iPhone4 buy from Apple store? How does it work

blue5

Hi, if you wanted to buy the iPhone4 from an Apple Store does it come unlocked or do they take your details and process it through your network provider?

How do you go about getting the micro sim needed for the iPhone4?

Any help with this much appreciated!

Blue5.

Jakmeehan

All iPhones bought directly from apple (online or brick & mortar store) are fully unlocked.

All you need to do is go to your service provider and ask for a replacement micro sim and they should be able to give you a micro sim and keep your existing number. Alternatively, you could just cut your existing sim down to fit!

Notorious97

What about if i go to New York and buy this in the Apple store there? It will be fully unlocked? I just then come home and strut into Vodafone and do as you mention above?

Croc

Notorious97 wrote: »

What about if i go to New York and buy this in the Apple store there? It will be fully unlocked? I just then come home and strut into Vodafone and do as you mention above?

No is the short answer see here

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055508399

Scroll to "Can't I just buy an unlocked phone?"
and
"Can I buy a phone in the US and use it over here?"

Jakmeehan

Notorious97 wrote: »

What about if i go to New York and buy this in the Apple store there? It will be fully unlocked? I just then come home and strut into Vodafone and do as you mention above?

As above, you'll need to buy it here unfortunately... or pretty much anywhere other than US!!

Lordhumphreys

What do the networks charge for the Micro Sim? And how quickly do they get it for you, i.e can it be gotten while you wait in store?

Jakmeehan

Not too sure on pricing, although I do know that both Meteor and 3 give them for free. And yes, you will get it there and then. Unless, of course, they are out of stock :P

blue5

That's great, thank you very much for the information!

Notorious97

Thanks for the info, well that sucks big time! ah well lol

Any chance apple are planning a 64gb iphone? lol

Jakmeehan

Notorious97 wrote: »

Thanks for the info, well that sucks big time! ah well lol

Any chance apple are planning a 64gb iphone? lol

Ya wouldn't know!! We'll know next summer wen the next gen is unveiled

fe1ready

Word of warning.

Do not buy your iphone as a 'guest'/proceed straight to checkout.

Because i didn't log into my account/create an account when i bought it they insisted on ringing me. Apparently my number was wrong so they couldn't.

They took €628 from my credit card, never sent me an email invoice and never sent me my phone.

I rang them and they said they would refund me the money a.s.a.p and i could just buy the phone again. 9 days later, 3 emails and 2 telephone calls and they still haven't refunded my money.

I don't see the point of having the guest purchase option if you can't actually buy the phone in the easy manner that its supposed to provide.

Also, they could have just emailed me, instead they charged me for the phone and did nothing.

Pointless.

Also, they say the address that I have lived at which has had the same name for 90 years does not exist.

Total joke.

Next time il just buy from my service provider.

Jakmeehan

fe1ready wrote: »

Word of warning.

Do not buy your iphone as a 'guest'/proceed straight to checkout.

Because i didn't log into my account/create an account when i bought it they insisted on ringing me. Apparently my number was wrong so they couldn't.

They took €628 from my credit card, never sent me an email invoice and never sent me my phone.

I rang them and they said they would refund me the money a.s.a.p and i could just buy the phone again. 9 days later, 3 emails and 2 telephone calls and they still haven't refunded my money.

I don't see the point of having the guest purchase option if you can't actually buy the phone in the easy manner that its supposed to provide.

Also, they could have just emailed me, instead they charged me for the phone and did nothing.

Pointless.

Also, they say the address that I have lived at which has had the same name for 90 years does not exist.

Total joke.

Next time il just buy from my service provider.

Or just create an account, you're gonna need one when you have the iPhone anyway

Cherrycola

Sorry to hijack, but im planning to get an iphone direct from Apple too, and was wondering what should i do with regards to insurance?
Will the Apple Care warranty cover damage/loss/theft?

Also, when i get a micro sim from my provider, will my old sim still work? (the iphone is a christmas gift, so i need the micro sim before christmas, but also need the other sim functional until i switch phones)

And how will the iphone work as a prepay customer? Do i have to purchase special data packages from Vodafone? Like with the mobile broadband dongle?

And as a clumsy person, i need a good bumper/case for the phone, what do you recommend? Bearing in mind i drop phones regularly!

I was considering going with the 16gb phone, as ive heard the 32gb is more unstable, any thoughts on that?

Thanks.

Gumbo

Cherrycola wrote: »

Will the Apple Care warranty cover damage/loss/theft?

no it wont, it will only cover againsy factory defects. best bet is adding it to your home insurance imo.

Cherrycola wrote: »

Also, when i get a micro sim from my provider, will my old sim still work? (the iphone is a christmas gift, so i need the micro sim before christmas, but also need the other sim functional until i switch phones)

when you pick up your micro sim from the store, tell them not to do the transfer as your waiting on your new phone to come and tell them you will ring customer care when it arrives.

then when you want to use your new iPhone 4, just ring customer care and do a sim swap, should take 5 mins and your number will then be active on the micro sim. your old sim can still be inserted to your old phone and names etc can be accessed but it will not pick up a network signal.

Cherrycola wrote: »

And how will the iphone work as a prepay customer? Do i have to purchase special data packages from Vodafone? Like with the mobile broadband dongle?

depending on your network, they usually charge 99c per day for internet use to a certain useage cap, the networks may vary though. best bet is to swap to a bill pay plan that includes a data bundle.

Cherrycola wrote: »

And as a clumsy person, i need a good bumper/case for the phone, what do you recommend? Bearing in mind i drop phones regularly!

a good leather case will help protect it from a small drop etc but it will make the phone larger and bulkier. i have a griffin case i got from apple direct and a front screen protectot and its perfect, dropped it in town and slid accros henry street with no damage occuring

Cherrycola wrote: »

I was considering going with the 16gb phone, as ive heard the 32gb is more unstable, any thoughts on that?

sorry, cant answer that question, as most likely the person that told you that is a fool

Cherrycola

So if the best bet is to switch to a billpay plan anyway, would I be aswell off just to sign up to a plan with vodafone and get the phone at a reduced price rather than getting it from Apple at all?

Gumbo

Cherrycola wrote: »

So if the best bet is to switch to a billpay plan anyway, would I be aswell off just to sign up to a plan with vodafone and get the phone at a reduced price rather than getting it from Apple at all?

depends on how much you will have to pay for the phone coupled with the monthly payment and what you get for it.

for example with vodafone for 45e you may get 150 mins, 150 texts and 500mb data where with meteor for 25e you get 200 mins, 200 texts and 1gb data, so it all depends on the price your willing to pay, plus the fact that the networks will tie tou into an 18 month contract.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Notorious97 wrote: »

What about if i go to New York and buy this in the Apple store there? It will be fully unlocked? I just then come home and strut into Vodafone and do as you mention above?

Croc wrote: »

No is the short answer see here

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055508399

Scroll to "Can't I just buy an unlocked phone?"
and
"Can I buy a phone in the US and use it over here?"

Hey all - can someone tell me (or point me in the right direction to the answer), as far as I know, only the phones bought online were tied to AT&T contracts, so if I go to an Apple shop, why would the phone not work for my Vodafone sim card?

I am thinking of buying a iphone 4 in NY next week so any information would be great!

Gumbo

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Hey all - can someone tell me (or point me in the right direction to the answer), as far as I know, only the phones bought online were tied to AT&T contracts, so if I go to an Apple shop, why would the phone not work for my Vodafone sim card?

I am thinking of buying a iphone 4 in NY next week so any information would be great!

please read the thread or do a search. about 769 threads are sterted every month asking "can i buy in the USA"

no you cant, when buying in an apple store they automatically sign you up to the 2 year contract with AT&T and as such require your social security number as well as all the other documents thats required when getting a bill phone, just like here, your asked for bills, ID and prrof of address.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

kceire wrote: »

please read the thread or do a search. about 769 threads are sterted every month asking "can i buy in the USA"

no you cant, when buying in an apple store they automatically sign you up to the 2 year contract with AT&T and as such require your social security number as well as all the other documents thats required when getting a bill phone, just like here, your asked for bills, ID and prrof of address.

Hey Kceire, sorry about dragging up the subject as it's obviously been done to death.
I did a small bit of googling which told me - you can buy the iPhone from an Apple store without a contract, but you can't get it online.
Also there is a huge amount of information in that thread but ironically the first post answered my question

Gumbo

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Hey Kceire, sorry about dragging up the subject as it's obviously been done to death.
I did a small bit of googling which told me - you can buy the iPhone from an Apple store without a contract, but you can't get it online.
Also there is a huge amount of information in that thread but ironically the first post answered my question

no probs, its a tongue in cheek comment anyway
whoever told you is wrong im afraid.

have a look at the apple.com site and it tells you what you need to bring with you to buy one in store.

Cherrycola

Im still at a loss of what to do.

Im in rented accommodation, so i dont have house insurance to put the iphone on. We looked into renters insurance but couldnt afford it at the time, but would they put an iphone on the policy anyway?

Also, if i go billpay, id like to stay with vodafone as most of the people i call and text are on vodafone, and i get free calls and texts at the moment, but obviously their 500mb data allowance for the lower plans is putting me off.

And i would worry about switching to 3 as i dont live in a major city so coverage could be an issue, and that HUGE thread thats running at the moment doesnt instill confidence!..even though i didnt get through the whole thing.

But Prepay with any of the providers seems to be a complete waste of time anyway, so ive pretty much ruled that out.

Someone help me make a decision, please....:o

guil

ya could get it prepay with vodafone and go on the 360 plan, 100mb per day for 39cent
that works out about 12/13 over the month

Cherrycola

guil wrote: »

ya could get it prepay with vodafone and go on the 360 plan, 100mb per day for 39cent
that works out about 12/13 over the month

Now, thats the sort of thing im thinking about, but can i get the phone direct from Apple and then do that 360 plan? Is that like a rolling 30day contract or something?

And what would anyone suggest with regards insurance?

Can you tell this will be my first iphone?? :D

guil

vodafone 360 is a prepay plan, no bills
ya could still buy it direct from apple and go with whatever network ya wish, not sure of the rest but i'm with o2 and all the sim only plas are generally a fiver cheaper than the 18 month ones
i dont think any of the networks offer insurance uness ya buy direct from them but i could be wrong, again with o2 it 12.99 per month for insurance on the iphone 4

sidewinderVX

On Vf Pay as you go, you can opt into Free Calls & Texts and Mobile Internet, just top up by €30 a month and you get Free VF to VF calls and texts and 250mb of data to use over the month.

You can buy the phone from Apple and just put your sim in it, or buy it for a 10er cheaper from VF, but it would be locked to VF (I'd buy from Apple for the sake of a 10 quid, handy to have an unlocked phone - although if you are topping up by €30/month you'll be able to get your unblocking code within 4 months, as you'll have topped up by €120 within 6 months, and you get the convenience of getting the handset from a store straight away)

Or your other option to stay off a Bill, go on Vodafone simply (€20/month) you get 200 mins/texts to any network and Free Vf to VF calls and Texts, then add a data bundle for 9.99/month, so your total per month would be around €30 and you'd only be on a 30 days rolling contract.
Again you can buy the phone from Apple or VF for this one.

You can't get insurance from VF on a prepay handset, but I think you can on Simply (not 100% sure on that though) and thats €9.99/month.

palm

Cherrycola wrote: »

Also, when i get a micro sim from my provider, will my old sim still work? (the iphone is a christmas gift, so i need the micro sim before christmas, but also need the other sim functional until i switch phones)

What I would do is get the micro sim. If it's O2 it can be used as standard sim until you want to press out the micro sim. Otherwise get a micro sim and use an adapter. The last thing you want on Xmas morning is to be looking for changeovers