hello

will it be possible to buy an iphone 3G without signing a contract? because i've read on some websites that with the iphone 3g, you will be forced to sign the contract in the store where you buy it. is that true or not?

You have to sign the contract in store. O2 in the UK have said that a PAYG iPhone 3G is coming "later on in the year".

I don't think ATT has committed on an availability date, but you should, at some point, be able to do this (it's just going to cost $599 and $699 for the 8GB and 16GB, respectively).

See http://www.pcworld.com/article/147993/more..._questions.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25478296/

Yeah, but i mean, will it be possible to buy an iphone for 200 dollars "with the intention to sign the contract later" (lol ) and just don't sign it and unlock the iphone (like everybody does at the moment)

You will probably have to buy it from a 3rd party person, probably on eBay. But don't expect it to be cheap. When an iPhone is bought, someone has to get a contract.

AT & T is going to be offering a no-contract option for 599 & 699.

So if it's bought at the Apple Store it'll be $599? Or will there be a contract there too?

I don't know about the apple store, but AT & T stores will be selling a no-contract option (to who, I don't know)

and if you buy the iphone from the apple online store? how does that work?

I wish I knew....

From what I gather, at some point (not necessarily Friday) you will be able to buy a phone and walk out of the store without activating it, but they will have some measure in place to ensure that you do activate it within 30 days or receive a penalty. This probably means that they'll keep your CC on file and charge you the extra $400 in 30 days if you don't activate it or return it. If you want to try this Friday, I'd recommend going to an Apple store; the lines will be longer, but AT&T seems more likely to put the pressure on you to sign or simply say that non-signing customers have to wait a week or some such. EDIT: Either way, it'll probably be a waste of your time.

FYI and YMMV: those ATT customers who aren't currently eligible for the $199/$299 prices can activate any iPhone on their account by Thursday and become eligible. I'm only 8 months into a family plan and formerly ineligible, but I borrowed an iPhone and activated it on two of my lines and returned it to the original owner. His line and both of mine all come up as "upgrade eligible" in the ATT system. The CSRs I've spoken to have said that this should be fine, but I'm still anxious to see what happens.

Well i will be getting one.... I will jailbreak it and yah. Im not sure i want to use AT&T tho.. But i still want to pay 200 for the device. So i might have no choice

Bottom Line: you will be able to do that if you pay the unsubsidized price of $599/$699 for the phone, otherwise, you WILL BE required to sign a contract.Apple Stores will have trained AT&T staff there to setup contracts.You can't buy from the online store.

impressive !

In Belgium all iphones will be unlocked as it is required by law... but the price is rather stiff. Apparently here in Norway you can buy a locked one and break the contract on the same date and by law are required to unlock the phone and they cant force you to return it. The total sum (including fee for cancelling the contract) is cheaper than buying it in belgium, but i think there will be waiting and hassle involved...

Cheapest place to get one without a contract is in Switzerland



However travelling there would add the cost up a bit....

Who needs to travel there, just get it shipped as a gift

dude, i'm going on vacation to Switzerland! in which store can you buy it that cheap?

swisscom the provider of the iPhone in Switzerland

and, will they sell iphones to expatriates?

Haha, living in Switzerland =)

will the Swisscom iphone work in other countries (i live in belgium, but here, the iphone costs 525 Euro and it Switzerland only 320 Euro)

Look like you have to add 40 CHF if you want it without simlock...

I am very interested to get an Iphone bought in Swiss land.I Live in Italy so just searcing somenone kind to ship it :-)
Just a question : I have read that swisscom is selling the simlocked one only..is it right?
In case , I need to unlock it with jalbreak for using my sim?

Thanks

In Mexico telcel said it will be a prepaid scheme (Amigo Kit) for the iPhone but not right now, I think it could be 3 months later.

You can find information on swisscom-iphone tariffs at http://iphone3g.swisscom.ch/?lang=en&plang=en

There is a pre-paid-tariff with a 16gb iphone for CHF 619.00. I'm thinking about buying one, but I'm not sure, if the device has to be activated at the store and if they sell to foreign customers (I'm from Germany). 

It would be nice, if someone from Switzerland can gather these information.

 

in italy are unlocked both contract and without...Tim and vodafone sell the no contract at 499€ 8GB and 569€ the 16gb

@ derrhener, Most companies sell pre-pay handsets to anyone, no ID is required as there is no contract. Most people now buy handsets abroad when on holiday as it's cheaper to call back home from them than from their own networks when roaming I can not see a issue.

Already unlocked iPhones: http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/17/unlocke...t-from-china-1/

SIM for unlocking iPhone: http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/16/hands-o...hone-3g-unlock/

From looking at the Swiss iPhone prices it leads me to believe that in the UK the prices for the 8gb/16gb PAYG iPhone will be £249/£299 respectively.

We are talking about O2 they have seen the demand, so they will price accordingly (the same as they did with N95) I would be very very suprised if they offer them for sub £300 starting price. which would go with the price that was 'accidently' put on their website before release of the iPhone which was £350.

they will also go with prices from other area's in Europe which are averaging £350+ for iPhones with out contracts (i.e. Pre Pay)

There was also the iPhone prices in France posted on a website (forget which one) which was 609 euro's (£485) locked to Orange and Orange also do one for an extra 100 euro's (£563) which is beleived to be unlocked OTB.

i thinkt that if you buy a swiss iphone, it is locked to swisscom and that you have to unlock it to work in your own country.
but there isn't an unlock for iphone 3G yet! Will it be there in a couple of days/weeks?

Absolutely Wrong!
In Italy every iPhone 3g , is totally free and works with every sim u put in there !
I think this is the reason it's being sold at high Prices 499 and 569 euros

that's because they are factory unlocked handsets - due to the laws in Italy (Belgium too), speedfreaK was talking about the unlock solution for the locked handsets, which the swisscom handsets are.

no those iphones here in beglium arent completely unlocked; they work only with a belgium provider

and yes a was talking about an unlock solution for locked iphones

i bought mine from italy with out an contract for $250 i bought it from the airport so no taxes

Good deal ! duty free area

Thanks for the credit Mattwood, copy and paste my post will ya...

http://forums.se-nse.net/index.php?showtop...mp;#entry372782

I wrapped it in quote tags, just didn't put from rekoil on SE-NSE (didn't realise you came on here either)

I've been known to drift around

well your not the only ones for forum.se-nse