iPhone 4 bought from america - can i unlock?

johnf1004

my dads in america at the moment and my current phone is banjaxed so i was gonna ask him to pick up an iphone 4 while hes over there cos theyre well cheaper ...
just want to make sure first - i know you can unlock one for any network if you bought one here ..but if you had one bought from america and it was on at&t or somethin could i still unlock it to work for meteor or whatever?

smtdos

johnf1004 wrote: »

my dads in america at the moment and my current phone is banjaxed so i was gonna ask him to pick up an iphone 4 while hes over there cos theyre well cheaper ...
just want to make sure first - i know you can unlock one for any network if you bought one here ..but if you had one bought from america and it was on at&t or somethin could i still unlock it to work for meteor or whatever?

you can't buy the iphone in the states without signing a contract!

johnf1004

smtdos wrote: »

you can't buy the iphone in the states without signing a contract!

so what does that mean ..you're saying no i cannot?
what if he just signs this "contract" and pays for an american cell phone number or AT&T account or whatever - and just doesnt use it again after unlocking? possible??

Creamy Goodness

johnf1004 wrote: »

so what does that mean ..you're saying no i cannot?
what if he just signs this "contract" and pays for an american cell phone number or AT&T account or whatever - and just doesnt use it again after unlocking? possible??

Unless your dad has a social security number he will not be able to get one on contract. Even if he does, if he has it less than a year there will be a $500 deposit on the contract because of a non existent American credit rating. Even after that he'd need to keep the phone for more than 30 days otherwise AT&T will request it back. Even if he does that then there's a $175 contract canceling fee.

How do i know all this? I done it myself for the iPhone 3G S and if you do the math it ain't worth it

smtdos

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Unless your dad has a social security number he will not be able to get one on contract. Even if he does, if he has it less than a year there will be a $500 deposit on the contract because of a non existent American credit rating. Even after that he'd need to keep the phone for more than 30 days otherwise AT&T will request it back. Even if he does that then there's a $175 contract canceling fee.

How do i know all this? I done it myself for the iPhone 3G S and if you do the math it ain't worth it

Q.E.D.

johnf1004

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Unless your dad has a social security number he will not be able to get one on contract. Even if he does, if he has it less than a year there will be a $500 deposit on the contract because of a non existent American credit rating. Even after that he'd need to keep the phone for more than 30 days otherwise AT&T will request it back. Even if he does that then there's a $175 contract canceling fee.

How do i know all this? I done it myself for the iPhone 3G S and if you do the math it ain't worth it

ouch! ok well thanks looks like its back to trawling donedeal and buy&sell :cool:

smtdos

johnf1004 wrote: »

ouch! ok well thanks looks like its back to trawling donedeal and buy&sell :cool:

i know the upfront cost of the iphone from the apple store seems crazy for a phone but over the course of a year/18 month (i.e. the length of a contract) it works out the same or cheaper given that you can just get a 30e pm sim from meteor and pop it in.

Well worth the investment IMO anyway. Happy hunting!

Creamy Goodness

Being honest I'd stay away from buy and sell and donedeal. Far to many bad stories. Much better off buying one from adverts.ie never had a bad experience.