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Apple Now Selling Unlocked iPhone 4 in U.S.
- Thread starter ChakaChaka
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Hmmm... Right you are. (I found this link.)
I wonder, assuming today marks the end of AT&T's GSM iPhone exclusivity in the US, will AT&T begin unlocking iPhones 10 months from today? And what about the 3GS (my iPhone); since the 3GS existed for its entire product lifespan under exclusivity, does that mean AT&T considers it permanently ineligible for unlocking?
It's rather odd to consider that the iPhone may have been considered an "AT&T exclusive" up until today (I assume it's over with this announcement from Apple). Even yesterday the iPhone 4 was available from over 200 carriers worldwide, including both of the largest carriers in the US. Certainly not exclusive by any stretch of the imagination.
Actually, I would say my example is very unlimited in practice. For over 99% of people/occasions I would say don't make phone calls. If they are necessary, chances are you're making calls on behalf of your employer and the cost is irrelevant to you anyway.
Nope. It'll be GSM or CDMA, not both I'm afraid. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't release an unlocked CDMA one either. People want it for travelling abroad and GSM is much more popular around the world than CDMA.
May as well buy one in the US and bring it over to Australia.. AUD$610 for a 16GB compared to AUD$849 for a 16GB in Sydney.
And people only go overseas on business? And stay in places with Wifi? Your example is correct however you are tied to a building. Why not just use the landline phones in the hotel?
What about families who like to split up during the day but need to meet up while out and about. Having a local phone allows you to be a lot more flexible with your plans without incurring large costs. There are many times when you can use a mobile overseas to make life easier, that is the whole point of mobiles.
Yes, they are £510 and £612 in the UK (including 20% VAT) so you are getting it cheap in the US.
Cheaper, but not a huge amount of difference:
In the UK a 16GB costs £425 ($696.73) vs $649 (£395.98) in the usa.
The above are pre-tax prices.
It's nice to see the USA getting access to unlocked iPhones though. Hopefully the carriers will respond with some awesome sim-only deals like we get here.
Definitely. There are a lot of people who are willing to pay that much though. If I had extra money, that would me as well, I really hate having to be tied to a contract. Even if it's a year long.
Right now I use an iPhone 4 with Gevey and have it unlocked to a super cheap carrier, 2 cents/min and 7eur for 700MB 3.5G + 0.02c per MB after that. Much cheaper than what I've gone over to explore at AT&T's website!
Just to expand on how much extra Australians are charged for unlocked iPhone 4's compared to the U.S
Unlocked iPhone 4 16GB - AU$859 (US$916) compared to US$649.
Unlocked iPhone 4 32GB - AU$999 (US$1065.39) compared to $749.
AT&T with unlocked: no data!
I was trying to use my unlocked iPhone with AT&T while in the states.
It ended up they charged me on the data plan without providing data.
The guy in the shop AT&T installed the card and said it's fine.
When calling hotline because it was not, AT&T rep said it's impossible to use data from unlocked iPhone with their network.
No refund either. Bummer.
I was trying to use my unlocked iPhone with AT&T while in the states.
It ended up they charged me on the data plan without providing data.
The guy in the shop AT&T installed the card and said it's fine.
When calling hotline because it was not, AT&T rep said it's impossible to use data from unlocked iPhone with their network.
No refund either. Bummer.
Will my iPhone 4 whitch i bought in the apple store last year without contract be unlockable now?
I don't see how unlocking has anything to do with the iPhone not being able to receive data? I would keep trying. AT&T is the least user friendly carrier, seriously.
Well, I guess it was locked to AT&T.. you could try going to the Apple Store and see what they can do for you. No one knows really as it's it's a new service that they've never offered before. Can't go wrong for seeing if they could unlock it for you after offering factory unlocked phones.
I'm going to call Apple about this; I bought an iPhone off-contract a few weeks ago and I feel I should be able to pay the $50 or so difference and have my phone unlocked as well. Currently I'm working abroad and I've had to purchase another unlocked device as my iPhone is neither unlockable via firmware nor unlocked via turbo SIM (the latter isn't working for me for whatever reason). Hopefully Apple will be reasonable about this and not tell me to contact AT&T (as I did purchase this direct at an Apple Store).
The problem is im out of country, i'm living in germany so i can't just go to an apple store (only one here), do you think calling might help?
By my calculations the 32 GB iPhone 4 should be selling at about £550 over here in England. You're right in that £62 isn't a massive, but I could sell that figure to my wife better than £612! Here's to hoping the prices will come down when the next iPhone comes out - whenever that is.
I assume this means the iPhone 5 will also be available unlocked.
I am moving to the US in 2 weeks.
Can I currently buy an iPhone 4 and get a pay as you go or rolling month contract with AT&T or another carrier in the US using a micro-SIM? I don't want to be locked in for 24 months (or even 12 months for that matter) as will likely be coming back to the UK in June 2012.
I am moving to the US in 2 weeks.
Can I currently buy an iPhone 4 and get a pay as you go or rolling month contract with AT&T or another carrier in the US using a micro-SIM? I don't want to be locked in for 24 months (or even 12 months for that matter) as will likely be coming back to the UK in June 2012.
Actually, when AT&T unlocks an iPhone they are the ones who contact Apple to receive the unlock code for your specific iPhone. So it stays within Apple, AT&T is only your service provider, remember Apple is the one who actually manufactured the locked phone. I would say it's very unlikely that they would tell you to talk it with AT&T instead.
Well, did you buy it in the US? Either way, Apple is the same company and if they were to grant you with an unlock code I don't think it would matter if you called them from another country that wasn't the one you originally purchased the iPhone in. I don't know if they will unlock it for you, but as I said, you might as well try. You can do it over the phone as well, all they are going to ask you for is the IMEI number and I believe the serial number. Tell us how that went!
Can you currently buy an iPhone 4? Well, this news says you finally can get them without them being linked to one unique carrier. So you could pay full retail price and use it with whatever carrier/plan you want to so as long as you get a Micro-SIM from them (or just cut the normal SIM yourself). If you buy the unlocked phone, you are pretty much buying a free-to-use phone on whatever service anywhere (watch for CDMA/GSM). I would hold for the iPhone 5 as you well stated though.
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Now I have two questions.
time will tell...
- Will Apple or AT&T finally offer an unlocking service for phones that have already met the 2-year contract terms? I'd love to use my old (fully purchased!) AT&T iPhone when working in SE Asia without having to unlock/jailbreak.
- Will Apple's Japan stores soon sell unlocked phones, or will SoftBank (Japan) finally allow unlocked phones, purchased either in- or out-of-country, to be used with new contracts?
time will tell...
The next iPhone will probably be similarly priced to the US seeing that they've adjusted many products' prices to reflect the A$ above parity...