Unlocked iPhone 4 up for sale

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC603LL/A?mco=MjI4NTM2NTM

by steventruong • 15 years ago

100 82 15 years ago

store.apple.com

$649

Or you can buy it in Australia for $859AUD. I guess that includes GST so that's about $780.90 AUD + 10% GST. Which is about $830USD + GST.

babebridou• 15 years ago

Try France & Germany: €629 all included, that's $910 USD.

whatusername2• 15 years ago

:) $859AUD is actually $920 USD at the moment. The Aussie Dollar is crazy high.

Still much lower than Brazil though.

lzm• 15 years ago

That's still very cheap. It won't go for less than 1300 USD in Brazil, which really feels like 10000 USD if you take in account our average salary.

Kudos• 15 years ago

US store only?

DrJokepu• 15 years ago

It's been available in the UK store since day one and that's probably true for most other countries. The US was exceptional in the sense that you couldn't directly buy an unlocked iPhone from Apple.

UK Store: http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iph...

officemonkey2• 15 years ago

No doubt it was part of their deal with AT&T. U.S. telcoms (especially AT&T) are big bullies. Apple needed to play ball when they were first getting started.

Now of course, they don't need AT&T, so they're dropping all the restrictions as soon as they're legally able to.

halostatue• 15 years ago

Canada has has an unlocked version since the iPhone 4 release and the coverage on four carriers. If I hadn't had a $0 upgrade to the 4, I would have bought unlocked just for travelling.

emeltzer• 15 years ago

if you bought one without a contract, will you be able to legally unlock it?

enneff• 15 years ago

It depends on your provider.

If you got one in Australia under contract from Telstra they will unlock it for you for free. Handy for frequent travellers.

CrazedGeek• 15 years ago

Presumably, this still won't work on T-Mobile USA's 3G bands. Sigh.

stcredzero• 15 years ago

I've had a Canadian phone for awhile. 2G works great for me, with a mobile 4G hotspot when I need faster network.

fmx• 15 years ago

When I read the title my initial thought was that "unlocked" was the official term for "jailbroken". It sounded too good to be true and, sure enough, it was.

The fact that the phone is not locked to any one network doesn't seem like such a big deal to me. I believe most telcos in Australia will unlock your phone for you for a fee.

fab13n• 15 years ago

In France, operators are required to unlock your phone on demand and for free, 6 month after you bought it.

mattdeboard• 15 years ago

It's a very different deal in the US.

jedbrown2• 15 years ago

Depends on the carrier. It took five minutes on the phone with T-mobile to unlock my Vibrant.

csomar• 15 years ago

Why is it much more expensive (by around $200) in other countries?

JackWebbHeller• 15 years ago

Firstly, it originates from the US, so I suspect they can make savings like that.

Secondly, US stores typically don't include Sales Tax or VAT in their listed prices. So I'm sure you'll pay 10-15% more on top of the price that's stated.

I'm from the UK where we pay an extortionate 20% on everything - however, every labelled price always includes this, which does help judge prices far better!

jonknee• 15 years ago

Sales tax depends on the location. It variess from nothing in states like Oregon to over 8% in some areas. It's about 7% where I am. Online puchases from companies without a presence in your state do not charge sales tax, so if Amazon starts selling these that would be a good way to get one without paying tax.

roc• 15 years ago

Because price is determined by willingness to pay, not cost.

martingordon• 15 years ago

I wonder what this means for the release schedule of the next iPhone. Why even bother releasing this so soon when the next iPhone is supposedly on a few months away? It's possible that it's an attempt to clear out stock, but I can't imagine there's that much pent up demand in the U.S. for an unlocked iPhone to warrant this now.

steventruong6• 15 years ago

Where are you getting the idea that the next iPhone is coming out soon? Base on rumors? By definition, normally the iPhone would have been out now if it was following the old pattern. Rumors have speculated Fall as well as early 2012. It's all speculation at this point.

I think the strategy has more to do with increasing reach and sales and maybe possibly due to the fact that they're potentially working on a dual GSM and CDMA compatible phone and may want to sell direct vs through a partner. Could be part of a larger plan (of course this is all my speculation as well).

albedoa• 15 years ago

>Where are you getting the idea that the next iPhone is coming out soon? Base on rumors? [...] It's all speculation at this point.

The speculation is the idea. By definition. Some people play it "safe" and apply probabilities of either 1 or 0 depending on whether something has been officially announced or not, respectively.

Others are less binary, opting instead to base their speculation on available information and past trends. martingordon seems to be from this school, rejecting the idea that something simply cannot exist before its announcement.

He probably speculated correctly about the release date of the Verizon iPhone in the US weeks before it was officially announced because the amount and depth of available information made it incorrect to speculate any other way. The binary folks waited until they heard it from someone official.

jamesteow• 15 years ago

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/13/iphone-5-in-final-testin...

"Right on schedule, we are now hearing from 9to5Mac that the iPhone 5 has reached the final testing stage and should be ready in time for a September launch."

hackermom3• 15 years ago

Finally.

bni3• 15 years ago

Anyone know if this can be used on 3G networks in Europe? I mean for high speed data, not just speech or EDGE.

Im asking since 3G is on different frequencies in US and Europe. My US version Palm Pre for example cant connect to European 3G networks for data use, only speech is possible.

listic• 15 years ago

Can you tell which these frequencies are? From my previous understanding, while there are many frequency bands for 2G, there's only one for 3G (2100 MHz)

eli• 15 years ago

Where in Europe? iPhone supports HSDPA on 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

bni3• 15 years ago

Sweden

guptaneil• 15 years ago

The iPhone is a global GSM phone, so it should work with 3G networks in Europe as well, since it is the same hardware that is sold on European carriers.

Was your Palm Pre purchased on T-Mobile's network? T-Mobile phones use lower frequencies for 3G that make them incompatible for 3G data with pretty much any other carrier.

bni3• 15 years ago

ok, thanks, that was what I wanted to know.

My Palm Pre has AT&T stamped on it. I got it for free from Palm as a part of a developer program. All I know is 3G data fail to work on it here in Sweden. Making calls work fine though.

jedbrown2• 15 years ago

T-mobile uses different frequencies for 3G, but some of their phones (e.g. Vibrant) also have 3G in Europe.

sbalea2• 15 years ago

Yes. Iphone 4 supports 3G on 4 frequencies, including 900Mhz and 2100Mhz that are commonly used in Europe.

hackermom3• 15 years ago

It's the exact same iPhone that has been on sale via Swedish carriers, bundled with 3G/+ subscriptions, for half a year now. You can order an unlocked iPhone 4 directly from the Swedish Apple Store today, no need to import one anymore.

Steko2• 15 years ago

I can see 2 possible reasons for this:

(1) it's more profitable for Apple to sell phones in the US and have them greymarketed to China then to increase the direct supply to China.

(2) Apple wants to (eventually) expand the iPad data only plan available to phones and this is a first step towards that. And if they did this I would jump on it in a second.

steventruong6• 15 years ago

Not sure I understand point #1. iPhones are built in China. Also, the profit margin is about the same as if they were selling non-unlocked iPhones as they get subsidized profits from the carriers to make up for the discount the carriers give in exchange for the two year contracts. The average profit for iPhone I think was reported to be $625 on average.

jcampbell12• 15 years ago

iPhones are widely available in China now. There is a 20% tax, but it is hardly worth smuggling phones to cheat the luxury items tax.

Steko2• 15 years ago

There's also the repatriating of foreign money.

There's also the craze associated with shortages.

Just an idea.

hackermom3• 15 years ago

Apple's move to sell unlocked iPhones wasn't exclusive to the US market. They popped up on f.e. the Swedish Apple Store today as well.

captaincrunch• 15 years ago

Whats the big deal here? I bought an unlocked iPhone4 in Toronto, Canada 6 month ago at the apple store?

sbalea2• 15 years ago

It's new for the US. Canada had them for a while.

orenmazor• 15 years ago

it took me a moment to realize this as well.

nice for us to be ahead, for a change… :)

ComputerGuru• 15 years ago

I predicted this a few months back when news about the upcoming AT&T/T-Mobile merger first leaked. I'm guessing that they've already settled (tentatively) on the price they'll be charging, and at this point with no other (real) GSM competitors in the States, there's no real reason to keep Apple from selling an unlocked version in the States.

yan2• 15 years ago

Anyone know what the penalty for breaking contract under AT&T is? Sounds like it's less than $400.

w1ntermute• 15 years ago

$325 right now, IIRC.

gte910h2• 15 years ago

It depends on the number of months since you signed up. It goes down quite significantly.

uptown• 15 years ago

"Unlocked iPhones: Why Apple Won't Do It"

By Lance Ulanoff

Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386860,00.asp

June 13, 2011

tel• 15 years ago

I suppose he was right. They didn't release them on wednesday.

steventruong6• 15 years ago

Just dug into the comments. Not sure if that's traffic from HN or their own but a lot of people are now saying "You're wrong" in response.

jcampbell12• 15 years ago

Can anyone suggest a discount carrier that this phone will work with? My understanding is Tmobile uses a different frequency, and all of the discount carriers use T-Mobile or Sprint's networks (Boost, Virgin, etc.) Are there any discount carriers leasing the AT&T network?

e1ven• 15 years ago

I believe it will work on 2G with T-Mobile. I use the 3GS in this capacity frequently.

smackfu• 15 years ago

My understanding is that you can use T-Mobile voice, since iPhone is quad-band, but not data.

calloc• 15 years ago

You get data, but at EDGE (2G) speeds. Which is just fine for almost everything you'd want your phone to do. I am using my iPhone 3G on the T-Mobile network and it is not an issue at all =)

mdasen• 15 years ago

I believe that StraightTalk (http://straighttalk.com) piggybacks off the AT&T network. However, they might not like you using that much data. American carriers generally restrict which devices you can activate on which plans in order to guestimate average data usage for that device. For example, Sprint charges an extra $10/mo for unlimited smartphone data over the unlimited data for other devices. So, StraightTalk might decide to disconnect your device if you use "too much" data and aren't using one of their devices. I'm not saying it's right to put restrictions on "unlimited data", just that they might decide not to serve you as a customer using a device they don't sell (and it might mean that you have a $650 iPhone that you can only use on AT&T).

It's also possible that StraightTalk doesn't rent 3G off AT&T. So, it might still just be 2G. For example, Sprint roams on Verizon, but doesn't roam on Verizon 3G, only 2G (except in former Alltel areas).

It should also be noted that over 24 months, the unlocked iPhone will cost you an additional $18.75/mo. So, you'd have to find a discount carrier that was a lot cheaper, not just a little bit cheaper. If you expect to upgrade your iPhone every year ($37.50) or 18 months ($25/mo), the unlocked's pricing starts looking worse. So, make sure to think about that too.

jrmg• 15 years ago

If you use T-Mobile, data will work, but the fastest you'll get is EDGE (at the moment, that's not actually as bad as it sounds; presumably because the network is less congested than AT&T's, the speed's not too much slower in 'real world' use). [Source: I'm using an unlocked iPhone I bought in the UK on T-Mobile in California right now]

aikinai• 15 years ago

I also use an iPhone on T-mobile. As jrmg said, you'll only get Edge since the 3G frequencies are different, but the speed is fine for most use. I also highly recommend T-mobile overall. Let's just hope something stops AT&T's buyout.

steventruong6• 15 years ago

As someone who has used the iPhone on both, not having certain features enabled as a result were annoying as well. Such as visual voicemail (as one example). Sure you can live with it but its still an annoyance.

danenania2• 15 years ago

How good is the carrier participation internationally? I'm relocating to Buenos Aires in a couple weeks. Anyone have an idea how difficult it might be to get connected with this when I arrive?

porteno• 15 years ago

It's trivial. You can buy a SIM outside Retiro for like AR$5, or in a proper store for maybe AR$10. Might take a little more finagling to find a micro SIM, as most phones are still on the old SIM standard.

Here's what will kill you: getting data. Under what circumstances are you relocating to Bs As? If you are official, like you will get a DNI and everything, great, otherwise, this is the problem area. Most prepago plans in Bs As price data at piratical rates, like...a AR$20 card may include say 5MB data (on Claro). You open Google Maps and there goes your data allowance. I haven't found a provider with a decent deal on prepaid data.

There is, of course, normal postpaid accounts with more reasonable data allowances and pricing, but you can't get a postpaid account without a DNI, usually. Occasionally, you hear about someone wandering into a Personal or Movistar store and the clerk giving them a plan and saying its no problem, but that's rare.

Alternatively, if you're company or something is sending you there, you can see if they can get a phone plan taken out in the name of someone else at the company, with the company guaranteeing the payments. Because getting the DNI takes forever anyway.

danenania2• 15 years ago

Thanks for the great info! I'll be doing remote contracting, so no company connections. I'm going for a change of scenery, the experience, lower cost of living, etc. After reading about what they put people through for this DNI (first I've heard of it), I'll probably pass on the whole thing and accept my inconvenient status. Sounds like my best bet for data is making friends with someone who will sign up for me, eh? Now there's some motivation to be sociable... :)

chopsueyar• 15 years ago

How many years did this take?

smallegan• 15 years ago

At WWDC they had a lunchtime session that talked about the fact that they are sending an iPhone into space on the last shuttle launch and the CEO of the company doing this went to the Apple Store to buy the flight articles. He told them he wanted iPhones without contract and they said they had to ask him if it was going "overseas" of course he couldn't tell them how it was going to go "over and over over and over... seas" :-)

jemeshsu2• 15 years ago

The governments in many other countries actually have laws that prohibit the practice of locked phones by telcos. Anyone can enlighten why the US government is not taking such approach as it is definitely pro consumers. Is such laws perceived by US as bad for the free market, entrepreneurship and competitiveness?

evgen• 15 years ago

If your phone is not locked then you paid retail for the phone. In the US there has been a long history of the carriers subsidizing phones (e.g. loaning you money to pay for the phone) and keeping the phone locked to that carrier for the duration of the initial contract. This kept phone prices lower and was previously not a major issue for most users since there were really only a couple of options available to them that were all approximately the same price (e.g. choose between GSM or CDMA and then choose one of two major players in each group.)

Laws preventing carrier locks are not perceived as bad, but Americans liked their phones to appear inexpensive and since we had far fewer real options when it came to the carrier it was not a major inconvenience.

steventruong6• 15 years ago

I don't think this is necessarily 100% accurate as to why it's locked. After all, you were still tied to a contract with a cancellation fee.

glenngillen• 15 years ago

That's not true. There are plenty of countries where you receive the phone unlocked, and you're free to use it on any network you chose. You will however still be contractually obligated to your 24 months of payments.

kodablah• 15 years ago

Many Americans think any laws that tell a manufacturer how to sell a phone are bad.

rkudeshi• 15 years ago

Does this mean you can now buy an officially unlocked iPhone, take it to AT&T, and activate it WITHOUT a data plan?

(Better yet, can I do the same with a secondhand iPhone purchased from Craigslist that's already filled its 2-year quota?)

technomancy• 15 years ago

Better yet: does iOS have a SIP client yet? Using a data plan without voice would be a lot more useful. (Been doing this for years on Android.)

afterburner• 15 years ago

There have been SIP clients for the iOS for a while now. Been using one for a year. I recommend Siphon, which is available on Cydia, but there are several in the Apple Store too.

simplezeal• 15 years ago

Actually AT&T attaches a data plan to your phone if they detect it to be a smartphone. This is even if you go and switch Cellular data to Off in settings.

They were able to do that since they had database of IMIE for iPhones. So if they didn't have the IMIE info (say unlocked phone bought from retail channels), they didn't do so.

It'll be interesting to see if they can detect these new unlocked iPhones.

Unlocked iPhone 4 up for sale

Related Stories