Aunty Mavis In Australia !

Leiva

Hi,

Aunty Mavis in Australia (God Bless Her) has offer to send me a 32gb 3GS .:D

Just before i say "Jees Thanks Aunty Mavis" can someone please confirm that i can use this on Vodafone Irl .

I am right in saying that the Iphone 3GS are factory unlocked ?

Ta

M.

synacron trion

mixednuts wrote: »

Hi,

Aunty Mavis in Australia (God Bless Her) has offer to send me a 32gb 3GS .:D

Just before i say "Jees Thanks Aunty Mavis" can someone please confirm that i can use this on Vodafone Irl .

I am right in saying that the Iphone 3GS are factory unlocked ?

Ta

M.

AFAIK Aussie iPhones are locked but I saw on the Australian Vodafone website a few months back that they willingly unlock them after a certain period of time or after a buyout. Ask Aunty Mavis if she has gotten it unlocked first.

Leiva

Thanks Syn ,

It been order directly from the Apple Store.au , I am nearly sure they are factory unlocked hence the €600 price tag.

Can u confirm?

M

J-blk

It seems they are unlocked - the Apple Australian store page has this footnote:

iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS and connect to
iTunes 8.2 to complete activation.2 Purchase limitations may apply.

http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=NzcwNjc0NQ

Maybe Aunt Mavis could check with Apple Australia first though, just to be 100% sure?

Leiva

Thanks J ..your a Gent ... i looked and looked but could not find what you read

synacron trion

Thats great news if they are factory unlocked when purchased on the apple.com.au store.

pleasant Co.

Can you pay for the Customs duty and VAT when the 3gs gets to ireland? other than that, go for it

Leiva

Aunty Mavis (god bless her cotton socks) will be marking the delivery of the phone to me as a gift valued at $100 AUD .

Hopefully , fingers crossed thats enough for Mr Customs not to charge me

J-blk

mixednuts wrote: »

Aunty Mavis (god bless her cotton socks) will be marking the delivery of the phone to me as a gift valued at $100 AUD .

Where can I get an Aunty Mavis of my own?

Anyway, best of luck with it - I think you should be perfectly fine with customs too if she marks it as a gift for that value. The only problem will be if it goes missing en route, as I think she'll only be able to insure it for the $100 amount she lists it at...

Leiva

Right , Aunty MAVIS has come good and i should have my 32gb 3gs this Monday coming but i still need your help .
I will be using my Vodafone Sim and I will be jailbreaking it for apps .

Here is my question ..

I know what i need to do but dont know what order to do things in , remember it a factory unlocked 3GS so do i just switch it ON (no sim) and let it connect to my home wifi and update via Itunes , insert my sim , then jaibreak ?
Can anyone please give me a step by step , i would be greatful
M.

J-blk

mixednuts wrote: »

I know what i need to do but dont know what order to do things in , remember it a factory unlocked 3GS so do i just switch it ON (no sim) and let it connect to my home wifi and update via Itunes , insert my sim , then jaibreak ?

Well, I've never had a factory unlocked phone but AFAIK, you would insert your SIM and connect it to iTunes, to activate it the first time you use it. Once all that is done and you're up and running, you can use a solution like redsn0w to jailbreak it - that should be it then, since you don't need to unlock.

Leiva

Thanks J ...

Anyone with a factory unlocked iPhone around that could give me some pointers ?

rebel.ranter

Customs especially love spotting phones & cameras, I know afew people who have recently been caught for duty sending stuff like you. Hope it works out for you though.

Leiva

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Customs especially love spotting phones & cameras, I know afew people who have recently been caught for duty sending stuff like you. Hope it works out for you though.

1 million Illegal cigarettes a month getting over our borders yet Aunty Mavis cant send her favorite Nephew a 3GS without the customs getting their pound of flesh .lol

Well lets see if it gets stopped .

Anyone reading this from customs and excise please turn a blind eye to a package addressed to :

Mr Mixednuts
123 I dont have
a Aunty named Mavis .
lol
Ireland .



I do have a phone en route but !

Lets get back on thread ...anyone with some pointers that has a factory unlocked 3GS ?

jester77

As far as I'm aware the phones are carrier locked in Oz but they do provide an unlock which will cost extra, $70 or $80.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

Vodafone provide an online option for unlocking here

Leiva

jester77 wrote: »

As far as I'm aware the phones are carrier locked in Oz but they do provide an unlock which will cost extra, $70 or $80.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

Vodafone provide an online option for unlocking here

Jester,

The 3GS was purchased directly from APPLE.Australia , and not a retail outlet , they are factory unlocked from the site correct ?

Quote the small print on the Web order page :
"# 1) 1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.
# (2) iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8.2 to complete activation.
# (3) Compass reliability may be affected by usage conditions such as nearby magnetic fields.
# (4) Sending video via MMS is not supported on iPhone 3G.
# (5) All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary. Battery has limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by Apple service provider. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/au/batteries and www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html.
# (6) Some features require the iPhone 3.0 Software Update, which will be available for free download on June 17.

J-blk

I would assume from the link Jester77 provided and the one I originally found on Apple's store it is indeed a case that if you buy from a carrier in Australia, it's locked (and the carrier can unlock it - no idea about fees) and if you buy it directly from Apple, it's unlocked straight off. An odd arrangement but it could very well be the case.

In some countries like Italy and Greece, the iPhone is sold unlocked only - so even if you buy it from one of the carriers, it's already unlocked to begin with.

I'm pretty confident your Australian one is factory unlocked as specified - I wouldn't expect Apple to screw up that badly on their own site .

jester77

Ah cool, didn't know Apple was selling them directly from their online store. If they say it's unlocked then it's unlocked which is good to know.

Leiva

Just got a call from my better half ....My black Beauty has arrived , all 32gb of the fine specimen that she is .
Seems like Mr Customs was slacking off and my phone got through .

Gonna rush home now and set it up .

Head full of questions and concerns ..
Is it factory unlocked ? (99% sure but still a small concern)
Will i be savvy enough not to update to 3.1 (i wanna jaibreak this baby)
Will the jail breaking go to plan ?

Oh my evening is already planned ..."Sorry love cant talk going to the computer see you tomorrow " lol

Will keep u updated ...Will let you know if having a "Aunty Mavis" in Australia is a benefit to all you iPhone lovers looking for a way of getting a factory unlocked at a reasonable price .

M.

Leiva

Writing this from my new iPhone....well impressed so far. I can confirm that they sell factory unlocked from the Australian Apple store.It was a diddle to get my iPhone working on VOdafone. Only one concern so far is that I don't have a great vodafone signal in my house , the iPhone seems not to have as good a signal than my previous Sony ericcson.
I am on a 1gb data package , do I need to configure any settings to get the best results or should it all be auto.
I ain't jailbroken it yet , will give that a day or 2.

M

J-blk

Well, enjoy it . I'm envious now, still using an old 3G .

Do you have the 1GB "ISP promo" bundle with Vodafone? You need these settings in Settings => General => Network => Cellular Data Network:

APN: isp.vodafone.ie
Username: vodafone
Password: vodafone

Leiva

Thanks ..J ..now done !


I have been using my new iPhone now for nearly 24hrs and i am loving it .
The battery seems a bit weak (which i have been reading a lot about) but apart from that its all good .

When i use the "home" button can i take it for granted that all apps and windows are closed and not running in the background , eating battery power ?

Also hints and tips on how to PIMP my new iPhone are always Welcome , so shoot them at me !

M.

J-blk

mixednuts wrote: »

When i use the "home" button can i take it for granted that all apps and windows are closed and not running in the background , eating battery power ?

They should close but this is not always the case. Usually, if you hold down the home button for a few seconds when closing a stubborn app, it should fully shut down. If something is still running, you'll notice the excessive battery drain pretty quick though and usually a quick reboot of the phone sorts that kind of thing out.

Weak battery life is to be expected compared to a lot of other phones - 1 to 1.5 days with normal use (as in iPod, WiFi, 3G, etc all being used) is what I think most people get. Better keep a charging cable handy!

BTW, you can also set up a "shortcut" so that when you double click the home button, it super-imposes iPod controls on the lock screen (if you want it that way) or goes to search, favorites, etc - check under Settings => General => Home.

Leiva

J-BLK for moderator status !!!

Always there and quick off the mark with excellent advice and support

T.H.A.N.K.S

Creamy Goodness

J-blk wrote: »

They should close but this is not always the case. Usually, if you hold down the home button for a few seconds when closing a stubborn app, it should fully shut down. If something is still running, you'll notice the excessive battery drain pretty quick though and usually a quick reboot of the phone sorts that kind of thing out.

this used to be the case, but not anymore due to holding down the home button on a 3G S now opens the voice control application.

follow this to ensure a application is fully closed
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4762

or when you jailbreak download SBSettings from the cydia app store you can kill processes from that.

J-blk wrote: »

Weak battery life is to be expected compared to a lot of other phones - 1 to 1.5 days with normal use (as in iPod, WiFi, 3G, etc all being used) is what I think most people get. Better keep a charging cable handy!

also he/she is going through that grace period of "oooh shiny new phone" that everyone does when they get a new gadget and over use it. i did the same, but now my 3G S battery is lasting ~2 days with normal use for me.

enjoy the phone dude, you have a good phone that a lot of people are still struggling to get nearly 3 months after release.

J-blk

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

this used to be the case, but not anymore due to holding down the home button on a 3G S now opens the voice control application.

Ah, the joys of being stuck with the older model - I didn't know that. Thanks for clarifying. Most apps should ideally just close gracefully anyway but there can be odd exceptions - haven't had that happen in awhile though now.

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

now my 3G S battery is lasting ~2 days with normal use for me

That's pretty good - I usually only get 1.5 days at this stage but a) my phone is now over a year old and b) I use the iPod functionality quite a lot. Can't complain too much about it though, I'm always near a USB port anyway .

Creamy Goodness

np, many little things like above has changed with the 3G S, but i don't really mind as the phone now has added so much that was missing from the first gen iphone imo.

i'd seriously be lost if i lost my 3G S tomorrow, but the great thing about it is, itunes has a full backup of my phone so i just get a replacment and i'm back to normal

J-blk

The 3GS is the first generation I'm skipping - not that it is a bad model at all but there's not enough of an upgrade over the 3G to justify the price... at least for me. I had the original one and then the 3G - and now I'm waiting on next summer's revision .

I'm also getting a bit tired of jumping through hoops unlocking the phone in the first place and refuse to switch to O2 - hopefully, their exclusivity will end soon. I also wish Apple would just start selling factory unlocked ones here too - having to get them from other countries is ridiculous but I better stop here before this turns into a full blown rant .