# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Tech Talk >  >  American Iphone in Australia

## GySi

Hey guys, so I was thinking about purchasing an Iphone, and here in Australia they start at about $700 (about 550 USD). With the upcoming launch of the new Iphone, the current model will apparently have it's price dropped (in America) to about $99 US (120ish AUD). http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/ (Bottom of page has some prices).  

I can't find any info as of yet if they will be dropping the price in Australia but either way I think buying from American will probably be cheaper.  

And with my uncle coming over for a visit from the states in the next few months I was going to ask him to bring one. 

Unlocking it shouldn't be too much trouble, but I'm having some difficulties finding information as to whether an Iphone from America is compatible with the services we have here in Australia. 

Any info would be appreciated.

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## Keresztanya

It's $99 with a 2-year contract with AT&T, so it's not as cheap as it sounds.

I would think that jailbreaking it would disregard the region, but I don't know because I don't have an iPhone.

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## GySi

> It's $99 with a 2-year contract with AT&T, so it's not as cheap as it sounds.
> 
> I would think that jailbreaking it would disregard the region, but I don't know because I don't have an iPhone.



I'm not fully aware with how it works in America in terms of packages and deals. In Australia we have two systems.

Plan - Where you buy a phone (very cheaply), or in a lot of cases given the phone for free, and pay a set amount every month for a set term. Usually 2 years, depends how much you pay a month.

Pre-paid - You buy the phone for r.r.p, either with a provider or outright. If you buy the phone with a provider (I think) the phone is locked and you must use the sim card from the provider and therefore use their credit which you can buy as much or as little as you like. 

Buying the phone outright means it's yours and not locked to anyone. You can put any sim card in you like and the phone will work.

The 99.00 US AT&T plan just looked like you buy the phone for 99.00 (plus 36 start up fee) and then...??? I can't find info if you buy credits, minutes, or a just billed a certain amount per month. Which is why I assumed it would just be a similar pre-paid option we have here and therefore wouldn't cost me any more than the initial 136ish. 

Correct me if I'm wrong haha, so lost.

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## Keresztanya

It means you buy the phone and 2 years worth of plans and packages, and you're stuck with AT&T for the next 2 years, unless you pay to end it early. The iPhone is 100 dollars for the phone, but you have to pay quite a bit extra for the contract, although I'm not sure how much. Also, can you get AT&T service where you live? If not, it might not be worth it to buy one, you could look at other smartphones that are sold in your country.

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## Exhalent

Maybe you could just get one off of ebay real cheap and jailbreak it yourself. And you can use a plan other than AT&T, DemonParasite (unlocking and jailbreaking are different. Unlocking means you can use a SIM card from another service). Unlocking iPhones are not that difficult and if you have a cell phone provider that uses a SIM card it is easy, obviously. 

GySi, this link may be of some use to you: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/20...ed-to-know.ars 

I myself do not know much of the topic but I think you could get an Iphone for very cheap, unlock and jailbreak it and be all ready to go.

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## GySi

> It means you buy the phone and 2 years worth of plans and packages, and you're stuck with AT&T for the next 2 years, unless you pay to end it early. The iPhone is 100 dollars for the phone, but you have to pay quite a bit extra for the contract, although I'm not sure how much. Also, can you get AT&T service where you live? If not, it might not be worth it to buy one, you could look at other smartphones that are sold in your country.



We don't have AT&T in Australia, the idea was to buy the phone cheap and unlock it so I can use my Aussie sim card instead  ::D:  . I can't find anywhere what the other charges would be included in the 2 years, there are no details of various monthly charges etc which is why I'm confused.

Exhalent that is a great link, thank you. I wasn't really sure what the different between the terms were, and that's cleared it up. My ultimate question was, assuming it's unlocked, will it work in Australia and going by that site, yet it should.

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