If I am doing it wrong, please tell me what to do. I don't want to wait until next month sometime to get my phone.
What am I missing?
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"Off Contract" AT&T iPhone 4Ss Already Come Unlocked
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If I am doing it wrong, please tell me what to do. I don't want to wait until next month sometime to get my phone.
What am I missing?
I think what they meant is that you have to go to the store and tell them that you want to buy an "OFF CONTRACT" iPhone, not an unlocked one.
Uk, iPhones and Unlocking
So in the UK since part way through the 3Gs it has been possible to buy and unlocked iPhone. Apple seem to do it through either their Retail Stores or their online store.
When they sell you an iPhone they either scan a SIM card with it or they Scan a "SIM free" barcode. Once the sale has been processed the information is sent to the iPhone activation servers which lock the phone or not to a particular network.
This seems to allow apple the ability to pass on the "Unlocked" status when your get a phone swapped by AppleCare or the Genius Bar.
In the UK if you are with O2 or Orange you can get the phone unlocked after the purchase either for a fee or at the end of you contract.
This combined with the lack of CDMA in the UK allows stores to carry 6 Models of the iPhone4s, the 16, 32 and 64 GB in Black or White, and let the software do the rest. The guys in the UK stores must be much happier than the ones in the States.
The Unlocked phones are far more popular than locked ones as there is a much better choice of 1 month rolling contracts or PAYG deals that are very good value.
So in the UK since part way through the 3Gs it has been possible to buy and unlocked iPhone. Apple seem to do it through either their Retail Stores or their online store.
When they sell you an iPhone they either scan a SIM card with it or they Scan a "SIM free" barcode. Once the sale has been processed the information is sent to the iPhone activation servers which lock the phone or not to a particular network.
This seems to allow apple the ability to pass on the "Unlocked" status when your get a phone swapped by AppleCare or the Genius Bar.
In the UK if you are with O2 or Orange you can get the phone unlocked after the purchase either for a fee or at the end of you contract.
This combined with the lack of CDMA in the UK allows stores to carry 6 Models of the iPhone4s, the 16, 32 and 64 GB in Black or White, and let the software do the rest. The guys in the UK stores must be much happier than the ones in the States.
The Unlocked phones are far more popular than locked ones as there is a much better choice of 1 month rolling contracts or PAYG deals that are very good value.
Why WOULDNT a device u pay the full price for be unlocked 
is that another american rip off to pay the full prince and be still locked to a carrier omg
Oh and buying it up front makes sense, at least here. U can get sims from any cheap discounter market for like 15€ incl data and sms flat and no contract instead of paying 40€ on a tmobile plan for example
is that another american rip off to pay the full prince and be still locked to a carrier omg Oh and buying it up front makes sense, at least here. U can get sims from any cheap discounter market for like 15€ incl data and sms flat and no contract instead of paying 40€ on a tmobile plan for example
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I agree. I've bought cars for less than that for cripe's sake.
Anyone who would spend $849 on a mid cycle phone (or any phone) should have to spend a week serving up soup for the homeless, to get their priorities straight.
Most people who pay full retail (including me) just sell their old phone for 2-300 bucks. Allows us to upgrade every year. Hell if you sell it early you can get more than that
Try spending a week in a foreign country with a locked phone as your only means of communication.
Ouch!
UK prices are actually in-line with US unlocked prices.
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Does any carrier in the US offer 'top-up' offers? For example, topping up by £/$ X amount will get you so many free minutes and texts or data?
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Also, I was under the impression that the full-price iPhone came unlocked as standard, as it quite clearly states on the Apple Online Store
Once you select a colour, you can scroll down to where it says, "Or get iPhone unlocked and contract free. Coming in November."
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That's the price of the phone. Just because a carrier makes us believe we're only paying 199$ for it, it's not true. We pay much more by being tied to a single carrier and paying ridiculous monthly fees.
Unlocked is the best way to go, especially if your'e an international customer.
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No, they're not. You're always worried about the next software update. It's a pain.
^ agree. Never again am I jailbreaking, it's way too much of a PITA over time.
Living in A foreign country like China with only a very weeks a year in the US and I can almost guarantee you will think twice about $749 being an outrageous price. In the land of unlocked and unsubsizdized phones your concept of expensive quickly changes.
Living in A foreign country like China with only a very weeks a year in the US and I can almost guarantee you will think twice about $749 being an outrageous price. In the land of unlocked and unsubsizdized phones your concept of expensive quickly changes.
I dont really see the point in buying an unlocked phone in the USA unless you do extensive overseas travel.
ATT does not have an unsubsidized rate plane so might as well have att pay for your phone.
ATT does not have an unsubsidized rate plane so might as well have att pay for your phone.
Bah, Jailbreaking's nothing. I don't have the urge to constantly update my iPhone. I update on occasion after I know it's a sold release and after redsn0w is updated to support it, and it's absolutely nothing - adds a minute on to the normal upgrade time. And you get a lot of functionality once you do, like MyWi.
I love when people tell others how to spend their money. FWIW those expensive retail prices are what the CellCos pay Apple. That is why the $199 iPhone is called "subsidized". But make no mistake, you are paying $649 or more eventually either way you buy a 16GB iPhone 4S.
So if I paid full price but didn't notice any mention of it being unlocked, how would I tell if it is or not? The back of my 4 box shows an AT&T logo along with an Apple logo, my 4S box (purchased from Apple) shows neither.
I bought an iPhone4s at the Canadian Apple Online Store (using a friends CA credit card and address), but cancelled the order after reading that Siri isn't offered on the CA iPhone. Check apple.com/ca and you will see that Siri isn't even mentioned as a feature.
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Are you really paying such insane plans in the us? I have a nice 35 plan that includes free talk in the carrier-net, 100mins in all other nets, free sms and unlimited data (first 5GB at 7,2mbit - after that 64kbit till next billing period), tethering and multicard (my iPad shares this plan with my iPhone).
So you can't access data everywhere like with 3G, you have to be on wi-fi to make or receive calls (without eating into your pay-as-you-go minutes), you have to use multiple internet-based services just for routine calls and text messaging, if you're not at work or home you have to log onto various wi-fi networks you can find at coffee shops or airports just to stay connected, and you saved $500 over 2 years??
Sounds like for about 19 bucks a month more, you could use your smartphone as a smartphone
Even though it shows up as T-Mobile, I wonder if it actually "functions." I know with all previous unlocks, at least the Jailbroken kind, you HAD to Disable 3G in the menu, which is no longer an option on the 4S.
If your sole goal is to buy one and use it on T-Mobile in the US to save $40 a month or whatever the difference is, I wonder if the use of it on Edge would drive you insane pretty quickly, regardless of how fast the phone is or how much you are saving a month.
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I think what most people are not totally grasping is that in the past, buying an Off Contract iPhone from AT&T did not and would not make it Unlocked. Clearly, a major difference now! If you are just going to use it on AT&T and never travel outside the US, then the ONLY benefit in my mind of getting one off contract or unlocked is that it makes it more attractive to the person you sell it to.
If your sole goal is to buy one and use it on T-Mobile in the US to save $40 a month or whatever the difference is, I wonder if the use of it on Edge would drive you insane pretty quickly, regardless of how fast the phone is or how much you are saving a month.
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I think what most people are not totally grasping is that in the past, buying an Off Contract iPhone from AT&T did not and would not make it Unlocked. Clearly, a major difference now! If you are just going to use it on AT&T and never travel outside the US, then the ONLY benefit in my mind of getting one off contract or unlocked is that it makes it more attractive to the person you sell it to.
I think this locking/unlocking chaos calls the sustainability of Apple's manufacturing logistics into question. I live by my Mac and iPhone, but I believe the future is in increasingly affordable hardware. How long can they continue to exploit the Chinese economical predicament before China wavers and Apple's business model falters?
At some point in the not so far-off future, we'll be able to print our own phones up at home, and (pirateable) design and software will be king. At that point I see real competition taking place, and Apple - as beautiful a company as it is - will no longer be able to maintain its current near-monopoly on those of us who are more enlightened users.
At some point in the not so far-off future, we'll be able to print our own phones up at home, and (pirateable) design and software will be king. At that point I see real competition taking place, and Apple - as beautiful a company as it is - will no longer be able to maintain its current near-monopoly on those of us who are more enlightened users.
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I bought an unlocked iPhone 4 from Apple a couple months ago. When I got home, I noticed my TMobile sim was not working. So I took it to the genius bar. They did not know much about it and had to call someone offsite. From what I gathered, the iPhone unlock is automatic. Apple's system simply sees if full price was paid for the phone, and iTunes will automatically unlock it. The problem with mine is that in order for the unlock to take effect, you have to restore the phone. After I did, the phone was unlocked. It makes sense that the iPhone 4Ss are turning unlocked when restored, because the system is registering that they paid full price.
Had I not paid full price, the device I bought would not have been unlocked.
I bought an unlocked iPhone 4 from Apple a couple months ago. When I got home, I noticed my TMobile sim was not working. So I took it to the genius bar. They did not know much about it and had to call someone offsite. From what I gathered, the iPhone unlock is automatic. Apple's system simply sees if full price was paid for the phone, and iTunes will automatically unlock it. The problem with mine is that in order for the unlock to take effect, you have to restore the phone. After I did, the phone was unlocked. It makes sense that the iPhone 4Ss are turning unlocked when restored, because the system is registering that they paid full price.
Had I not paid full price, the device I bought would not have been unlocked.
oh dear lord, seriously? In Denmark its on the wrong side of $1000 for the small model unlocked. I wish I could buy it in the states
It's really:
199,299,or399
Tax on the full cost of the phone (tax on 649/749/849), say 8.5% in CA
ETF of $315 ($325 - 1 month's deduction of $10)
The cost of phone service for 1 month (say ~$75)
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Total: $644/$753/$861
In the end, not worth it at all...