UK vs. US iPhone

[MiLK©]

After the somewhat dissapointing announcment today I'm considering importing an iPhone from the US and unlocking it.

The main thing that was stopping me from doing this before was that I wanted to be sure there would be no hardware differences between the UK and US iPhone (eg. 16gb, 3G). Now that this has been confirmed I'm really considering getting a US one. I also expect the launch to be mid-october...the prospect of waiting almost 8 weeks is pretty lame.. However, that said I don't want my impatience to make me get a worse deal in the long run...


So I'm weighing it up carefully..heres how I see it at the moment:

I have a family friend who lives in US and is visiting in 1 week, so I could get him to pick me one up for around $400+$32 tax, which is about £216...lets say £220 for simplicity. So I would be making a £50 saving straight away.

My current o2 contract is £20/mo which includes 800min and 300 texts (I rarely text so these are unimportant). It is also what they call a "rolling contract" from month to month...which means I'm not locked in - eg. I can cancel it at any point I wish. I'm sure that as a loyal customer I could probally persuade them to even give me a few more minutes a month.

Now, it appears that o2 are valuing there 'unlimited' data package at £20/mo (speculation, not confirmed), and stated that this would become available to all customers.

Also you can subscribe to Clouds WiFi Hotspots for £6.99/mo

Then consider that I had saved £50 on the initial investment of the iPhone by buying it from the US. This would equate to £3 less each month spread over an 18month contract.

This leaves me with a £43.99/mo contract for 800min, 300 texts, 'Unlimited' Data, Cloud WiFi Hotspot access. Not too bad..
(£20 contract + £20 for data + £6.99 Wifi - £3 from initial saving = £43.99)

So to conclude...I would get the iPhone 8 weeks in advanced, and get a better deal, with a contract that I am not locked into...


How about the negatives?

Steve Jobs comment...

10:26 - Q: Is unlocking a concern?

Steve: "It's a constant cat and mouse game -- we have the same thing with the iPod with music." Steve looks at Matthew, "Are we the cat or mouse?" 'We have to stay one step ahead of them."

...does concern me slightly, does this mean that Apple will consiously try to block unlocked iPhones in future firmware updates? Not cool... Is this an empty threat to feed the media or is there some truth in 'staying one step ahead' ? Although admittedly, even if they did try prevent this, there is a whole community devoted to unlocking it again...

Also visual voicemail...will that eventuall work when o2 start selling their own iPhones?


So what are other people thinking? Am I missing anything here? Wait 8 weeks, or have it in-hand in little more than 1 week...with a potentially better deal.....

 

[Devil's Refugee]

What's stopping you from upgrading ?

Personally, I wouldn't want to take the risk of playing cat and mouse with Apple and constantly fighting unlocks vs. firmware updates.

Plus, tbh, the UK iPhone launch has been a damp rag. EDGE with only 30% coverage ? Puleez.

I think I'll be waiting for the 3G model next year (but half of me knows I'll be buying one on Nov 9th anyway lol !)

 

[Croatian]

After the somewhat dissapointing announcment today I'm considering importing an iPhone from the US and unlocking it.

The main thing that was stopping me from doing this before was that I wanted to be sure there would be no hardware differences between the UK and US iPhone (eg. 16gb, 3G). Now that this has been confirmed I'm really considering getting a US one. I also expect the launch to be mid-october...the prospect of waiting almost 8 weeks is pretty lame.. However, that said I don't want my impatience to make me get a worse deal in the long run...


So I'm weighing it up carefully..heres how I see it at the moment:

I have a family friend who lives in US and is visiting in 1 week, so I could get him to pick me one up for around $400+$32 tax, which is about £216...lets say £220 for simplicity. So I would be making a £50 saving straight away.

My current o2 contract is £20/mo which includes 800min and 300 texts (I rarely text so these are unimportant). It is also what they call a "rolling contract" from month to month...which means I'm not locked in - eg. I can cancel it at any point I wish. I'm sure that as a loyal customer I could probally persuade them to even give me a few more minutes a month.

Now, it appears that o2 are valuing there 'unlimited' data package at £20/mo (speculation, not confirmed), and stated that this would become available to all customers.

Also you can subscribe to Clouds WiFi Hotspots for £6.99/mo

Then consider that I had saved £50 on the initial investment of the iPhone by buying it from the US. This would equate to £3 less each month spread over an 18month contract.

This leaves me with a £43.99/mo contract for 800min, 300 texts, 'Unlimited' Data, Cloud WiFi Hotspot access. Not too bad..
(£20 contract + £20 for data + £6.99 Wifi - £3 from initial saving = £43.99)

So to conclude...I would get the iPhone 8 weeks in advanced, and get a better deal, with a contract that I am not locked into...


How about the negatives?

Steve Jobs comment...


...does concern me slightly, does this mean that Apple will consiously try to block unlocked iPhones in future firmware updates? Not cool... Is this an empty threat to feed the media or is there some truth in 'staying one step ahead' ? Although admittedly, even if they did try prevent this, there is a whole community devoted to unlocking it again...

Also visual voicemail...will that eventually work when o2 start selling their own iPhones?


So what are other people thinking? Am I missing anything here? Wait 8 weeks, or have it in-hand in little more than 1 week...with a potentially better deal.....

YES APPLE is going to try to block unlocked phones because the carriers will be pushing them to do it because they are paying big $$$ money to EL JABOS to carry the iPhone so thats the way the life is

Now there are people always that will try to brake the lock and that will happen sooner then latter, also if u don't do any updates on your phone before u find out how it is gonna effect your unlocked Phone, u would never have to worry about bricking your phone

As for data prices thats why affordable if u ask me, well not as affordable as plans in USA but the iPhone is not even in Canada and we are next door neighbors ... for instance to have Unlimited date plan here in Canada (not available) the highest u can get is 500MB for $210 a month, + minutes witch could run you about $70 for 400 day time and unlimited evenings and weekends + text + voice mail + caller ID ... your looking for about $300 for a plan that is not even as half as good as anywhere else

 

[Guilfox]

I have a couple of things to get off my chest here:
1) £20 / month for data useage which isn't truly unlimited and as slow as me with a hangover Seems a steep charge to me. Also the quicker of the slow networks is only available in 30% of the country.
2) 18 month contract when you have to pay for the handset yourself, no subsidy

I think the hacking route is the way to go with one of the many SIM free deals although the data bolt on may cost some money so this may be a matter of negotiation.

I have had a hacked PSP for years and there is nothing Sony can do to take that away. The iPhone will sell loads more and there will be tonnes more hackers so I think its a sound move.....although no guarantees of course

I think a cheaper deal with a hacked phone seems to be the best of both worlds. I know not all will agree but I think the deals on the table are just a rip off too far.

 

[Project]

The thing is, you should be able to get the phone unlocked by O2 themselves. Do Apple still provide updates to these phones? New features etc? And will they be able to distinguish between a hacked unlock and an official one?

 

[gceo]

I say go for it and buy the US phone from your friend.

Don't apply any of the upgrades, until they are broken again. Usually a couple of weeks after the firmware release.

So your only downside is that if there are new features in an upgrade, you might have to wait a couple of weeks for the hackers to get around them.

From the tone of Jobs, one might think that they aren't putting 100% effort into locking the phone (it's in their best interest to 'weakly' lock it). It just seems like they are obligated to make 'some' effort in their contracts with service providers.