Buy.com now selling unlocked iPhones!

[Ron21]

http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-iphon...ull-apple-warranty/q/loc/12435/210461450.html

at a bargain price of $795

 

[Applejuiced]

Wow, let me get a dozen

 

[abarna21]

but hey.....it's an iphone.....

 

[aok1975]

I love their language "never locked" instead of "unlocked". There is something deeper to those words.

 

[Drumjim85]

look at the charger it comes with... dang.

 

[bigchief]

I love their language "never locked" instead of "unlocked". There is something deeper to those words.

Unlocked sounds like the iphone has been tampered with. Never locked sounds much better. I'll bet they sell a load off them to people who don't want to use AT&T.

 

[michael.lauden]

what a price. but i guess if it was cheaper then who would stick with AT&T right ?

 

[eastercat]

I wonder if they imported these from a country that sells unlocked phones? That seems the most likely explanation.

 

[11800506]

I wonder if they imported these from a country that sells unlocked phones? That seems the most likely explanation.

Yeh, they are. If you watch the video, it explains that the product instructions will be in a different language (italian for example) because they are being imported from overseas. Also, the charger uses an adapter from the original charger to work in US sockets.

What boggles me is why didn't they just include Apple's standard USB charger if they had to include an adapter anyways.

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Very interesting that they could do this...

There should be a disclosure under warranty as well. Obviously you can't exchange the phone in any of the retail stores in US...unless they have been holding secret unlock phone stock!

 

[Opie]

That one already needs a restore. It was hung up between pages there at the end.

 

[Aaleck]

Sheesh... and people say theres a recession.

 

[goosnarrggh]

http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-iphon...ull-apple-warranty/q/loc/12435/210461450.html

at a bargain price of $795

So that's a mark-up of approximately $196 from the price you'd pay for an equivalent unsubsidized (but still locked) iPhone domestically. The question a potential buyer has to ask himself is, is $196 (plus extra hassle getting it repaired if anything ever goes wrong) worth it for the sole benefit of being able to use a different carrier?

 

[dave006]

Very interesting that they could do this...

There should be a disclosure under warranty as well. Obviously you can't exchange the phone in any of the retail stores in US...unless they have been holding secret unlock phone stock!

They don't have to keep any magic unlocked iphones instock. The magic is not in the phone. The real Apple activation status is maintained in the Apple Activation servers and is based on the IMEI of the phone and the model number. So, from a technical prospective they can make any iPhone 3G unlocked by just updating the DB.

This is why when you reset your iPhone 3G it wants to connect to iTunes to "activate".

Dave

 

[LoganT]

I'm never going to order from Buy.com when I ordered a camera from them and payed 20 dollars for overnight shipping (and getting here in 4 days) and then when it actually does arrive it just ships the manufacturers camera box, with nothing in it. So I paid 250 dollars for a box that holds a digital camera. And no they wouldn't give me a refund, and have horrible customer service. I even filed something back with the credit card company and it was denied.

Sorry, I'm ranting. I hate everything about Buy.com