Amercians, would you pay $968 for a 32 GB iPhone 5 unlocked?

[iDutchman]

I paid €769 for 32GB

 

[ANMA dojo]

wow looking at the poll results I think I know why apple don't offer it unlocked in the states lol

why? historically, in the USA the unlocked model sells for the same price as a full-priced carrier locked model (which is cheaper than any in Europe)... so of course no one would pay $968 for a 32gb iPhone 5 unlocked... they can pay $749+tax

 

[boomhower]

Your title is a bit misleading. The phone is about the same price as it is here in the US. You just have sky high VAT taxes factored into that amount. Take those out and the phone is very comparable in price. Sales tax around here is 0%-11% depending on where you live. Also depending on location you'll pay income tax, property tax, among others. Don't know if you have those across the as well or not. It may more or less even out in the end.

 

[OllyW]

wow looking at the poll results I think I know why apple don't offer it unlocked in the states lol

There's no cost advantage to buying an unlocked and contract free iPhone in the USA. As it's already been stated it can work out cheaper in the UK & Europe to pay full price for the phone and use it with a cheap monthly SIM only plan.

In the USA you pay the same monthly payment even if you use your own phone so it makes sense to take advantage of the subsidised handset.

 

[S.B.G]

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.

So if I were to get an unlocked phone in the US, say GSM, and I want to use AT&T for the service provider, what kind of plan can I get?

 

[darster]

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.

The 2 LTE phones I have used are. The Razr Maxx and iPhone 5.

 

[Angus9541]

Only just a few years ago my pockets contained

ipod classic £200
Sony Ericcson K800 £330 pre pay
Canon G9 £400

Now I have just one gorgeous device that plays my tunes, takes decent enough pics as a secondary camera, awesome web browser, sat nav, pocket torch, plus all the awesome stuff countless apps have to offer.

I reckon it is worth the money! I bought mine pre pay as I wasn't due an upgrade...

 

[Givmeabrek]

The Vat pays for benefits including health insurance for everyone. Coupled with the much lower phone rates and the ability to move freely between carriers paying more for a phone makes a lot of sense. You really need to look at the whole picture.

 

[ANMA dojo]

So if I were to get an unlocked phone in the US, say GSM, and I want to use AT&T for the service provider, what kind of plan can I get?

if you're determined to use AT&T prepaid:
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html

$64 for unlimited calls/texts + 1GB data
(the unlimited data of the $50 plan doesn't apply to smartphones)

but if you are planning on a postpaid plan like most folks in the USA and can bear with a 2 year contract like most of us, just get a subsidized iphone... as others have stated, you're gonna need service anyways. I don't see the appeal in constant carrier switching -- I personally hate changing numbers (or dealing with porting numbers). complaints about being "stuck" in a 2-year contract are overrated.

perhaps unlocked phones & carrier switching is popular in Europe cuz other countries are literally next door, so it makes sense to use "local" carriers to save costs or get better service, but that's not as huge of an issue in the USA (free nationwide roaming)

 

[billinaz]

You can get the GSM iPhone 5 unlocked for less than $10 using one of the vendors on ebay.

Took about an hour for my iPhone 5 to get processed.

 

[charliehustle]

If someone really needs an unlocked iPhone, they will buy it.
In Bahrain and Brazil, I'm sure the 16gb iPhone 5 will be around 1200-1300 USD, so what exactly is the "real world price"?
How much you travel and your disposable income are huge factors too.

 

[Nermal]

I paid NZ$849 (US$695) including tax last year for my 32 GB 4S, but this time around they want NZ$1099 (US$900) for the 32 GB 5. Both of these are on the plan that best fits my usage (which happens to be the cheapest one), but they're unlocked. When bought outright without a plan then the price is closer to the UK one.

 

[lowlypeace]

There's no cost advantage to buying an unlocked and contract free iPhone in the USA. As it's already been stated it can work out cheaper in the UK & Europe to pay full price for the phone and use it with a cheap monthly SIM only plan.

In the USA you pay the same monthly payment even if you use your own phone so it makes sense to take advantage of the subsidised handset.

so your saying if you buy unlocked in the us, and top up when needed, and say only use the phone sparingly, and over 2 years spend about $60, this would be the similar price as to the $299 on contract over 2 years?

i suppose the other advantage is not being bound to a contract

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

I just sold a Verizon 32 GB Black (brand new still wrapped in plastic) for $1000. Apparently Verizon phones are unlocked.

 

[S.B.G]

if you're determined to use AT&T prepaid:
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html

$64 for unlimited calls/texts + 1GB data
(the unlimited data of the $50 plan doesn't apply to smartphones)

but if you are planning on a postpaid plan like most folks in the USA and can bear with a 2 year contract like most of us, just get a subsidized iphone... as others have stated, you're gonna need service anyways. I don't see the appeal in constant carrier switching -- I personally hate changing numbers (or dealing with porting numbers). complaints about being "stuck" in a 2-year contract are overrated.

perhaps unlocked phones & carrier switching is popular in Europe cuz other countries are literally next door, so it makes sense to use "local" carriers to save costs or get better service, but that's not as huge of an issue in the USA (free nationwide roaming)

Maybe I could make that work. I pay $84 per month now for 400 minutes and 1500 texts and I never come close to either limit. I have the grandfathered unlimited data (essentially 3GB) and use on average 400MB per month, averaged out over the last 8 months of use.

But I assume going with that type of plan it would not be eligible for FaceTime over cellular like my current plan right?

 

[ANMA dojo]

so your saying if you buy unlocked in the us, and top up when needed, and say only use the phone sparingly, and over 2 years spend about $60, this would be the similar price as to the $299 on contract over 2 years?

i suppose the other advantage is not being bound to a contract

totally depends on your usage. see my post+link above.
(https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html)

if you insist on prepaid, and with AT&T, for minimal usage the best is:

10cents/minute plan. 10cents/min, 1cent/5KB (= $2/1MB).... $60 over 2 years = 30MB over 2 years HAHAHAHA ---> but if you use it that sparingly, you basically just have next year's ipod touch that is mostly limited to wifi

//edit: just saw that they had optional "data plans" to add onto their prepaid plans, so it's not as horrible:

• $25 for 1 GB
• $15 for 200 MB
• $5 for 50 MB

so basically, that means, 1GB = $25, 10cents/min for calls. if you're mostly around wifi at home/work, don't do a lot of media streaming, rarely actually use a cellphone to talk, this could be a viable cheaper option.

//edit2: nevermind, can't add data plan to the cheap plans, so revert back to my original calculation. AT&T prepaid sucks for saving money, if you plan on using data!

//edit3: $25/month is the cheapest prepaid "plan" you can get that will allow data options.
so basically -- $25+25 = $50/month = 250 min, unlimited texts, 1GB data
(or $64/month for all that, but with unlimited minutes too)

anyways, I'm still envious of prepaid plans outside the USA... when I went in Hong Kong last May, I got a whole week of fast, unlimited 3G data for cheaper than $10 or $20. no paying for unwanted minutes or dealing with other fees after initial payment.

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But I assume going with that type of plan it would not be eligible for FaceTime over cellular like my current plan right?

if you're open to it, the eventual jailbreak should allow any wifi-only applications to work over cellular data

 

[waa1futs]

An extra 16gb of flash memory for $100 is pretty greedy on Apples part. I couldn't ever buy anything more than a 16gb iPhone on principle because I don't want to encourage that behavior by Apple.

 

[K0P Bacon]

nope

and nope.

 

[KPOM]

wow looking at the poll results I think I know why apple don't offer it unlocked in the states lol

They likely will eventually, but for now carrier-linked sales are enough to soak up all the supply.

The thing to remember is that the carriers here, except for T-Mobile (which does not offer the iPhone) do not discount rates for those who are off contract or buy a phone at full price. Thus the only big advantage of an unlocked device is access to local SIMs while traveling outside the US.

 

[Ran7]

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.

that debunking is a fail and isn't really serious and compliance would not means all would be (verizon is famous as the provider demand the most capability lock outs). What the article doesn't go into is that Apple may not have been able to only lock the bands in quesiton without charging verizon an added fee or creating possible other problems.
the thing is is it is nearly moot. VErizon would lose money, assuming apples usual margins they are charging carriers 615 or so. that means that there is about $65 cash loss to verizon for the gray market. (615 cost, $200 sale price, $350 etf.)
The thing is that $65 isnt a great gray market incentive since because buyers still have to pay a prorated portion of setting up an account.

of course if there is a premium in gray market due to unavailability of unlocked phones direct form apple, than the arbitrage starts to get fairly profitable and VErizon could be hurt temporarily

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An extra 16gb of flash memory for $100 is pretty greedy on Apples part. I couldn't ever buy anything more than a 16gb iPhone on principle because I don't want to encourage that behavior by Apple.

yeah,I just bought a 64Gb sandisk high speed micro for $40 including tax and shipping for an s3 on our account. it does make apples scheme pure robbery.

 

[reputationZed]

Withdrawn

I really need to read the entire thread before throwing in my 2 cents

 

[MagnusF]

$968 is nothing! $1740 here in Iceland!

 

[serkan]

Let me guys tell you the price right now where I live.We dont have an official price yet but some stores have it and they sell it for : 1826 Us Dollars and for particular Turkish price it was 3300 TL 2 weeks ago Anyone to pass ? And let me tell you funnier part of it WE DONT HAVE NANO SIM IN TURKEY YET , so the phone which you paid 1826 Dollars wont work unless the operators in Turkey provide you one and the biggest of this providers said that we dont plan to bring Nano-Sım before december or january 2013 Any words ?

 

[Minhimalism]

So to the people who say $1k USD is too much, do you all realize that the 64gb iPhone 5 is $920 after tax in the US? Unsubsidized?

 

[greytmom]

So to the people who say $1k USD is too much, do you all realize that the 64gb iPhone 5 is $920 after tax in the US? Unsubsidized?

So? I'm guessing the people who wouldn't spend $1k would not buy a 64g unlocked.