartphone or a "dumb" phone, I'd choose the dumbphone.

So u would rather pay more over a 24 month period just to not pay $1000 upfront?

Seems like the US carriers have many people who are on single or even 2 line plans fooled with their postpaid plans.

The true savings don't really kick in until line 4 in a family plan.
 
Well, how about paying U$1478?
The iPhone 5 has not yet seen the light of the day, but that was the price of an 32Gb unlocked iPhone 4s when it was released here in Brazil (at www.apple.com.br).

BTW, minimal wage here in Brazil is U$306/month.
 
Actually, you can get unlimited data plans in the UK starting from $13.50/month (before tax).

Yeah. I knew it was cheap. Couldn't remember how cheap. People who have one or two lines in the USA (I am American) are pretty stupid to not go prepaid.
 
So u would rather pay more over a 24 month period just to not pay $1000 upfront?

Seems like the US carriers have many people who are on single or even 2 line plans fooled with their postpaid plans.

The true savings don't really kick in until line 4 in a family plan.

Not all of us can afford $1,000 up front and can better afford to pay over time, even if it means paying a couple hundred dollars more over those 2 years.
 
Right now unlocked iPhone 5s are not available from Apple.
sort of.

-you're correct in that "factory unlocked" versions are not officially sold
-but you're incorrect in that Verizon iPhone 5 and full-priced (or ebay unlocked) AT&T iPhone 5 are available, which are "unlocked" for all GSM networks.

//$749 + tax, or $349 + tax + $6 unlock < $968
 
Not all of us can afford $1,000 up front and can better afford to pay over time, even if it means paying a couple hundred dollars more over those 2 years.

Totally understand where u are coming from. In my younger days I would have thought the same way.

Once (and hopefully have a good financial job as u get older). Paying cash up front is usually the best way to go. Especially for declining assets like cars and some high value electronics/furniture which I used to finance myself.
 
wow looking at the poll results I think I know why apple don't offer it unlocked in the states lol
 
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