Update: Click here to know where to buy factory unlocked iPhone 4 for cheap price
If you are in US, India, UK and other countries, when you buy an iPhone, Apple ties up the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS you are buying to a local telecom provider. But when you buy iPhone 3G through the Hong Kong Online Apple Store, you can officially and legally get a Factory unlocked iphone which you can use with any operator. Yeah, right! “ANY” operator.
iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS and connect to iTunes 8.2 to complete activation.
Because they’ve been unlocked at the factory, these iPhones can always be updated and they’re covered under standard Apple warranties.
This is because, in countries like Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia, it is illegal for Cell phone companies to mandate their customers to have a contract with any ONE service provider. So, if you ever touch down at Hong Kong airport or Australia or New Zealand for a holiday or business trip, don’t forget to grab a Factory unlocked iPhone 3GS from the local Apple Online Store.
The prices are not bad either. A 16GB legally unlocked iPhone 3GS will cost you around HK$ 5,388 i.e USD 695 (or 487 Euro), while a 32GB version would cost HK$ 6,288 i.e USD 812 (or 567 Euro).
Beside HK, I found that iPhone 3GS sold in NZ and Australia are also pretty cheap.
iPhone 3GS 16 GB:
New Zealand 1,150.00 NZD = 552.033 EUR = 788.202 USD
Australia 879.00 AUD, 491.287 EUR, 684.991 USD
iPhone 3GS 32 GB:
New Zealand 1,349.00 NZD, 920.172 USD, 647.422 EUR
Australia 1,040.00 AUD, 810.469 USD, 581.121 EUR
Visit the Apple online stores – New Zealand, Australia , Hong Kong
Raju PP is the founder-editor of Technically Personal, which is one of the most widely read technology blogs on the web. He holds an Engineering degree in Electronics & Communication, and has previously worked as a Technical Specialist in Banking Software domain.
Hello,
I look for iphone 3gs 32gb again with faktory unlocked.
When you make me a good price included shipping to Germany i buy 10 iphones.
please none only dealer prices.i continues to sell those iphones and with some salesmen is prices very highly.
then rather none offer.
Thanks for the Valuable news you gave me ,it helped a lot. One last question to be clarified . If i buy airtel Sim locked i phone 3Gs in India and take it to US after six months will it work there.
hi, i want to buy iphone 3GS 16GB. can i purchase it from UK. how much is the price in INR.
can u ship to India??
and how much the price for iphone 3gs unclocked white 16 Giga?
I need an unlocked 3GS iphone. Can anyone please help me. How much is 16gb in US dollars.
I need a 16GB 3gs….Pls mail me the details..
i live in chennai,India.
Hi Raju!
hey thnx for all da info u r providing . real useful. After going through ur comments i realised dat da cheapest option is to get a frnd in US 2 buy a iphone for 199 $ n den get contact premature termination done by paying fee. My question is
a) Can such a phone work with any network in India?
b) will i be able to take updates from the official iphone site in India?
c) after what period of time after buying da phone can my friend get da contract premature termination done?
d) should he register da phone in Us only or i can do it in India after receiving it?
Plz plz plz answer
Razz
Very cool info! as a matter of the fact my uncle lives in HK and I’ll be visiting in a month after I get my U.S passport. I’m gonna have to buy one 32gb for myself and 5 “3GS 16gb” for my friends in U.S, U.K and Germany. Thank you very much for the info.
If someone is sending a phone by a courier(FedEx/UPS/DHL .. whtevr) or something ,don’t ya guys think customs won’t catch it , I think its illegal to send a phone thru dese mediums, best way is to personally get it from some known person (this is wht i hv heard.. but you are the expert )
@ishaan,
that is what mentioned in the article
Hey
I read sumwhere on apple site or AT&T site that you can get a refurbished Iphone at a less price ? What are these refurbished phones ???
hi raju.
Hi,I’m looking for 3GS 16 GB ,can i ask my relatives in US to buy the unlocked one?Where do they unlock in US ? And wt is the price of that..??? plz help me
I live in US is there anywhere I can get an unlocked 3gs in this country, I hate contracts so I have avoided them for the last 5 years. But want the Iphone.
Hi Raju.
The factory unlocked version of the iPhone 3GS 16gb in about $900 in U.S. You can get it cheaper from Australia or HongKong about $695. If you just buy the ATT locked version and unlock it yourself, as soon as you connect it to iTunes it will get locked again to ATT. The new 3GS is very difficult to jailbreak specially if it’s your first time.
Benji
@ ishan,
The customs won’t bother catching one phone. But if you send 20 iPhones with FedEx or UPS, YES they with hold it until you pay them
hey raju, still awaiting ur reply 2 my querries…
@Razz,
a) Yes it will work.
b) Yes
c) I am not sure about this one.
d) Phone gets activated soon after buying from AT&T
WHAT IS THE PRICE FOR AN UNLOCKED IPHONE3GS
Hi Raju and Others,
My friend from US has purchased the Iphone 3gs 3.1.3 locked one.
As the phone is still unlcoked,Can we use Airtel Sim with the iphone 3gs which is locked in US ?
As Airtel is the provider for Iphone 3GS in india,can we use it with the locked iphone 3gs?
No Deepdj, it won’t work with Airtel or Vodafone
raju recently I got email which informed me about this site to buy cheap iphone? what do you think about this? is it fraud site that try to scam us? or we can trust it, because it offer really cheap iphone even compare to seller on ebay
hi guys : I would like to buy 1 Unlocked 3Gs iphones, 16 or 32GB black color, could you let me know if its posssible & how much in india? US dollar
I have a unlocked iPhone 32GB 3gs black,based in Dubai. If interested let me know.
hi,
i am going 2 nz nxt mnt i want 2 buy an iphone 3gs 32gb.
1 of my frnd bought an 3gs 4m Dubai bt whn he inserted AIRTEL sim in india it got network lock.
my qus is dat if i buy it from nz will i face the same problem as i am using AIRTEL connection
thanx
pls reply.
@Dev,
You must specifically ask for “Factory unlocked” iPhones before buying, which will work with any carrier in the world, including AIRTEL
can i get iphone 3gs from aus/hongkong/nz to india by cash on delivery
Noone thinks $700 bucks for a f-ing phone is crazy?
Hi Raju,
I bought an apple 3GS factory unlocked from australia when I was there in october 2009. It worked fine till now. One fine morning it started acting weird and showed the error 23 which I came to know from the research that it is a hardware problem. Now as I had bought it from australia the warranty does not apply in india. So i inquired at apple store australia and they said they will replace it so I send it thru DHL to one friend who is in australia to carry it to apple store. He took it there and they replaced it in no time and gave a new one.
Now when he went again to DHL to deliver it to me in india, they are denying that they can deliver the iphone outside australia.
I do not know why. Do have any idea? pls help
hi this is gurpreet…
i wanted to know that can i use iphone purchased from usa in india…i actually cam to know that purchasing iphone from usa is on contract basis. so how can i use it in india…. and i also wanted to know that is iphone 16 gb really cheap??? i came to know that its costing about us$199 .. it means if we convert it indian currency it will cost round about 10000. rs .. nd is it really true……..so can anyone help me….
Thanks, good advice. Many people have to hack iPhones to unlock them. And if there is a possibility to buy an oficially factory unlocked iPhone 3GS, then why not take it. Frankly speaking I didn`t know before that in these countries they sell unlocked iPhones. Well if I ever go anywhere there I will probably get one.
hi raju…
here you have given nice information regarding iphone…
I wanted to ask you… One of my relative is coming to india from us in 15, days… One of the apple store is offering iphone 3gs 16gb for 199 dollars locked with at&t… Then after buying you have to activate it through itunes and get on with at&t contract… I want to ask you can I bring the iphone without activating from there and then can I activate here in india…
do reply soon…
Thanks a lot for all the information…
No, you cannot do that. Best option is to activate it there and bring it here and jailbreak using Spirit or some other tool.
Hi raju, one clarification, if i buy factory unlock iphone from either Aus, HK or NZ and get it to india, after i put a vodafone sim and update it through i tunes, would the phone gets locked with vodafone or would it still be unlocked ?
By “factory unlock” it means you are free to choose ANY carrier ANYWHERE in the world (just like any other phone)
hey
i wanted a new unlocked cheap iphone(3g or 3gs) 8gb/16gb in dubai.if neone could help me out.thanx a lot.
Hi,
Can you help in providing info about getting Iphone 3G or 3GS from US with lowest Price and use it in india with any network.