Buying an iPhone overseas

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Behodar

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#331910 19-May-2010 16:21

gtxboyracer: Not true, this only occurs if you purchase from an AT&T store. If you go to an Apple retailer they will sell you an iPhone outright without a 2 year contract. You just need to take it then to a repairer and get them to "unlock it".

My brother was over in San Francisco in April just been - and the Apple store staff told him a suitable repairer who would unlock the iPhone for ~$50USD ($60-70 NZD).

Is it "properly" unlocked or is it a hack? In other words, will he lose the unlock when updating the OS?

imadog

107 posts

Master Geek

#331913 19-May-2010 16:28

I don't think it's worth the hassle to save a couple hundred dollars on a $1200 phone.

US prices don't include taxes so it more expensive than you think.

Legally you are required to pay gst on your phone when you get back into NZ. You can take your chances but you could get caught.

You won't have a warranty. My friend has been through 4 iPhone 3gs under warranty.

Relying on on software unlocking to use the phone is a pain. Can't upgrade software unless there is an unlock available for the new version.

New iPhone will be available in about 3 months. I would wait and buy it locally.

oldmaknz

536 posts

Ultimate Geek

#331920 19-May-2010 16:46

Lots of fake info in this thread.

- Any phone bought from the US, INCLUDING Apple directly will be locked to AT&T. No exceptions. Don't go down that route.

- You can only buy factory unlocked from a few countries - NZ, AU (upon request unlocking for AU) and Hong Kong. Hacking to achieve an unlock via a jailbreak isn't possible for the latest baseband (thus will not work for any phone purchased from now on). It's also quite dodgy and again I wouldn't recommend doing it.

- Warranty is only vaid to country of purchase. Phone breaks? Hairline cracks? You're out of luck with a foreign phone.

gehenna

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#331925 19-May-2010 17:00

maknz:
- You can only buy factory unlocked from a few countries - NZ, AU (upon request unlocking for AU)

For the umpteenth time, Apple sell the iPhone unlocked out of the box in AU. No request necessary. Carrier purchases are a different story.

PoLiGnAc

113 posts

Master Geek

#332012 19-May-2010 22:56

My advice to get it locally. That way if anything goes wrong with the phone you can have it fixed in no time.

nobody

47 posts

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#332241 20-May-2010 11:35

Thanks for all the excellent advice.

NZCoderGuy

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#333988 24-May-2010 12:30

maknz: Lots of fake info in this thread.

- Any phone bought from the US, INCLUDING Apple directly will be locked to AT&T. No exceptions. Don't go down that route.

- You can only buy factory unlocked from a few countries - NZ, AU (upon request unlocking for AU) and Hong Kong. Hacking to achieve an unlock via a jailbreak isn't possible for the latest baseband (thus will not work for any phone purchased from now on). It's also quite dodgy and again I wouldn't recommend doing it.

- Warranty is only vaid to country of purchase. Phone breaks? Hairline cracks? You're out of luck with a foreign phone.

Also, JailBreak is possible on the latest Baseband. I have one here - and JailBreaking was a piece of cake using "Spirit".

My iPhone was manufactured in March this year.

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1eStar

1604 posts

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#334018 24-May-2010 13:13

Jailbreak and SIM unlocking are two seperate issues. Older jailbreaks used to enable unlocking. But I understand mak's info is still valid. i.e. latest baseband cannot be unlocked

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