fineleg Posted August 8, 2012 Posted August 8, 2012 Person living in India, wants an iPhone. Is it better to buy in India itself or since he is currently visiting USA - can he buy in US, and then make it work in India? Any pros/cons (price difference, technology/cell phone carriers...)
Cricketics Posted August 8, 2012 Posted August 8, 2012 A factory unlocked Iphone from apple store is still few thousands cheaper in rupees if you buy from USA. So Yes, buy in USA.
Raghav_12 Posted August 8, 2012 Posted August 8, 2012 I had got an iPhone for someone in India from one apple store in US. I had taken it without any contract and was told by apple store staff that it should work in India without any issues, but it didn't. I eventually got it unlocked in India through small piece of hardware on top of slot of regular sim. It did cost me 1200 rs. If price differential is not huge, i would recommend buying it from India only.
nospam Posted August 8, 2012 Posted August 8, 2012 I had got an iPhone for someone in India from one apple store in US. I had taken it without any contract and was told by apple store staff that it should work in India without any issues' date=' but it didn't. I eventually got it unlocked in India through small piece of hardware on top of slot of regular sim. It did cost me 1200 rs. If price differential is not huge, i would recommend buying it from India only.[/quote'] Did you buy it before November 2011? Apple started selling "unlocked" iPhones 4s after November 11th 2011 and June 2011 for iPhone 4.
Raghav_12 Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 Did you buy it before November 2011? Apple started selling "unlocked" iPhones 4s after November 11th 2011 and June 2011 for iPhone 4. Yes, I bought it April 2011..
Crookbond Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 Person living in India, wants an iPhone. Is it better to buy in India itself or since he is currently visiting USA - can he buy in US, and then make it work in India? Any pros/cons (price difference, technology/cell phone carriers...) Disclaimer - I own an iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro Here are few things which you should know - [1] In US there are two types of phones sold - locked and unlocked. The locked phones are valid for a contract period and are "locked" to a certain carrier. So, if it's locked to AT &T you can't use it with Verizon. In India's terms, if it is locked to Airtel you can't use it on Vodafone or any other network. The unlocked phones don't come with a contract and can be used on any carrier. [2] The price of a locked phone is significantly cheaper than an unlocked phone for obvious reasons. For example, iPhone 4S 16GB (locked) will be priced around 199USD while the unlocked version is priced around 600 USD. [3] In the US, in addition to the price of the phone you see on the website you need to pay some taxes which are different in different regions. You may have to pay more tax if you buy your phone from Alabama than if you do in West Virginia [4] The price of the phone to buy in person is slightly higher than that if you buy online i.e. if you buy the phone from the Apple Store physically you will shell more than if you order from the Apple website. [5] To buy a locked phone, you need a Social Security Number (SSN). If you break the contract there are some penalties. However, lost and stolen phones don't attract penalties. So people usually lie about these phones and bring them here. [6] You don't need to pay anyone to unlock (technically termed jailbreak) your iPhone. I have jailbreaked my iPad and my friends's iPhone. You can jailbreak at home in a matter of few clicks. [7] The price of an iPhone as of today in the US is not significantly different than it in India due to the exchange rate. You haven't mentioned your model/color/size - if you can I will tell you the cheapest deal in India. You can then compare it to the US. [8] The warranty of the iPhone (and all iOS devices) is global if you buy unlocked phones. So, phones bought in the US can be serviced in India. There are certain countries that this fails for but in the current discussion it is irrelevant. [9] The warranty of an iPhone is for just 1 year. You can extend this for 2 years (total 3 years) by buying an Apple Care warranty. You should NOT get this from the US or online if you plan to. Buy it in India as this will be cheaper for you. [10] iPhone works on a micro SIM which is different than the normal SIM card we use in India. Some mobile carriers don't provide a micro SIM, so you may have to "cut" the SIM to make it micro SIM. This shouldn't be difficult - there are plenty of YouTube videos explaining the procedure. I hope this answers your queries. If you have any more questions to decide on an iPhone drop me a PM. I can help you get the best deal.
Desi Cartman Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 The iPhone that I brought from Aus didnt work here as it was GSM and there is only T mobile which has a GSM network here. I can see that my iPhone 4s has a sim slot too but im not sure how well it will work in India. Also remember that the taxes that they charge are always on full price (around 6-800 dollars) not on the discounted price of say 199. So even if you buy discounted phone for 199 , incl taxes in California it will cost you around 280
Crookbond Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 The iPhone that I brought from Aus didnt work here as it was GSM and there is only T mobile which has a GSM network here. I can see that my iPhone 4s has a sim slot too but im not sure how well it will work in India. Also remember that the taxes that they charge are always on full price (around 6-800 dollars) not on the discounted price of say 199. So even if you buy discounted phone for 199 , incl taxes in California it will cost you around 280 Correct me if I'm wrong but IPhone 4S and future versions will support both GSM and CDMA - no separate phones AFAIK.
nospam Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 The iPhone that I brought from Aus didnt work here as it was GSM and there is only T mobile which has a GSM network here. I can see that my iPhone 4s has a sim slot too but im not sure how well it will work in India. Also remember that the taxes that they charge are always on full price (around 6-800 dollars) not on the discounted price of say 199. So even if you buy discounted phone for 199 , incl taxes in California it will cost you around 280 At&t is GSM as well. Sprint and Verizon are the major CDMA carriers.
suraj Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 Disclaimer - I own an iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro Here are few things which you should know - [1] In US there are two types of phones sold - locked and unlocked. The locked phones are valid for a contract period and are "locked" to a certain carrier. So, if it's locked to AT &T you can't use it with Verizon. In India's terms, if it is locked to Airtel you can't use it on Vodafone or any other network. The unlocked phones don't come with a contract and can be used on any carrier. [2] The price of a locked phone is significantly cheaper than an unlocked phone for obvious reasons. For example, iPhone 4S 16GB (locked) will be priced around 199USD while the unlocked version is priced around 600 USD. [3] In the US, in addition to the price of the phone you see on the website you need to pay some taxes which are different in different regions. You may have to pay more tax if you buy your phone from Alabama than if you do in West Virginia [4] The price of the phone to buy in person is slightly higher than that if you buy online i.e. if you buy the phone from the Apple Store physically you will shell more than if you order from the Apple website. [5] To buy a locked phone, you need a Social Security Number (SSN). If you break the contract there are some penalties. However, lost and stolen phones don't attract penalties. So people usually lie about these phones and bring them here. [6] You don't need to pay anyone to unlock (technically termed jailbreak) your iPhone. I have jailbreaked my iPad and my friends's iPhone. You can jailbreak at home in a matter of few clicks. [7] The price of an iPhone as of today in the US is not significantly different than it in India due to the exchange rate. You haven't mentioned your model/color/size - if you can I will tell you the cheapest deal in India. You can then compare it to the US. [8] The warranty of the iPhone (and all iOS devices) is global if you buy unlocked phones. So, phones bought in the US can be serviced in India. There are certain countries that this fails for but in the current discussion it is irrelevant. [9] The warranty of an iPhone is for just 1 year. You can extend this for 2 years (total 3 years) by buying an Apple Care warranty. You should NOT get this from the US or online if you plan to. Buy it in India as this will be cheaper for you. [10] iPhone works on a micro SIM which is different than the normal SIM card we use in India. Some mobile carriers don't provide a micro SIM, so you may have to "cut" the SIM to make it micro SIM. This shouldn't be difficult - there are plenty of YouTube videos explaining the procedure. I hope this answers your queries. If you have any more questions to decide on an iPhone drop me a PM. I can help you get the best deal. Wow!!! Very informative !!!- When I went to India I explored and it was much more expensive in India
Nova Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 @ Dexter Morgan Yeah very informative post. :hatsoff:
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