Buying iphone from the states?

gerry87

Sorry if this has been asked to death, but whats the latest bottom line with buying an iphone in the states to use in Ireland?

Can you just buy it for $200, not sign up for the contract, take it home and jailbreak it?

Thanks.

bluemachaveli

Fraid not,

U won't buy a new one w/o a contract. There's no unlock out yet anyway so
it wouldn't b much good as a phone. If its activated you could use it as an iPod
touch alrite.

If ur not bothered about the 3G and GPS there are loads of 1st gen new phones on ebay.
All easily unlocked.

gerry87

I see, a friend is in the states lookin for one and leaving on sunday. Is there any way he could go about getting a better deal than back here?

Creamy Goodness

they will not let him leave the shop with one without signing a contract.

also even if he did, it would need to be unlocked (as previous poster said there's no unlock for 3G iphone) to be used over here unless he signs up for the o2 iphone contract.

simple.

aidan_walsh

Cremo wrote: »

they will not let him leave the shop with one without signing a contract.

also even if he did, it would need to be unlocked (as previous poster said there's no unlock for 3G iphone) to be used over here unless he signs up for the o2 iphone contract.

simple.

Even if he did buy the phone there and try to sign up for a contract here, it won't work. The phones are locked to the network, its not possible to sign up for an authorised network using a phone intended for a different authorised network.

Creamy Goodness

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Even if he did buy the phone there and try to sign up for a contract here, it won't work. The phones are locked to the network, its not possible to sign up for an authorised network using a phone intended for a different authorised network.

Didn't know that, cheers.

*adds to memory bank*

whiterebel

Just waiting to come back from Orlando. They don't even have enough stock for people that intend signing a contract, never mind turn a blind eye to anyone else. Every day they have a queue with people being allocated a ticket, and if you don't have a Social Security number, American Credit Card and an American utility bill, you have no chance.

Dman001

I thought you could now Jailbreak a 3G iPhone to unlock it?

whiterebel

Dman001 wrote: »

I thought you could now Jailbreak a 3G iPhone to unlock it?

Jailbreak and unlock are different. I thought there was an unlock available, though.

J-blk

whiterebel wrote: »

I thought there was an unlock available, though.

Some of the hardware SIM adapters are rumored to work, but many of them seem to be quite flaky with the 3G - no software unlock of any sort yet though, just jailbreak like you said.

I really hope that by version 3 Apple will do away with this carrier specific crap and start selling it on their own store unlocked...

Talisman

The 3G iPhone is unlocked in Italy. There was an article on one of the tech websites about it a few days after the launch.

link

J-blk

Talisman wrote: »

The 3G iPhone is unlocked in Italy. There was an article on one of the tech websites about it a few days after the launch.]

Yeah, I've heard Vodafone in Greece is offering an unlocked variation too - but is it indeed fully unlocked to work on any network or simply "contract free" but still locked to that country's network(s)? I haven't seen any info so far on anyone buying an unlocked one in any of the countries that offer it and using it abroad - anyone hear anything?

J-blk

I took a look at the link:

"This means that users can insert any carrier’s SIM card into the device and access the attached network. However, both carriers are still requiring users to sign a two-year contract before they purchase the unlocked iPhones."

WTF? So you pay a fortune to get an unlocked one from them and you still end up paying a 2 year contract?

Talisman

How badly do you want an unlocked iPhone? There's always a catch!

A guy in work has been checking them out on eBay and apartently the crafty Italians are selling their 3G iPhones for incredible profits. They buy the iPhone as an upgrade for €265 then sell it online for €700-800.

J-blk

Talisman wrote: »

How badly do you want an unlocked iPhone? There's always a catch! .

Not quite that badly . I'm still pretty happy with the 1st gen and think I'm going to wait it out for the 3rd gen. I really want a 32GB anyway...

Talisman wrote: »

A guy in work has been checking them out on eBay and apartently the crafty Italians are selling their 3G iPhones for incredible profits. They buy the iPhone as an upgrade for €265 then sell it online for €700-800.

Good ol' eBay scalping Still, don't these guys end up with a 2 year contract anyway (according to the link you posted)? So, they use another phone with the contract and sell the iPhone for a profit... I guess that works but still seems weird.

What I'm hoping for is that with gen 3 Apple will simply sell them unlocked on their own store, like any iPod... that may never happen though...