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iPhone 4 and AT&T student discount

K

Kvasek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 22, 2010
9
0
Well, here's the deal. In about a week I am coming to Boston from Poland to begin learning in college. I have already ordered a new and shiny 13" MBP. However, as I do not have a SSN, I cannot order an iPhone 4 (it's time to replace my iPhone 3G) online neither from AT&T nor Apple, so my only option is to get one once I arrive.

The problem is, I would like to use AT&T 15% student discount on plans. I know I can easily do it when I order iPhone 4 online, but, as stated above, it's not possible. So my question is if I will be lucky enough to find an iPhone 4 in some Apple Store, Best Buy, wherever, will I still be able to set up my AT&T account, so my plan would include the discount? And is everything done online (getting a brand new phone number etc.) or will I have to visit AT&T in person anyway?
 
well you have a 100% chance of not finding the iPhone 4 in any of the locations you mentioned. if a person has bad credit they can put up a cash deposit and still get a plan with at&t. with no social security number I dont think you can even get a plan. when a person has bad credit and has to place a deposit they will not qualify for any discount. I know a guy in Boston that has several iPhone 4's in stock but you wont get them for the $199 price. you can buy a prepaid sim card and use it in the phone but once again you are going to have a hard time getting discounts. sorry :(
 
Last I heard the deposit for non-US citizens ranges from $200-$1000 USD. It's pretty steep. Of course after your contract is fulfilled (or is it after 12 months of on-time payements?) you get your deposit back.

Maybe you could have an American friend get it for you?
 
Well, I had similar doubts, but I have already found a fellow Polish student from Boston some time ago and she said that she had absolutely no problem with getting a phone and a plan from Verizon.
With the amout in colleges in and around Boston, there are thousands of international students living there every year and my guess is they can't all be using Virgin Mobile or another prepaid option, so I would think major networks must have came up with some policy. Plus, being college students, I would suppose we are rather reliable costumers (meaning most of us will stay in US for at least 4 years).

Anyway, thanks for your imput. I will try to get some more information once I arrive.
 
Witaj! Its pretty tough here without an ssn idk what you can do, but why dont you wait for the iphone 4 in Poland and unlock it and bring back here. Or let somebody send it to you?
 
You could ebay one, of course, and unlock it to the carrier of your choice, assuming it's on 4.0.1 or earlier. You'll still need a line through a carrier, but at least you could shop around a better deposit amount.
 
As for buying an iPhone 4 in Poland... wait for it... it is going to cost me from 2,700 to 3,600 PLN, which equals from about $870 to $1160. I am not kidding and yes, it is a price for just a phone. Then you have to add the cost of a two year contract. Don't be surprised if it won't be top seller around here. As long as I am at it, base model of 13" MBP costs 5500 PLN, meaning $1770. That's why Apple is almost non-existent in Poland (some sort of explanation is that we only have iSpot, which is an Apple reseller, but the prices are simply insane).

Yes, there's an 15% discount on the minutes part of your plan. I also would not have known about it if I had not came across it somewhere on this forum.

Well, thank you guys for suggestions. I'll be in Boston in 5 days and see what I can do. Perhaps asking at orientation would be the first logical step, they must have dealt with this sort of issues hundreds of times. I just hope it works out. I am not going to get a two year contract if I will have no choice but to pick some Android device or Blackberry. I'll rather just get BB Curve from Virgin Mobile, it will at least save me some money.
 
I did some additional research and I just want to make it clear here, in case someone else was in similar position in the future.

As a matter of fact, one can get an iPhone without SSN. However, as someone above mentioned, a deposit will be required. It can range from $90 to $1000. However, I find it doubtful that anyone would be asked to deposit $1000 or, say, $100. People that did that reported that they were asked to deposit about $500. So, sadly, if you want to get an iPhone without SSN you must be prepared to have around $700 to spare. You get the deposit back after 12 months of service.
 
Actually, I was at the AT&T store for the 3GS launch and an exchange student from England forked up $1000. I was behind him in line. It happens. At least it's a deposit, not a fee.
 
MrCooperS said:
There's a 15% AT&T student discount in Boston?!?!?!
Click to expand...

It's just a normal FAN discount except it's through his collage for being a student vs. with an employer.

My collage gives me 15 percent off too but I don't use it.

OP If I were you, I would figure out what the difference in deposit is between buying an iPhone 4 fully subsidized and just getting a sim card / no contract. (different stores may quote you different prices.) It may make more financial sense to go to Toronto and buy an officially unlocked iPhone there, because you can always sell it next year when a new model comes for a ~200 premium over the carrier locked AT&T phone.
 
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