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Iphone Unlocking - International Required to be Instore?

I

iphonequestion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 12, 2008
5
0
We all know AT&T is going to force you to be in store... I was thinking an easy loophole, there surely must be one of the 22 countries where you can buy without actually having to go to a store and activate it? I foresee a black market of unactivated phones flowing into the US from one of the less strict countries.

Probably would be possible? :)
 
iphonequestion said:
We all know AT&T is going to force you to be in store... I was thinking an easy loophole, there surely must be one of the 22 countries where you can buy without actually having to go to a store and activate it? I foresee a black market of unactivated phones flowing into the US from one of the less strict countries.

Probably would be possible? :)
Click to expand...

Of course it's possible. But I really don't want to worry about bricking my phone every time there are updates, some of which would probably be required if you want to enjoy the many new apps coming our way.
 
That might be true. I'm from Singapore and over there, the phones from each carrier are unlocked. Which means that you can buy a phone from Carrier A and use it with Carrier B. But the catch is that it'll cost more if you buy the phone without a contract.

Think I'll ask my family back home to check it out for me. It might work. Having an unlock iPhone would allow me to use different SIM cards when i travel cause roaming sure cost a lot!!
 
Considering you unlockers are the ones that forced this crap of buying in-store on us, why don't you consider NOT unlocking the phones this time? There are going to be a poopload of apps, and maybe you could just not ruin it for the rest of us.
 
sananda said:
not the carriers protecting their subsidy then?
Click to expand...

If not for the thousands of unlockers, there wouldn't be as much of a fear about protecting the subsidy. But when almost every iPhone on eBay is unlocked, they're gonna yank the candy right outta our faces.

The nearest Apple Store is about 25 miles away. The nearest AT&T store with people who I would want to buy an iPhone from are...well, I'll get back to you. I'm not getting one at launch, but I want the same easy-as-poo process I had with this one.
 
Well, I am going to travel overseas, no flipping way I am going to pay international data rates from AT&T. Ripoff already the current monthly payments.

Probably will be possible, I forsee a ton of asian iphones flooding ebay in the near future, will be good business once they get an easy unlock program out.

Just like the good old days. Buy iphone, unlock it, sell for $100+ profit. Total time: Less then 10 minutes.
 
sananda said:
me too. i don't really want to spend time with a mobile phone salesman and then have him unboxing the phone.
Click to expand...

... getting their greasy, slimy fingers all over the touch screen before you

THE HORROR! THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this does come from someone who gave up on screen covers after paying $30 for 'em, not getting all the dust out from below, and putting a scratch in it while trying to pluck out one annoying bugger. Luckily, it's at the top right where the menu bar meets the rest of the screen, so it's very unnoticable.

Anywho, give us iTunes activation at home! Take my credit card and charge me $300 if I don't activate in 30 days!
 
Michael CM1 said:
... getting their greasy, slimy fingers all over the touch screen before you

THE HORROR! THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this does come from someone who gave up on screen covers after paying $30 for 'em, not getting all the dust out from below, and putting a scratch in it while trying to pluck out one annoying bugger. Luckily, it's at the top right where the menu bar meets the rest of the screen, so it's very unnoticable.

Anywho, give us iTunes activation at home! Take my credit card and charge me $300 if I don't activate in 30 days!
Click to expand...

Invisible Shield on my old iphone did wonders :).
 
Michael CM1 said:
Considering you unlockers are the ones that forced this crap of buying in-store on us, why don't you consider NOT unlocking the phones this time? There are going to be a poopload of apps, and maybe you could just not ruin it for the rest of us.
Click to expand...

So I should accept a contract that is completely the opposite of what I want?

We wouldn't do if it the contracts where any good. They aint. So we do.

Its O2s fault in the UK. Not ours.
 
kyen1 said:
Of course it's possible. But I really don't want to worry about bricking my phone every time there are updates, some of which would probably be required if you want to enjoy the many new apps coming our way.
Click to expand...

If you had bought that iPhone direct from the authorized retailer unlocked (eg. in France) then there is no risk at all of bricking the phone. (Well, if it does happen, then Apple is financially responsible for repairing it...)
 
Concorde Rules said:
So I should accept a contract that is completely the opposite of what I want?

We wouldn't do if it the contracts where any good. They aint. So we do.

Its O2s fault in the UK. Not ours.
Click to expand...

No, you don't accept a contract you don't like, but you are not being forced to enter it, are you? You are deciding not to enter it, and that's your right.

I always find this attitude bizarre. I'm not aware of O2 having forced anyone to buy an iPhone and enter a contract, and therefore have no issue with them, AT&T or any other carrier protecting their revenue.
 
have we not been through all this before......

nobody is being forced to sign a contract or buy an iphone....

its really simple if you don't like the contracts buy another phone.:rolleyes:
 
sananda said:
or you could get another phone :D
Click to expand...

Thats not the point.

Why they don't offer a contract without the BT/cloud wiki and with more texts and less mins? I'd buy it then.

But as I can get Unlimited texts, 500 mins and unlimited internet from T-Mobile for £27.50 compared to the 600mins 500 texts and unlimited internet from O2 for £35... the idea of unlocking suddenly becomes more sensible eh?

Im getting an iPhone because my current phone is buggered and I want an iPod Touch. Makes sense doesn't it? ;)

You can't blame the unlockers for getting their value for money can you?
 
Concorde Rules said:
Thats not the point.

Why they don't offer a contract without the BT/cloud wiki and with more texts and less mins? I'd buy it then.

But as I can get Unlimited texts, 500 mins and unlimited internet from T-Mobile for £27.50 compared to the 600mins 500 texts and unlimited internet from O2 for £35... the idea of unlocking suddenly becomes more sensible eh?

Im getting an iPhone because my current phone is buggered and I want an iPod Touch. Makes sense doesn't it? ;)

You can't blame the unlockers for getting their value for money can you?
Click to expand...

But that is exactly the point. The fact is that Apple and O2 have decided that, for the time being, the iPhone will be exclusively available on O2 in the UK. There are all sorts of arguments for unlocking, but the fact you don't like the contract O2 have offered is not one of them.

No-one has said you have to have an iPhone and accept one of these contracts. You have chosen to go down the unlocking route, don't try and blame that on O2.
 
Rigsby said:
But that is exactly the point. The fact is that Apple and O2 have decided that, for the time being, the iPhone will be exclusively available on O2 in the UK. There are all sorts of arguments for unlocking, but the fact you don't like the contract O2 have offered is not one of them.

No-one has said you have to have an iPhone and accept one of these contracts. You have chosen to go down the unlocking route, don't try and blame that on O2.
Click to expand...

But someone in the thread blamed it on the unlockers that this new system is in place.

Im trying to make the point that that isn't fair.
 
Concorde Rules said:
But someone in the thread blamed it on the unlockers that this new system is in place.

Im trying to make the point that that isn't fair.
Click to expand...

But it is in place because of unlockers!

O2, or any carrier for that matter, is not going to subsidise a phone only for you to take it to another network. They need to get a return on their investment, both to Apple through the exclusivity agreement, and to you, by giving you a phone at less than value.

Don't get me wrong - I think there are arguments for unlocking and competition, but you cannot blame any network for trying to protect their revenue.
 
Concorde Rules said:
Thats not the point.

Why they don't offer a contract without the BT/cloud wiki and with more texts and less mins? I'd buy it then.

But as I can get Unlimited texts, 500 mins and unlimited internet from T-Mobile for £27.50 compared to the 600mins 500 texts and unlimited internet from O2 for £35... the idea of unlocking suddenly becomes more sensible eh?

Im getting an iPhone because my current phone is buggered and I want an iPod Touch. Makes sense doesn't it? ;)

You can't blame the unlockers for getting their value for money can you?
Click to expand...


previously you said "should i accept a contract that's the complete opposite of what i want" and that the o2's contracts are to blame for the unlocking. i don't think any of that is accurate. the contacts available now (having been updated in february) are perfectly reasonable and hardly "the complete opposite" of the t-mobile one you mention. clearly you find the t-mobile one more to your liking, but but i hardly think the contracts on offer are the cause of widespread unlocking.

the major reasons, i suspect, are that people felt that having paid full price for the phone it was not unreasonable to want to use the carrier of their choice, or that there was no official carrier in their territory, or that they didn't think having paid full price that they ought to be obliged to enter into a long term contract.

i actually unlocked my iphone for the last of those reasons.
 
sananda said:
the major reasons, i suspect, are that people felt that having paid full price for the phone it was not unreasonable to want to use the carrier of their choice, or that there was no official carrier in their territory, or that they didn't think having paid full price that they ought to be obliged to enter into a long term contract.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY! If AT&T / O2 etc. had been giving away the v1's for nothing (or the reduced pricing announced for the 3G iPhone, then I'd totally understand why they were against unlocking and trying to clamp down this time around.

The fact of the matter though is that we were buying the phone completely unsubsidised by the networks - but still being 'forced' into a contract which might not actually be very good value.

This time around is exactly the same. They've announced cheap pricing for those entering into contracts which is great for those people, but I *want* to be given the choice to pay full whack for the hardware, and then do what I want with my phone! Why Apple feel they should be any different to all the other handset manufactuers who offer their handsets up for sale SIM-free is beyond me.

I don't see what is so wrong with that position?
 
Melee said:
The fact of the matter though is that we were buying the phone completely unsubsidised by the networks - but still being 'forced' into a contract which might not actually be very good value.
Click to expand...

But the point is that you weren't 'forced' into a contract, at no point did anyone from AT&T or O2 force you to buy an iPhone and enter a contract. You bought an iPhone knowing there was an exclusivity contract and what the tariffs were.
 
the reason my me and million other non us citizens are pissed at ATT is because we were a going to buy it with its new low (subsidized) price and then unlock it to use with our carrier. I believe that you will be able to buy it without signing a contract internationally though that doesnt really matter since the price willbe very high. At the moment im deeply in love with the currency rate of the USD :)

Today, it looks like I have to go with Telia here in Sweden. The cost is prolly going to be waaay too high for me, but damn, I need that phone.
 
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