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Unlocked Phones at Apple Store in AM?
- Thread starter IpadMania
- Start date
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I just talked to an Apple rep about this. Apple Retail Stores will only be selling iPhone 5s on contract.
I believe, and I could be wrong, that if you are already on contract, you can buy an iphone 5 to "upgrade". I HOPE that you do not need to sign a new contract or extend your current contract in order to get an iphone 5.
So people in line could be people who are already AT&T customers who are willing to pay $650 for a 16gb iphone 5, i.e., full price.
I've also heard that unlocked iphone 5s are not being sold for a while, probably over a month. But what you'd have to do is to buy the AT&T version at full price, then call at&T and they'll give you the unlock code. Then you'd have a factory unlocked phone a month earlier. The question is that no one is 100% sure if an unlocked AT&T iphone 5 is exactly the same as a factory unlocked iphone 5 from Apple, b/c of the LTE bands that are available.
So people in line could be people who are already AT&T customers who are willing to pay $650 for a 16gb iphone 5, i.e., full price.
I've also heard that unlocked iphone 5s are not being sold for a while, probably over a month. But what you'd have to do is to buy the AT&T version at full price, then call at&T and they'll give you the unlock code. Then you'd have a factory unlocked phone a month earlier. The question is that no one is 100% sure if an unlocked AT&T iphone 5 is exactly the same as a factory unlocked iphone 5 from Apple, b/c of the LTE bands that are available.
I want to know more about this...
1) So seems like this unlocked iphone is a no go tomorrow. I am also getting mixed reports on this from fellow people claiming that unlocked iphones will be available, but you need to do something special during sign up process.
2) The no commitment phones offered from att and verizon will be full price, but will also require a monthly data plan, monthly calling plan plus 36 activation to purchase? You can cancel the monthly plans immediately and unlock via special att website if you are already a customer. If you are not a customer then im not sure if they will allow a unlock via web link.
1) So seems like this unlocked iphone is a no go tomorrow. I am also getting mixed reports on this from fellow people claiming that unlocked iphones will be available, but you need to do something special during sign up process.
2) The no commitment phones offered from att and verizon will be full price, but will also require a monthly data plan, monthly calling plan plus 36 activation to purchase? You can cancel the monthly plans immediately and unlock via special att website if you are already a customer. If you are not a customer then im not sure if they will allow a unlock via web link.
Yes last year the iPhone 4S available in the Apple store at launch were all carrier iPhone 4S units and were supposed to be carrier locked with or without contract.
At that time AT&T did not offer to unlock iPhones at all. There was a way to purchase an AT&T iPhone 4S and manage to get it carrier unlocked from Apple.
You had to purchase the AT&T as a "device only" purchase. The magic was the way the Apple system processed the purchase. When processed as a "device only" purchase the AT&T iPhone was left unlocked.
Note: The iPhone 4S was considered a world phone in that one US model could be used on GSM (AT&T), CDMA (Sprint, Verizon) and also worldwide on GSM. Sprint or Verizon iPhones were not allowed to be unlocked for an US GSM carrier.
The iPhone 5 is not a world phone due to the differneces in LTE, there are two physical models available in North America ( US / Canada ). The US AT&T iPhone 5and the Canada are the same model (A1428), it does not support the same LTE bands as the Sprint / Verizon model or other countries worldwide
http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
Dave
So if you can go in and purchase a at&t "device online" phone tomorrow...you will only be charged retail + tax assuming this loophole is still available.
Problem will be international LTE bands are different than the LTE bands in the at&t phone i just purchased and thus international travel with the phone could be a headache.
Does verizon & sprint also have the "device only option" and would there LTE bands be better for international travel?
Sounds like it may be best to wait for an unlocked iphone 5 direct for apple.
Problem will be international LTE bands are different than the LTE bands in the at&t phone i just purchased and thus international travel with the phone could be a headache.
Does verizon & sprint also have the "device only option" and would there LTE bands be better for international travel?
Sounds like it may be best to wait for an unlocked iphone 5 direct for apple.
First, yes it would be best to wait for an Apple unlocked iPhone 5!
We don't expect US Apple to offer any iPhone 5 in store without a contract. They have already announced in Canada that tomorrow, they will not be selling unlocked iPhone 5 units at their Apple stores.
The international issue is only if you want LTE, if you are happy with 3G or a flavor of HPSA your are OK.
The issue with the Verizon and Sprint model is that they don't unlock the SIM slot by default. They require to be a customer in good standing to unlock the SIM slot for international travel.
If you are current Verizon or Sprint customer, purchasing an iPhone 5, they should be able to unlock the Nano-SIM for international travel. You can expect a bunch of threads starting tomorrow asking about how to get Sprint and Verizon to jump this hoop.
I asked this a month or so ago and a few people were confident that albeit not expressively advertised, you could go in and buy a full priced iphone as a "gift" and it would indeed be unlocked. They had done this for the 4 and 4s launch, ill try to find their quote...
Okay so the device loophole will likely not be available tomorrow. What will all the drones waiting in line purchase then?
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Okay so now going in and saying you want to purchase a iphone as a gift can get you a magic unlocked unit?
First we don't know exactly what will happen at individual Apple stores. Last year some stores would not do a device only sale while others were happy to sell you anything with a smile since they know what people were doing after the first day...!
Some of the drones might be in for a big break of bad news others are purchasing multiple iPhones ( 2 per customer ) on upgrade lines or new lines and then taking advantage of the limited availablity to make a quick profit by flipping the phones. It happens every year!
Dave
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The offical answer for a gift purchase remains the same for Apple and the carriers. Purchase a Gift card for the person. This has been the official policy for many years.
We just need some reports starting at 8 AM tomorrow here on the East Coast to figure out the options. Just a reminder, each store experience will vary as it does every year.
Dave
Not really a loophole but a glitch in the way Apple processed the purchase. Last year for the iPhone 4S, you purchased an AT&T iPhone 4S at launch in October and asked for it to be a "device only" purchase. You ended up with an Unlocked iPhone well before Apple offered them in November.
Not all Apple stores allowed this type of purchase.
That means the Apple store employee processed your purchase on their iPod device and they chose the "Device only" purchase and did not enter your AT&T phone number.
Dave
Alright so whats move tomorrow, line up 3 phones and call all local stores until you finally get through and ask if they will sell device only. Or is it best to just head to the biggest one around 10am and hope for the best?