Will iPhones bought in The States work completely fine in Ireland?

TheFinanceGod

How's things lads?

Curious to know can anyone answer:

I'm thinking of buying an iPhone 11 Pro Max from Walmart (700e) and getting a buddy to send it over, but I've been holding back since I was told American phones aren't compatible with Irish Data (or some wishy washy bs)

The Phone is as follows; 'Walmart Family Mobile Apple iPhone 11 Pro, 64GB, Space Gray- Prepaid Smartphone'. the phone is unlocked so I can't understand how there would be a carrier problem.

Does anyone have any experience with buying US Apple products and sending them to Ireland? Or any answers to my question.

Appreciate any responses. All the best.

Gumbo

I’ve only bought the sim free versions from the Apple store in NYC.
Just make sure it’s sim free.

marty whelan

Will you be hit with vat and import duty?

TheFinanceGod

marty whelan wrote: »

Will you be hit with vat and import duty?

Not if everything works out how I'm hoping it wil.

I'll order the electronics to my buddy's address. From there he'll unbox them from and re-box them into a shoebox or an everyday parcel box.

When it passes customs it will only be seen as a public parcel, compared to if I used a MyUS.com box or Walmart packaging.

Hopefully it will just breeze through customs.

Whether that's morally incorrect is an inidiviuals opinion, but I'm starting college in September and with the current economic climate and being out of work for 14months now, I just don't have 3500e to dish out on a laptop and phone.

**** em.

Marcusm

Gumbo wrote: »

I’ve only bought the sim free versions from the Apple store in NYC.
Just make sure it’s sim free.

Now there’s a confusing sugggestion. I think you mean unlocked. The US uses both LTE (compatible with European networks) and CDMA technology. Historic CDMA versions did not use SIMs at all (and so could be called sim free) but would be useless here.

At least some of the US models have limited band ranges on LTE and might be less effective here. It’s not as easy as it was 5 years ago.

Marcusm

TheFinanceGod wrote: »

Not if everything works out how I'm hoping it wil.

I'll order the electronics to my buddy's address. From there he'll unbox them from and re-box them into a shoebox or an everyday parcel box.

When it passes customs it will only be seen as a public parcel, compared to if I used a MyUS.com box or Walmart packaging.

Hopefully it will just breeze through customs.

Whether that's morally incorrect is an inidiviuals opinion, but I'm starting college in September and with the current economic climate and being out of work for 14months now, I just don't have 3500e to dish out on a laptop and phone.

**** em.

If you don’t declare that there’s a Li ion battery in the sock and it’s discovered the you would likely have a bigger problem than an import tax issue. Carrying them personally is easier than mailing them.

Creamy Goodness

Marcusm wrote: »

Now there’s a confusing sugggestion. I think you mean unlocked. The US uses both LTE (compatible with European networks) and CDMA technology. Historic CDMA versions did not use SIMs at all (and so could be called sim free) but would be useless here.

At least some of the US models have limited band ranges on LTE and might be less effective here. It’s not as easy as it was 5 years ago.

Sim-free has been a term here in Ireland for the guts of 25 years (since the time of EirCell).

Also CDMA only iPhones haven't been a thing since the iPhone 5.

Here's the model list and what 4g bands they work with https://www.apple.com/iphone/cellular/

djdunny

OP another thing to consider is the service options should something go wrong with your iPhone. From my understanding, they cannot be serviced using a mail in option and you may need to go an Apple store (Belfast) (or maybe an authorised service provider)

Also your consumer rights would be only applicable in the US so EU consumer law would not apply to you should you wish to make a claim.

Doodah7

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Here's the model list and what 4g bands they work with https://www.apple.com/iphone/cellular/

According to Apple's list, a North American iPhone has additional 5G (n71, n260 and n261) and 4G/LTE Bands (14, 29 and 71) over European versions so might be more useful for those that travel more (COVID notwithstanding of course!).

raymondodinzeo

A friend of mine bought his iphone Xr from the Apple Store in Chicago while he was on a visit there. All was well until he downloaded ios14 and his phone went dead and could not be repaired. Apple told him it was a chance in a million. Hard luck. If he had bought the phone in Ireland he would have been covered by Apple warranty, but since he had bought it in the US, and taken it out of the US, they would not cover it. He had to buy a new phone. I will now think twice before buying an Apple product in America.

murpho999

raymondodinzeo wrote: »

A friend of mine bought his iphone Xr from the Apple Store in Chicago while he was on a visit there. All was well until he downloaded ios14 and his phone went dead and could not be repaired. Apple told him it was a chance in a million. Hard luck. If he had bought the phone in Ireland he would have been covered by Apple warranty, but since he had bought it in the US, and taken it out of the US, they would not cover it. He had to buy a new phone. I will now think twice before buying an Apple product in America.

I'm always wary of these "friend" stories and wonder what really want on.

Apple offer a worldwide warranty and its location does not matter.

Been that way for years but people persist with these stories.