smorf Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 well, due to my job i´m stuck here in europe. i´ll visit my family in san francisco in october, and i thought this would be a nice chance to get me a new iphone. how does this work in the US? can i just walk into an apple store and buy a carrier-locked iphone without the at&t contract? or do i have to sign the contract at this time? thanks in advance! smorf Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesR Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I don't think they've announced it as yet. They have said something along the lines of forcing users to activate their iphones in the AT&T stores though. But if ziphone can be updated to activate/unlock it anyway then I doubt that will be an issue. Perhaps you will only get the $200 subsidy if you buy through AT&T though...so it will really cost $399 (8GB) if you buy directly from Apple. We'll have to wait and see! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780559 Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorf Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 buying the $399 won´t be a problem, the exchange rates from euros to dollars are pretty cool for having an european salary and buying things in the usa. ;-) so how does this work with the iphones right now? you can buy the phones in an apple store and after that you have to go to at&t, get a contract and activate your phone, right? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780590 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesR Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 buying the $399 won´t be a problem, the exchange rates from euros to dollars are pretty cool for having an european salary and buying things in the usa. ;-) Yeah I know...same with my UK salary Everything's 'half-price' with a $2=£1 rate...even cheaper when you consider that the US prices are normally much cheaper than the UK prices anyway. I think right now you can activate using iTunes, but they have a list of AT&T activated phones which means that unless you have a contract iTunes won't activate it. (Easily worked around using Ziphone etc.) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780627 Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorf Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 of course i know how the activate process in itunes works... but i´m not sure if the apple store sells the phone to me if i don´t already have a at&t contract. i just want to go to the store, buy me a locked phone and use zipho... erm... my at&t contract activation. ;-) the only thing to know is: can i go to the itunes-store or do have to fall back to ebay, the local "flee market" or something else. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780644 Share on other sites More sharing options...
benwinship Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 You can only activate the new iPhones in store. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780676 Share on other sites More sharing options...
unstatusthequo Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 You can only activate the new iPhones in store. That's what I've heard as well. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780712 Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorf Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 well, as activation is just a matter of software, it´s just a matter of time until that point is avoidable. i mean, osx is also only installable on a mac. ;-) the other thing is how to obtain an 3G iphone... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780744 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 We will know once they are released... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-780996 Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinkster Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 They won't let you walk out of the store with an iPhone unless you sign a 2 year contract. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-781002 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berzerker Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 well, as activation is just a matter of software, it´s just a matter of time until that point is avoidable. i mean, osx is also only installable on a mac. ;-) the other thing is how to obtain an 3G iphone... There's not going to be any point. You're going to have a signed contract with AT&T by the time you walk out of the store. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/110158-stupid-question-on-buying-an-iphone-in-usa/#findComment-781475 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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