iPhone from USA

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pa1pa1

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Hi, I just recently came across a thread that said iPhone 4 could be bought for as little as $599 (16GB) from the US under the "no-commitment" scheme from an apple/at&t store. Sure it would be locked to at&t (which i can get unlocked now that 4.1 JB is out) , but just wanted to confirm its availability before i asked by friend's friend to get one for me. So is it in stock?
 
Yes, this has been possible for the last one year or so. I picked one up recently from the Apple store in Boston for $599 plus tax around $640, however it was locked to At&t and since it was 4.02 out of the box I had to wait for a couple of weeks - till this weekend - to get it unlocked. If you buy one now it will come with 4.1 out of the box which cannot be unlocked yet but apparently will be soon.

I originally wanted to pick it up in the UK since its unlocked there but there was a 3 week waiting period, Singapore also has unlocked ones for around $888 SGD
 
There is a way to upgrade it to 4.1 without updating the baseband. Basically, the baseband that comes with 4.1 OOTB is not unlockable at the moment.
 
Oh i see. I hope the risk i'm taking by buying the iphone4 with new baseband is not too big a risk. Thanks for the help :)
 
^^You will get the unlock by November end for sure. Make sure you buy it asap. Good luck :)
 
I saw that the BBs and iPhone 4s have this "early termination" fees clause. So if purchased with a plan, how did you guys negate that...?
 
Yep, i'll get it in my hands before November :D.

@asingh : There are 2 ways to get the iPhone. One is getting the iPhone with a contract, and terminating it by shelling out the "early termination fee". This is not the way ppl from other countries buy their iPhones from the US. The other way it to go to an apple/at&t store and ask for a "no-commitment" iPhone which costs $640, which is what i'm planning.
 
@^^

Good luck with that. AFAIK almost all Apple stores across the US are out of 'no-commitment' pieces. If you are going in for a locked piece in the first place then may I suggest looking through ebay.com? Earlier I was interested in buying one and I was getting offers for almost new pieces for as low as $580.
 
Damn, I've already been denied an iPhone4 as it was out of stock in SGpore. I thought the US would definitely have some :/ . And I'd rather just wait till iPhone lands in India than buy it off ebay. But damn, i thought i had got it this time!!!!
 
^^As raul mentioned, he did pick one up recently. So, it might be possible for you to get one too. You can try your luck.
 
Its available in apple stores at no commitment prices, at least in the Boston area as recently as 3 weeks ago, also at palo alto. Make sure you take some form of id, passport, India driving licence etc.

This is a no commitment deal so no question of at&t, contracts or any other complications, just pay 599 plus tax for the 16GB or 699 plus tax for the 32GB.

Its currently not available off the shelf in UK or Singapore, you have to order online and there is a 3 week waiting period, the advantage is UK/Singapore is unlocked, Canada is also unlocked and relatively cheap but I have no connections in Canada.

On the unlocking front, all new iPhone are currently 4.1 out of the box with a newer baseband, mine was 4.02 with 1.59 baseband which can be unlocked, however there was no jailbreak available for 4.02 untill geohot released limera1n last weekend. As soon as 4.2 gets released apple stores will ship those so important to do research on versions before buying.

Similarly while 4.1 is now jailbroken there is no unlock for the newer baseband in 4.1. Apparently geohot is working on the unlock for the newer baseband and it will be out soon, could be weeks.

Also for new iPhone owners please do research before doing any operation in iTunes to update software. That's how most folks get stuck. And make sure you save shsh before doing anything.
 
Cool, i'll convey this to my friend. The AT&T store is much closer to where he will be lodging than the apple store, and apparently the AT&T ones also sell "no commitment" pieces. So will try there first. I'm well prepared to using the phone just as an ipod for weeks, i just hope the unlock comes out even if it takes a long time.
 
Im in Tampa currently and there are a LOT of apple Iphone 4's in the apple store for $650 Taxes included. Best Buy and AT n T DO NOT sell no commit pieces. Only the Apple store sells them. Im picking one for myself later in the month before I return to India.

It doesnt matter if its 4.1 or 4.2, since Apple will only be covering the current exploit with the jailbreak and will leave the baseband alone (assumption). The limerain / greepoison jailbreak will be ineffective with 4.2. However, the true / actual greenpoison jailbreak is still kept secret which will / should work with 4.2 (assumption).

All the current jailbreaks are based on the limerain boot rom exploit. Greenpoison prior to the limerain release, was using another exploit and is currently being saved for 4.2 release (hopefully it will still be effective till then). Jailbreaking is not as important as unlocking. These are 2 different things.
 
pa1pa1 said:
Cool, i'll convey this to my friend. The AT&T store is much closer to where he will be lodging than the apple store, and apparently the AT&T ones also sell "no commitment" pieces. So will try there first. I'm well prepared to using the phone just as an ipod for weeks, i just hope the unlock comes out even if it takes a long time.
Why don't you just buy this http://www.techenclave.com/members-market/iphone4-16gb-brand-new-32-000-a-175849.html?highlight= then ? :) No waiting. Available today :P
 
It makes sense to open the box to save the SHSH. Apple might push iOS4.1.1 anytime before 4.2 to fix the Daylight savings issue.

And now, the SHSH will make sure that the owner can always jailbreak !
 
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