[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Endofdayz

I hear from this forum that there are no unlocks available for os 4.1. is it true. my friend has informed that he will buy unlocked phone. please let me know whether it will be a good buy.

Also how difficult is it to convert the sim to micro sim.
also will i be able to access all the apps in the iphone. some say its specific to one country. please help me with your suggestions as soon as possible.

thanks.

Singapore phones are unlocked, so go ahead grab it. Only thing ask your friend to place order well in advance, since stocks are scarce.

Micro sim is not a big deal, either get a sim cutter or find a grey market shop who provide the service of chopping. Or you can download the template from net and cut it yourself.

You need iTunes account to that country, as long as you manage that getting apps is not an issue. Also you have tons of free aps which you can download without paying money. Very rarely aps are restricted to a country.

Hope this helps.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by ppr

Are you sure this works for phones out of contract? I thought AT&T does not give you an unlock code for the iPhone?

ppr

Wait for less than 5 days and i will update everything. I will have to talk with store manager rather than sales-representative who may be misinformed.

Instead of me giving you wrong information, i will give you the correct information in less than a week's time since i am going to get one. Please hold your horses and then i will update after knowing from horse's mouth

But as far as i know, the phones in Apple store are unlocked and no contract phones so you won't need unlock code from ATT. If you buy from ATT store you need to unlock it by calling them. Hope it makes basic sense as of now.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by chevelle

But as far as i know, the phones in Apple store are unlocked and no contract phones so you won't need unlock code from ATT. If you buy from ATT store you need to unlock it by calling them. Hope it makes basic sense as of now.

I know that they are not sold unlocked anywhere in US, confirmed by multiple sources. Only iPad is sold unlocked.

Unlock code while travelling is also a dicey thing, so far only one person out of 4 i know have managed to get this done.

Good thing iPhone 4 even on 4.1 can be unlocked and jailbroken as per iclarified.

[ppr]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I know that they are not sold unlocked anywhere in US, confirmed by multiple sources. Only iPad is sold unlocked.

Unlock code while travelling is also a dicey thing, so far only one person out of 4 i know have managed to get this done.

Good thing iPhone 4 even on 4.1 can be unlocked and jailbroken as per iclarified.

Actually the phones are sold without contract (at a higher price), but still locked to AT&T. Even AT&T long term subscribers have not been able to get their phones unlocked when traveling. AT&T just refuses. Occasionally I have heard of someone who managed to get an unlock code form them on the pretext that he was going somewhere they did not have a tie up with. This is rare as you can imagine.

Why would they let go of their roaming charges? All phone companies are out to loot you (and I don't think I am wrongly generalizing here) They are the last of the highway bandits (if you ignore the HT retailers in India) ;-)

The iPad is sold unlocked and I am using one with a Vodfone sim I cut myself. A friend of mine has 3 iPhone 4's purchased from the US in May (OS4.1) Still unable to use because no hack available (although many have claimed so on the internet). So be careful.

ppr

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by ppr

Most Apps are free (about 70%). But you still need a credit card to "buy" them although it will not be charged. The other Apps cost between 99 c (Rs 45 approx) to $9.99 (Rs 450). Most are at the lower end ie Rs 45.

By the way for the free apps credit card details are not mandatory and creating Itunes account is real simple. If you want paid apps, it is mandatory to give CC details and most of the apps are quite reasonably priced.

now that 3G is available in India, it makes sense to spend on highend phones. atleast you can put them to better use.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by ppr

A friend of mine has 3 iPhone 4's purchased from the US in May (OS4.1) Still unable to use because no hack available (although many have claimed so on the internet). So be careful.

ppr

If its running baseband 01.59.00, you can. If updated to 2.x.x then nope.

[ppr]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

If its running baseband 01.59.00, you can. If updated to 2.x.x then nope.

Unfortunately the phone one buys is sealed and there is no way to check the baseband. Might end up with an unusable phone. The Locked (but non contract) phone sin the US cost the same as a factory unlocked phone elsewhere (HK, Australia, France, Belgium, Singapore, UK) So better get one of those than go for a locked phone.

[Jaggu]

No i meant for your friend to unlock, what you buy from shop will always have the latest firmware if its after 2-3 weeks of the update being launched. And AT&T is notorious with opening and activating, along with that updating the firmware when you purchase the phone. All in all buying phone in US is a pain if you are planning to use it unlocked.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by ppr

Actually the phones are sold without contract (at a higher price), but still locked to AT&T. Even AT&T long term subscribers have not been able to get their phones unlocked when traveling. AT&T just refuses. Occasionally I have heard of someone who managed to get an unlock code form them on the pretext that he was going somewhere they did not have a tie up with. This is rare as you can imagine.

Why would they let go of their roaming charges? All phone companies are out to loot you (and I don't think I am wrongly generalizing here) They are the last of the highway bandits (if you ignore the HT retailers in India) ;-)
So be careful.

ppr

One thing i don't understand is, if a no-contract Captivate(of my friend) from ATT store works with T-Mobile, why won't iphone-4?

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I know that they are not sold unlocked anywhere in US, confirmed by multiple sources. Only iPad is sold unlocked.

Unlock code while travelling is also a dicey thing, so far only one person out of 4 i know have managed to get this done.
.

As of today, i have no experience with unlocked iphone 4. But i have done similar thing with iphone 2G & 3gs which i have owned before and now sold. I used both in India and USA and 3GS was unlocked from ATT after buying as a no-contract phone while 2G was under contract and got it unlocked from ATT customer care. But this is in 2008-2009 and i don't know if they have changed rules in nov-2010.

I will be getting iphone 4 by 15th and i am coming to India in 1 month's time, so its perfect time for me to see if this unlock thing works or not. If it does well and good, else will have to find some other way.

While it does't seem appropriate to disclose how its got done, its just telling them that roaming charges are horribly expensive and that i would be using local carrier. The ending statement is, i am a student and i can't afford so many charges for my trip. They have so far obliged, don't know with iphone 4 but will soon get to know. I also did same thing to some other phones like Sony w580i, c905a, nokia E71, BB Pearl among others.

Yes, it could be one of incident, but most of my friends have done the same thing with their 2G, 3G and 3GS and i don't see why it would be different with iphone 4.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by chevelle

One thing i don't understand is, if a no-contract Captivate(of my friend) from ATT store works with T-Mobile, why won't iphone-4?

Double check with your friend if he had unlocked it using software or not, thats all am saying.

Otherwise darn good and enjoy the iPhone 4

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Double check with your friend if he had unlocked it using software or not, thats all am saying.

Otherwise darn good and enjoy the iPhone 4

No-no, may be you misunderstood me, he is using captivate unlocked without any software he bought from ATT store, that too when it was in price error of just $300 plus tax. It goes for $600 plus tax. Regarding iphone 4, its told by representative of apple store, will ask the manager to shed more light on it.

i don't think anyone would like to void warranty by unlocking it using software for a new iphone 4. Atleast i won't.

[Jaggu]

Unless you take international warranty its useless in India, oh coming to think of it international apple care also might not help. Since 3G and 3GS was honored by the telecom companies who sold them

[rajushank84]

Buying unlocked iPhone from US is easiest - and cheapest - when we go for slightly used models. Browse craigslist - meet up at a Starbucks, inspect phone, pay, take home. I was impatient to do even that, so I just ordered it off eBay, an unlocked piece with 4.0 firmware. It doesn't look used at all, looks new and shiny all over.

Of course, I went for 3GS because I don't want to get into sim cutting.

Many of my friends are able to get their hands on used 3G models for $150 to $200 on craigslist - and they are happy at the end of the day, having spent just 6K to 9K for a 3G iPhone which works very well.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Buying unlocked iPhone from US is easiest - and cheapest - when we go for slightly used models. Browse craigslist - meet up at a Starbucks, inspect phone, pay, take home. I was impatient to do even that, so I just ordered it off eBay, an unlocked piece with 4.0 firmware. It doesn't look used at all, looks new and shiny all over.

Of course, I went for 3GS because I don't want to get into sim cutting.

Many of my friends are able to get their hands on used 3G models for $150 to $200 on craigslist - and they are happy at the end of the day, having spent just 6K to 9K for a 3G iPhone which works very well.

I agree, phones on craigslist are going for low prices. good, like new pieces of 3g and 3gs are going for $150 and $250 resp for 16gb iphones. Not a bad deal. Even iphone 4 is available for $450-$500. That too unlocked ones.

Add a $15 data plan and its one heck of phone to flaunt and use its excellent features too.

[DDDHRUV]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Buying unlocked iPhone from US is easiest - and cheapest - when we go for slightly used models. Browse craigslist - meet up at a Starbucks, inspect phone, pay, take home. I was impatient to do even that, so I just ordered it off eBay, an unlocked piece with 4.0 firmware. It doesn't look used at all, looks new and shiny all over.

Of course, I went for 3GS because I don't want to get into sim cutting.

Many of my friends are able to get their hands on used 3G models for $150 to $200 on craigslist - and they are happy at the end of the day, having spent just 6K to 9K for a 3G iPhone which works very well.

Friends I too got bitten by the iphone 4g bug and have just got my piece from Hongkong through a friend coming down from there. It cost me HKD 4988 about 28500 INR. It is unlocked and a rockstar amongst phones. Pleasantly Vodafone immediately gave me a microsim no hassles of SIM cutting etc. Micro sims are easily available its just that they are not publicising it. I just had to fill up a form stating SIM replacement for faulty SIM card. For data plans I had no need to take an iphone specific data plan, my existing data plan works just fine. As soon as I received the handset I picked up a case mate cover from AlfA. No issues with signal drop either. I am enjoying the experience.