Apple denying info on unlocked 3g's

[Londonrockz568]

So i was snooping around apples site, building my new mac book pro, and i saw a nice chat feature. Decided to have a chat, the person helped me out and whatnot....so then i asked about the unlocked contractless iphones that are like upwards of $600bucks etc... well the chat agent blantantly denied any info on those iphones, and then said they never existed telling me iphones must be purchased with a 2year contract.

Now call me crazy or maybe things have changed....but i was aware that if you wanted an Apple unlocked iphone 3g with no contracts they'd sell you one for full retail price of like $500 (8gig) $600(16gig) or somewhere around that price.

Now another thing why im not crazy and the applechat person is full of $h!t is.... if there was no such thing then there wouldnt be unlocked 3g's on ebay for insane prices (some as high as 1grand).

What the hell is up with this?! Oh an another thing, apple fails to let the ppl who buys those unlocked 3g's is that, updates could lock the phone...thats so pathetic...shame on Apple and the person who bought the unlocked for like $800 only to have it lock or brick later on.:angry:

[macgirl]

Apple does indeed sell factory-unlocked 3G iPhones - there's a full list on Apple's own site here (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937) (the 4th column indicates whether or not they are available unlocked in the respective country). Maybe the chat agent was responding that way to you because they're not officially sold in your country? It's always a shame how wrong customer service for any company can be, isn't it?

The factory-unlocked phones won't get bricked with future firmware updates - their IMEI's are registered with Apple and will update just like any other iPhone and will remain unlocked as well. I have one - got it through a co-worker with family in New Zealand who bought it from Vodafone. It came with 2.0.1 out of the box and it updated with no problems to 2.1 and remained unlocked and activated with my AT&T SIM.

[Londonrockz568]

OMG!!!! How much did you get one for! In the UK they are contract 2 years to o2 mobile. Ill be heading over there in January...so im trying to either keep my AT&T iphone hope it works over there, OR sell this one, and buy one on 02 mobile. However alot of money would be saved if i bought an unlocked one...theres just one problem.

I am NOT paying those highway robbery prices from ebay, other sites. If i can get an Apple Unlocked iphone, then just get on t-mobile.co.uk or Vodafone in the UK i'd be fine because i'd be coming back to the US for holiday and i could just pop in a pay as you go AT&T sim.

[macgirl]

I am a bit ashamed to say how much I paid for it, since it really was a completely unnecessary purchase given that my AT&T-locked iPhone works just fine (and it will soon go on eBay to help recoup some of the cost of the new one). But, you can see the full, no-contract price in NZ currency here (http://www.vodafone.co.nz/iphone/16gb-black.jsp) - this was still hundreds cheaper than what they were going for on eBay.

I do travel internationally about twice each year, and my next trip will be coming up in a few months and an unlocked iPhone will be really useful for me since I will need to use it heavily while abroad...

[Londonrockz568]

Wow....thats alot for a phone. (nothing near Vertu price lolz) is all i have to say. Who knows... i may have to wait because when i get to London for college ill be studying fashion design and doing interships etc. Pretty much means ill be flying clothes/fabric etc all over europe so having an unlocked one will be important...but all in due time i guess.

[Hawk]

I did a chek on the conversion rate from NZD to USD.
Live rates at 2008.10.24 00:26:35 UTC
1,129.00 NZD = 668.235 USD

New Zealand Dollars 1 NZD = 0.591882 USD
United States Dollars 1 USD = 1.68953 NZD



That's roughly what I paid for my first one back in July last year. Not too shabby. No where near the 199 pricetag, but for the freedom of any sim card, it's hard to beat.

[macgirl]

I did a chek on the conversion rate from NZD to USD.
Live rates at 2008.10.24 00:26:35 UTC
1,129.00 NZD = 668.235 USD

New Zealand Dollars 1 NZD = 0.591882 USD
United States Dollars 1 USD = 1.68953 NZD



That's roughly what I paid for my first one back in July last year. Not too shabby. No where near the 199 pricetag, but for the freedom of any sim card, it's hard to beat.

That's true - in relation to the original price of the first iPhone, it's not that bad, is it? :2cool: I guess I can feel a little less guilty about it. :tounge: I see them go on eBay for $1,000 or more!

[Hawk]

maybe I should buy a couple and ebay them....

[Londonrockz568]

I did a chek on the conversion rate from NZD to USD.
Live rates at 2008.10.24 00:26:35 UTC
1,129.00 NZD = 668.235 USD

New Zealand Dollars 1 NZD = 0.591882 USD
United States Dollars 1 USD = 1.68953 NZD



That's roughly what I paid for my first one back in July last year. Not too shabby. No where near the 199 pricetag, but for the freedom of any sim card, it's hard to beat.

TBH...thats prolly among some of the best prices for the unlocked iphones. Some of the prices you see online are jaw dropping.

[stevebubble]

OMG!!!! How much did you get one for! In the UK they are contract 2 years to o2 mobile. Ill be heading over there in January...so im trying to either keep my AT&T iphone hope it works over there, OR sell this one, and buy one on 02 mobile. However alot of money would be saved if i bought an unlocked one...theres just one problem.

I am NOT paying those highway robbery prices from ebay, other sites. If i can get an Apple Unlocked iphone, then just get on t-mobile.co.uk or Vodafone in the UK i'd be fine because i'd be coming back to the US for holiday and i could just pop in a pay as you go AT&T sim.


The O2 contract is only an 18month contract not 2 years. And you can get the iphone for free on the £40 or higher tariff.

[jsntrenkler]

So can I have a friend in New Zealand walk in to an O2 Store buy the phone for full price without activation? And then send it to me? That's really not a bad price for an unlocked phone.

[macgirl]

So can I have a friend in New Zealand walk in to an O2 Store buy the phone for full price without activation? And then send it to me? That's really not a bad price for an unlocked phone.

It's Vodafone (or one of their authorized resellers), but yes, that's exactly what my co-worker's brother did. Piece of cake! ;) They do limit sales of the unlocked/no contract phones to one per customer, though I think it's per visit. No walking out with an armload to sell at once on eBay.

I thought briefly about turning right around and selling it on eBay - would have made about $300 profit all told with the going rate on eBay...

[Londonrockz568]

Well this is exciting news!
Macgirl, once you have the unlocked phone, what type of plans did you get? Ill be living in London, for 4 years (college) but as i come back to visit the US or travel thru europe what plans or something is good so that i can use the phone as if on a contract. Unlimited data and SMS, certain minutes etc.

[macgirl]

Well this is exciting news!
Macgirl, once you have the unlocked phone, what type of plans did you get? Ill be living in London, for 4 years (college) but as i come back to visit the US or travel thru europe what plans or something is good so that i can use the phone as if on a contract. Unlimited data and SMS, certain minutes etc.

I have the unlocked iPhone already. I've been on the standard AT&T iPhone plans, so I haven't done anything different there. I just want to be able to use it with other SIM cards when I travel abroad. When I travel, I just plan to buy a pay-as-you-go SIM from a local provider to ensure I can get more reasonable rates compared to roaminng internationally with AT&T. I'm not familiar with the plans available in Europe to recommend anything to you, unfortunately.

[Londonrockz568]

Oh... i see, well im sure i can keep my AT&T plan, and just put the sim in the unlocked one.

All i need now is sum1 to help me sell my current one, im still a bit confused on that...because im not sure ill make $600 or more from it b/c its locked to AT&T , but if someone outside the US buys it and its locked wont i get in trouble if they want to return?

I'd be using ebay to sell my 16gig White 3g.