Buying an iPhone from the Apple Store in New York?

[MST]

My Aunt is traveling to New York in the next couple of weeks on business and I've been thinking about asking her to pick me up an 8GB iPhone for me to activate, jailbreak and unlock for use on T-Mobile here in the UK, saving me £60.

Anyway, I'm sure I read that a member of this forum had tried to buy an iPhone from an Apple Store and the staff there insisted that the iPhone be activated in-store at the time of purchase, is this the case?

 

[cyclingplatypus]

The phone can't be activated in-store as it's activation is done via iTunes, so they wouldn't "require" someone to activate it in-store. I think you may be thinking of people buying it from an at&t store in the states where they try to prequalify your account, but even then they aren't activating the phone for you.

 

[f1]

Make sure your aunt has a credit card!

 

[cornerdealy]

The phone can't be activated in-store as it's activation is done via iTunes, so they wouldn't "require" someone to activate it in-store. I think you may be thinking of people buying it from an at&t store in the states where they try to prequalify your account, but even then they aren't activating the phone for you.

i've seen plenty of people activate their iphones in the apple store. I don't know if they require it though.

 

[MST]

The phone can't be activated in-store as it's activation is done via iTunes, so they wouldn't "require" someone to activate it in-store. I think you may be thinking of people buying it from an at&t store in the states where they try to prequalify your account, but even then they aren't activating the phone for you.

More than likely that's what I read, now I think about it that wouldn't make any sense, yes they could hook it up to a Mac in-store and activate it via iTunes, but then it wouldn't be registered on your machine would it

My aunt definitely has a credit card, of that I am very sure!

 

[icantbelieveit]

nope, i bought one from NY Apple store for a mate the other week when i was over there. The only thing is you have to buy with credit card and have ID. However, note that theres tax to pay on the iphone when you're in New York so that adds a bit to the official Apple price you see online as well (cant exactly remember how much more, but i have a feeling it was around £30, but could be totally wrong and it could have been $30, have a google for New York tax percentage amount). So it actually works out not that massive of a saving, especially if you realise that if your auntie is made to have checked what she's bringing back to the UK in customs (rare yes, but it does happen randomly) then there'll be tax to pay on it to bring it back into the UK as the cost of it is over the limit you're allowed to bring back!
But i suppose if you wanted the version of the iphones in the US to make unlocking it easier, then itd be better to get one from the US and make that small saving! But if that doesnt make a difference, may be worth just getting one from here with the full backup of support from our Apple shops as youll have a british recipt and the possibility of using the o2 contract if you decided to at some point!

 

[MST]

nope, i bought one from NY Apple store for a mate the other week when i was over there. The only thing is you have to buy with credit card and have ID. However, note that theres tax to pay on the iphone when you're in New York so that adds a bit to the official Apple price you see online as well (cant exactly remember how much more, but i have a feeling it was around £30, but could be totally wrong and it could have been $30, have a google for New York tax percentage amount). So it actually works out not that massive of a saving, especially if you realise that if your auntie is made to have checked what she's bringing back to the UK in customs (rare yes, but it does happen randomly) then there'll be tax to pay on it to bring it back into the UK as the cost of it is over the limit you're allowed to bring back!
But i suppose if you wanted the version of the iphones in the US to make unlocking it easier, then itd be better to get one from the US and make that small saving! But if that doesnt make a difference, may be worth just getting one from here with the full backup of support from our Apple shops as youll have a british recipt and the possibility of using the o2 contract if you decided to at some point!

New York City sales tax seems to be 8.375% which works out at $33.42 on an 8GB iPhone, bringing the total in at $432.42 or £220 in real money, that brings the saving down to £40, and thinking about it that's a cheap night out on the town!

As you say it may just be worth picking one up from my local Apple Store, I don't think the versions available in the US are any easier to unlock than those in the UK, surely 1.1.3 firmware is 1.1.3 firmware? I'm planning on using ZiPhone BTW.