Chances Apple offers unlocked no commitment iPhone 5 on release?

[catgo]

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Do you guys think apple will offer the new iPhone 5 unlocked as they do now with the iPhone 4, upon it's release or are they more likely to wait a couple of months until production can catch up with demand?

I would really like to buy it as soon as it comes out but the carrier which brings it to my country usually takes 2-3 months to offer it.

 

[Macman45]

If You Buy

Direct from Apple here in the UK, all phones are sim free and unlocked. Did you mean that only service providers and carriers will get them first?

Unlikely IMHO

 

[ann713]

Direct from Apple here in the UK, all phones are sim free and unlocked. Did you mean that only service providers and carriers will get them first?

Unlikely IMHO

In the states, the iPhone 4 wasn't available factory unlocked until nearly a year after. I'll be crossing my fingers with the OP this time.

 

[TechZoomOrg]

Apple should (must) release factory unlocked iPhones whenever launched officially along with carrier locked phones. This is the only way to shake Android if they want to.

I will buy an Android phone in protest if they dont. lol

This is one of the 5 things Apple needs to change.

 

[Gav2k]

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You guys should get the same lovely service we always have over here and that is the option of sim free or subsidised through one of the five networks or the other 6 or so offshoot networks!

 

[Macman45]

That Sucks

In the states, the iPhone 4 wasn't available factory unlocked until nearly a year after. I'll be crossing my fingers with the OP this time.

As an expat New Yorker, I have lots of relatives etc. in the US. I knew you were limited to a couple of decent carriers, where here in the UK we can pick and choose from quite a few.

But to just give carriers first shout REALLY STINKS. I guess thats why my cousin in Rochester has asked me to get her one....Thing is, I don't think an unlocked UK iPhone is going to work in the US?

 

[Gav2k]

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Yes it will work just fine

 

[ann713]

As an expat New Yorker, I have lots of relatives etc. in the US. I knew you were limited to a couple of decent carriers, where here in the UK we can pick and choose from quite a few.

But to just give carriers first shout REALLY STINKS. I guess thats why my cousin in Rochester has asked me to get her one....Thing is, I don't think an unlocked UK iPhone is going to work in the US?

An unlocked UK/Canadian/China etc. iPhone will work just fine in the US.

 

[Macman45]

So She

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Yes it will work just fine

Can just drop her sim in and go? That's good news....So I can order 2 5's and send one to her....No fuss, just choose Verizon or AT&T and it will work?

 

[The Game 161]

So you guys in the US when you buy the new iphone each year it is never sim free? always with a contract?

 

[ann713]

So you guys in the US when you buy the new iphone each year it is never sim free? always with a contract?

Generally speaking, yes. A new iPhone (on contract) starts at $199 for the 16GB model. A sim-free iPhone just recently became available for $649. We are given these two options.

 

[Macman45]

Thats It

So you guys in the US when you buy the new iphone each year it is never sim free? always with a contract?

They have to wait a year for sim free (Or they did with the previous phones) Even after that, there are only 2 main carriers Verizon or AT&T. My cousin has the latter, but say's the service is ok....Not sure about Canada, I think they have more choice.

We are lucky here, If I get miffed with O2 (Im not, and Im sticking with them) all I have to do is order a sim, get a plan and change. Wouldn't buy a locked phone ever.

 

[The Game 161]

Generally speaking, yes. A new iPhone (on contract) starts at $199 for the 16GB model. A sim-free iPhone just recently became available for $649. We are given these two options.

What happens with your existing contract though? do you have to buy it out or something and start a new one?

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They have to wait a year for sim free (Or they did with the previous phones) Even after that, there are only 2 main carriers Verizon or AT&T. My cousin has the latter, but say's the service is ok....Not sure about Canada, I think they have more choice.

We are lucky here, If I get miffed with O2 (Im not, and Im sticking with them) all I have to do is order a sim, get a plan and change. Wouldn't buy a locked phone ever.

I'm hoping to just buy the 5 and put my sim from the 4 into the 5...hopefully that doesn't change in terms of the sim changing.

although i'm sure vodafone would give me a new sim.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

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Do you guys think apple will offer the new iPhone 5 unlocked as they do now with the iPhone 4, upon it's release or are they more likely to wait a couple of months until production can catch up with demand?

I would really like to buy it as soon as it comes out but the carrier which brings it to my country usually takes 2-3 months to offer it.

I don't think they'll offer when the iPhone 5 is first released. Maybe a few months after the release.

 

[Macman45]

You Will Be Fine

What happens with your existing contract though? do you have to buy it out or something and start a new one?

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I'm hoping to just buy the 5 and put my sim from the 4 into the 5...hopefully that doesn't change in terms of the sim changing.

although i'm sure vodafone would give me a new sim.

The microsim you have in your 4 will work in the 5, so it is just a case of dropping it in....Can't see why your data plan would change either.

 

[The Game 161]

The microsim you have in your 4 will work in the 5, so it is just a case of dropping it in....Can't see why your data plan would change either.

As long as apple don't change the sim I will

my contract isnt up till dec next year so buying the iphone 5 this year then getting the 6 through my contract next year should work well.

 

[ann713]

What happens with your existing contract though? do you have to buy it out or something and start a new one?

The $199 price tag are exclusively for new customers or those renewing their contact. The subsidized price of $649 are for people who just wanna buy the phone outright, usually includes those who are in the middle of their contract. I went with the latter choice for use on the T-Mobile and international pre-paid.

 

[cyks]

What happens with your existing contract though? do you have to buy it out or something and start a new one?

That's the other part of the catch, you can't have an existing contract at the time (unless you're willing to spend a few hundred in the early termination fee).

Thankfully, depending on the current contract, many companies will offer you an early upgrade in exchange for signing another 2 year contract.

 

[sapporobaby]

As an expat New Yorker, I have lots of relatives etc. in the US. I knew you were limited to a couple of decent carriers, where here in the UK we can pick and choose from quite a few.

But to just give carriers first shout REALLY STINKS. I guess thats why my cousin in Rochester has asked me to get her one....Thing is, I don't think an unlocked UK iPhone is going to work in the US?

Wrong-o. It will work in the US, Italy, Spain, Finland (where I currently am), Sweden, etc.... It is a GSM phone.

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Can just drop her sim in and go? That's good news....So I can order 2 5's and send one to her....No fuss, just choose Verizon or AT&T and it will work?

No. Verizon uses CDMA and no SIM card. There are no CDMA networks in the UK. She will have to use AT&T or T-Mobile (will not get 3G service as they use different radios). Just get her the phone and tell her to head to AT&T so that they can rip her off with their pricing plans.

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Generally speaking, yes. A new iPhone (on contract) starts at $199 for the 16GB model. A sim-free iPhone just recently became available for $649. We are given these two options.

This has been the European model for years and years. When the iPhone came here it was illegal to keep them locked as AT&T did. After a year the operator by European law has to unlock the phone.

 

[eastercat]

If apple offers an unlocked phone, you get it from them. AT&T and verizon only offer locked phones. AT&T won't unlock their iPhones, so don't ask until you see a press release from AT&T.
CDMA phones don't have sim cards. Are you that ignorant?

Can just drop her sim in and go? That's good news....So I can order 2 5's and send one to her....No fuss, just choose Verizon or AT&T and it will work?

 

[Macman45]

That is uncalled for

If apple offers an unlocked phone, you get it from them. AT&T and verizon only offer locked phones. AT&T won't unlock their iPhones, so don't ask until you see a press release from AT&T.
CDMA phones don't have sim cards. Are you that ignorant?

I live in the UK now, how would I be expected to know all the ins and outs of what's happening across the pond....Not ignorance, and exactly why I posted the question.

Take a chill pill.

 

[Schweitzer]

The good ol' times of offering only "subsidized" (LOL), locked phones in order to make mo' money are over for Apple.

 

[SavMBP15]

The good ol' times of offering only "subsidized" (LOL), locked phones in order to make mo' money are over for Apple.

Apple does not make any money off of subsidized phones. Or I should rather say that Apple just sells phones to the carriers for one price (might be different for each carrier, I do not know). It doesn't matter if the phone is subsidized or not to Apple. They still make the same profit.

They sell their phones to the carriers for a set price. Its the carriers that subsidize the price of the phone and then they make it back with a contract.

My question is this:
Why would someone who lives in the U.S., and never travels internationally, want to buy an unlocked iPhone brand new (like from Apple, or in another country)? Lets pretend they know what carrier they will use as well. Just go in the store and buy a subsidized phone and use it for 2 years.

Because if you buy an unlocked iPhone for $649 from Apple right now, you'll be paying the same rate plans from AT&T & T-Mobile or Verizon than if you bought the phone for $199 with a 2 year contract. The only difference is your unlocked phone actually costs you more in the long run because rate plans are the same for everyone, regardless of where you bought your phone.

 

[goosnarrggh]

The only difference is your unlocked phone actually costs you more in the long run because rate plans are the same for everyone, regardless of where you bought your phone.

That's actually starting to change. T-Mobile offers a set of "value" plans, available only if you don't take any equipment subsidy (ie, either you buy a new phone outright, or else bring your own preexisting phone). Their "unlimited" value plan (2GB of data at 3G speeds, then spend the rest of the month consuming as much data as you can at EDGE speeds ... effectively all-you-can-eat EDGE for iPhone customers), for example, is $20 cheaper (per month) than their equivalent plan for customers who received an equipment subsidy.

However, you are not eligible to receive these prices if you sign up as a month-to-month postpaid customer. You have to commit to 2 years of service.

 

[Schweitzer]

Apple does not make any money off of subsidized phones.

Of course they did. Whenever the local laws allowed it they "sold" the iPhone only through one carrier for years. In Germany Deutsche Telekom.

Guess why. WARNING: it's really difficult to figure out why.

Then, with the iPhone 4 they changed this milk cow strategy all of a sudden.

Again: guess why.

As for "subsidized" (LMAO) and locked phones - what a ridiculous scam: you probably really think you paid just $199 for the phone.

Congratulations.