Buying the iphone 4 overseas.

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Buying the iphone 4 overseas.

littleangelboy

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#76224 31-Jan-2011 02:20

Hi,
Off to the USA in a few months and i am considering buying an iphone 4.
One of my friend's who lives over there and works for AT&T can get me some discount off the iphone/disconnection fee since they come on a plan...

Can someone please tell me if this will work on the xt network once i get it unlocked?

thanks

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#433004 31-Jan-2011 02:53

How many times has this been discussed on here, and why are you starting another thread when you talked about the same thing on 22nd May 2010? (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=76&topicid=61765)

I just did a search and came up with these threads:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=76&topicid=67643

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=76&topicid=61587 (you've already been told to look at this one)

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=76&topicid=64144

You need to search GZ first before starting another thread, especially about an issue like this.

AT&T uses UMTS850MHz, Telecom XT uses UMTS850MHz, there's your answer. A search of Apple's and Telecom's sites would have told you that.

littleangelboy

114 posts

Master Geek

#433005 31-Jan-2011 02:58

Not everyone has time to sit on here all night and go through every forum

Just remember not everyone is a complete mobile phone nerd and it can become quite confusing.

thanks for your help anyway.....

chiefie

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#433006 31-Jan-2011 04:10

In short. AT&T (or in US) they don't sell the phone outright. Also iPhone warranty is country-specific. So if it breaks and whatever... it is not covered in NZ by Apple NZ. Good luck.

Having said that... I'm currently in Malaysia and been tempted many times when walking pass iPhone 4 at any mobile stores here. RM2690 for 32GB iPhone 4 (NZ$1139.57) is very tempting... I can walk away with it... and should there be any issue with it in NZ, I got relatives that I can send it back to Malaysia to have the warranty sorted - but is it worth the effort??

Something to think about.

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littleangelboy

114 posts

Master Geek

#433007 31-Jan-2011 04:13

Thanks for your help :D

and i guess the warranty thing is just a chance you have to take!

i think you should also buy your phone from malaysia
because if anything does go wrong you can just sent it to family
and you will be saving money :D you could buy a cool cover with the left over money

goodluck!

johnr

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#433011 31-Jan-2011 06:58

@Corksta cause that would be too easy

SteveON

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#433020 31-Jan-2011 07:25

If its locked dont bother, if you are only saving $1-200 on a $1200 phone, its hardly worthwile.

freitasm

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#433022 31-Jan-2011 07:49

littleangelboy: Not everyone has time to sit on here all night and go through every forum

Your trip is in a few months, you are not leaving tomorrow. You *WANT* to read through every forum to learn about it and make an informed decision.

On top of the phone being locked to AT&T, being available on a contract only (since your friend is getting it from AT&T), not having worldwide warranty, there's no unlock available for the latest iOS.

Remember, cheap as it seems, it will cost you to break the contract with AT&T - and the phone can't even be unlocked.

littleangelboy: Not everyone has time to sit on here all night and go through every forum

Corksta did an excellent job pointing out where to find more information. He did it for your for free, and you want a summary because you are too busy at 2:20am when you posted this?

Oh, the humanity...

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TeWharau

35 posts

Geek

#433027 31-Jan-2011 08:10

Hey Guys,

To be fair the difference here is the "friend" at AT&T.

On the AT&T website you can buy an 16GB iphone 4 for US$199 (cheaper if refurbished). If your friend can get it without a contract or break the contract, that would score you a new iPhone 4 for NZ$257.

The really sad part is you'd never be able to use it on a NZ network because jailbreaking and unlocking is more confusing than buying a phone and impossible if you're too busy to search on forums:)

corksta

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#433057 31-Jan-2011 09:54

littleangelboy: Not everyone has time to sit on here all night and go through every forum

Just remember not everyone is a complete mobile phone nerd and it can become quite confusing.

thanks for your help anyway.....

I appreciate that, my point is that the 'buying an iPhone overseas' topic is a fairly common question as on the face of it it does seem cheaper, but there are so many other things to take into consideration than just the difference in price, so it's always good to search GZ and/or other places first, THEN start a thread if there are things you are still unsure about. There is a wealth of information out there about the iPhone, and it only took a moment to find those other threads, so it just pays to do that first instead of starting another redundant iPhone thread.

At 2.20am you're likely to find information yourself faster than waiting for someone to reply on here, I just happened to be online having just thrown some of my wife's friends out of home after playing Kinect Adventures/Kinect Sports/Scene It?!/Lips/Dance Central for hours!

mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek

#433063 31-Jan-2011 10:06

LittleAngelBoy

I have just returned from the US and the story was that the iPhone4 that you buy there is locked to AT&T. You cannot buy an unlocked iPhone4 even from Apple at full retail - they just will not sell them to you unless its on an AT&T contract and locked to AT&T. That is why they are cheaper! I tried very hard to obtain an unlocked one from AT&T and at each of the Apple stores in NYC - no chance!

Of course, our unlocked iPhones are an attractive buy on eBay to any US based iPhone buyer, so you are sure to get your money back when it comes time to sell.

Cheers Mike

chiefie

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#433145 31-Jan-2011 12:04

@littleangelboy: Err.. no thanks.. even when it is cheaper by NZ$200 (and it is unlocked @SteveOn)... I won't as I have HTC Trophy that I got in October and enjoying it. Saving money for iPad 2 instead.

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gehenna

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#433150 31-Jan-2011 12:07

Probably took longer to type the OP than searching would have taken.

chiefie

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#433152 31-Jan-2011 12:09

@Gehenna! OMG! Beating the dead horse by the Office Space! Awesome!

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littleangelboy

114 posts

Master Geek

#433306 31-Jan-2011 16:45

Since it won't let me reply to any of yous for some reason i will just mark names out

@ freitasm - i was actually just about to leave for work when i posted this form.. some people do work in the middle of the night you know.

@TeWharau - i know how to jailbreak since ive done it to my ipod touch.. so that would mean i just have to wait for someone to bring out an unlocking thing right?... theres an unlocking place at the mall here i should go and ask them and see what they say.

thanks for your help.

TeWharau

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#433341 31-Jan-2011 18:39

LAB,

No problems jailbreaking iPhone 4. Just don't update to 4.2.1 (yet).

You could ask at the mall, search around GZ, or go straight to the source at http://blog.iphone-dev.org or musclenerd's twitter.

Cheers

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