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Apple Now Selling Unlocked iPhone 4 in U.S.

There might not be too much advantage to people living in the US who buy an unlocked iPhone (for now).

For one - the only carriers who you could get service with are ATT and T-Mobile. And T-Mobile isn't going to get you 3G.

So you're pretty much going with ATT regardless. And while you might not be locked into a contract - chances are the costs will still be the same for service. I don't see them discounting - even though you're not subsidizing the phone.

So - again - if you're living in the US (and don't really travel) - the only advantage is no contract with a service provider that you're pretty much tethered to anyway.

Now - this is great news for those overseas or for those who travel, etc as it provides flexibility.
 
maestrokev said:
I always laugh when people parade around that list. There's 27 EU countries? With the exception of France, Germany, Italy and UK all the rest have the population of US cities. There's over 300million people in the US so the use of average is a joke. All that matters is how fast your connection in your city is. It's not like the countries with faster internet access win more Nobel awards or dominate the world economy ;)
Click to expand...

Your list of EU countries with a larger population than New York is missing about 10 countries. Please try again.
 
Great! Now I wonder if they would unlock the iPhone's of those of us that have completed our commitment or purchased at full price.
 
bushido said:
u don't have prepaid cards u could use? here u can get prepaid cards from discounter supermarkets for 20 € with 2GB of data, text and call flat
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With the exception of H20 wireless, which is a MVNO on AT&T's network (and doesn't offer 3G data), there are no SIM based options for prepaid cellular. Prepaid here is carrier locked, even the GSM based ones.
 
This is good for people wanting an iPhone 4 abroad, much cheaper than a lot of other countries. Funny to see people surprised at how much the phone is ($650), I mean seriously here in the UK the same phone is £120 more unlocked. Nearly top end smartphone is more than $650 here.
 
samcraig said:
There might not be too much advantage to people living in the US who buy an unlocked iPhone (for now).

For one - the only carriers who you could get service with are ATT and T-Mobile. And T-Mobile isn't going to get you 3G.

So you're pretty much going with ATT regardless. And while you might not be locked into a contract - chances are the costs will still be the same for service. I don't see them discounting - even though you're not subsidizing the phone.

So - again - if you're living in the US (and don't really travel) - the only advantage is no contract with a service provider that you're pretty much tethered to anyway.

Now - this is great news for those overseas or for those who travel, etc as it provides flexibility.
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I dunno... guess this will be the last time I repeat it... but again... NOT TRUE.

Cincinnati Bell lets you use an iPhone, and will make an iPhone specific plan (about 20/month cheaper than AT&T) for you.... and they use AT&T towers outside the city limits.
 
diamond.g said:
Great! Now I wonder if they would unlock the iPhone's of those of us that have completed our commitment or purchased at full price.
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As per Chronicwire tweet, he contacted ATT and they say they are still "not able to unlock it for you (at this time)"
Greedy bastards...
 
millerb7 said:
I dunno... guess this will be the last time I repeat it... but again... NOT TRUE.

Cincinnati Bell lets you use an iPhone, and will make an iPhone specific plan (about 20/month cheaper than AT&T) for you.... and they use AT&T towers outside the city limits.
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Ok. I stand corrected. IF you're able to get on a Cincy Bell plan. The point is relatively moot. 99% (Yes - fact out of the air) of iPhone owners who don't travel and live in the US won't see a benefit.

The real "winners" here are those who travel and those who live abroad who come to the US and want to use their iPhones. And oh - Apple - for being able to sell more phones to those who have to pay more overseas.
 
Good for you guys. Us up here in Canada have had them for a while.

But I still went with a contract. $250 versus $800+ just wasn't a good move for me. But it does suck when I travel abroad.
 
Shivetya said:
Well that assumes you can get service for less by having an unlocked phone. I can't seem to find a carrier who offers enough of a discount to matter.
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According to Wikipedia there are a number of MVNO in the US using the AT&T network:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_MVNO

Doing a thorough comparison of their offers and prices takes some time (but any consumer-oriented publication might do this for their readers, eg, let macrumors do this, I am sure it would be greatly appreciated).
 
samcraig said:
Ok. I stand corrected. IF you're able to get on a Cincy Bell plan. The point is relatively moot. 99% (Yes - fact out of the air) of iPhone owners who don't travel and live in the US won't see a benefit.

The real "winners" here are those who travel and those who live abroad who come to the US and want to use their iPhones. And oh - Apple - for being able to sell more phones to those who have to pay more overseas.
Click to expand...

Yeah I might actuallly do this (assuming they'll be selling the new iPhones with the same options)... it'll save me tons in the long run... Cincinnati Bell's monthly rates are about $20/month LESS than AT&T and you get more minutes and unlimited data and texting... and the coverage is almost identical as it uses AT&T towers.
 
manu chao said:
This all depends on whether you take the population of the City of New York (8 million) or the combined urban area (18 million).
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I should have clarified and used US state population since the EU is a growing membership of countries. My point is that it's not a valid comparison in surveys using the statistical term "average." I love how Europeans use the entire EU membership as a group to criticize one sole country, USA.
 
TheOriginalKi said:
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.
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Certinfy said:
This is good for people wanting an iPhone 4 abroad, much cheaper than a lot of other countries. Funny to see people surprised at how much the phone is ($650), I mean seriously here in the UK the same phone is £120 more unlocked. Nearly top end smartphone is more than $650 here.
Click to expand...

Not quite. You have to remember that is $650 PLUS tax. £510 here is already including tax.
 
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