duh! clearly my brain needs a spelling adapter. thanks, i've fixed it in the post. :)

Got $200 back ......sort of
 

I bought the smaller phone 16 days before the price drop.

Called Apple the morning after the announcement and was offered $200.

I suggested that, instead, I upgrade the phone to the larger and take $100 back from Apple. I was referred to the local Apple store.

They agreed to the deal except for the 10% restock fee for the open/used Iphone I was returning.

I netted the "larger" phone and $50 charged back to my credit card.

Free unlock is now out in the open...

Only took them 72 days. Poor Apple.

Haven't seen this mentioned here. It appears T-Mobile (Germany) will be the first carrier outside of US have the iPhone in November. It will have 3G capabilities with HSDPA and 16GB of storage. The advertised price is 499 euro or almost $700 usd at today's exchange rate.

http://www.electronista.com/articles...le.germany.ad/

That ad has been roundly debunked as a fake.

Why poor Apple? I think it is poor AT&T. Apple would probably now see more sales.
I am thinking of getting one to use with T-Mobile.

It has been widely reported that Apple gets a (considerable) cut of each iPhone subscription. The profits from that over 2 years are probably much greater than what they make on the iPhone itself.

Buying it and using it on a different provider means Apple doesn't get their share.

Probably true but they probably make a good enough margin on the HW sale alone.

If you look at how they configured the iPod Touch, keeping out things like email and calendaring applications out of the iPod Touch, looks like they're upselling to the iPhone.

So they may not mind if they get incremental sales to people who otherwise wouldn't have bought the iPhone if not for the unlock.

i am one of them
 

at 399 and free unlock, i couldnt resisst and have now ordered one for use as an ipod and if i am in gsm countries as a gsm device..

i think a lot people will now buy the iphone!

dp

My son has already found one available in Malta. Unlocked, 8Mb, for 120 Maltese Liri or about €280. He wants it really bad. I keep telling him that the price will continue to plummet but he wants to be the first kid in high school with one. He is currently selling his I-pod, Razr, and X-box to raise the money!

yeah
 

this 8mb iphone i wouldnt buy too, but if your son wants to be cool :)

let it be.

anyway 280euro sound ok to me ?

dp

They'll still make money off the HW sales if someone wants it to unlock, plus it is still an iPod so they'll also make money off sales of iTunes songs.

The only real loser here is AT&T. They have lost their exclusivity and only Apple can get it back for them.

Question is; will Apple really want to piss off thousands of customers by re-locking their phones?

Mooo....NOT
 

I will not be one of the cattle to buy this - yes, great concept, really cool, fantastic marketing. WAY too expensive. Besides, tried multi-phones (Thera, Samsung, SmartPhones), rarely used the non-phone stuff. So, got basic phone. Re: Cingulair - sucks. Also, until iPhone offers REAL capacity (20GB+++), not worth it. FYI, Wanted high capacity MP3 for my 800+ CDs, only ended up with 30GB iPod because got it for $100 from kid crazy enuf to pay full price, and sold 6 months later on craingslist at major loss. Got a bunch of albums on it to boot. Must say it is nice. Maybe if iPhone has capacity I will buy one from craigslist for $100.

280Euro = $388.20US as of today