3Gs in store purchase

[GreendogX7]

Can you walk into a store and pick up a 3GS without a contract yet?

The wife and I are going over to ATT in august with a family plan once our T-mobile contract ends. Since I have yet to find any info on getting 2 iphones at a discount with a 2 line family plan I was thinking that I might as well pick one up one now to play with on T-mobile.

any input about this and/or experiances of the fabled Iphone running on t-mobile would be greatly appreciated.

Thanky in advance.

 

[AVT]

The new 3GS cannot be jailbroken (and, thus, unlocked) yet. If you want one on T-Mobile you'd have to get one, pay for first month service, and then cancel your contract & pay ETF, provided there is a jailbreak and unlock by that time - as of now, there isn't.

IMO whether that is worth it depends on how much the difference in pricing would cost AT&T vs T-Mobile.

 

[leezard]

the price without a contract is I believe something rediculous like $599 and $699, there currently is no software unlock for the 3GS

 

[Torq]

AVT and leezard are entirely correct.

On top of which, OS 3.0 is newly released. Given the rate of improvement seen in the OS 3.0 betas (I am, among other things, an iPhone developer) I expect a couple of point releases in fairly short order.

That will be a PITA for a jail-broken phone, as each update breaks the software unlock.

Either wait for your move to AT&T or wait until OS 3.1 to try it on T-Mobile.

 

[GreendogX7]

Thanky for the reminders on the 3.0 updates, but what about the instore avaliability sans contract?

 

[AVT]

Thanky for the reminders on the 3.0 updates, but what about the instore avaliability sans contract?

No such thing in the US. The only way to get one without ever signing a contract is through something like eBay.

edit: to my knowledge, at least.

 

[speedy523]

Thanky for the reminders on the 3.0 updates, but what about the instore avaliability sans contract?

I dont think you can just walk into the store and buy the phone without contract if you're not on at&t, but if you have a friend or family member on at&t they can buy the phones for you at $499 (8GB 3G), $599 (16GB 3GS), or $699 (32GB 3GS).

Even if you did that, as others said the 3GS would be useless as it hasnt been jailbroken or unlocked yet, but you could buy 3Gs and unlock them for use on T-Mobile when the unlock is released in coming days/weeks. Only thing is that firmware updates break it, so you wont be able to upgrade the firmware as they are released, but you'll still have a 3G on 3.0 with T-Mobile.

No such thing in the US. The only way to get one without ever signing a contract is through something like eBay.

Actually, you can, but like they did with the 3G, you need to already be on, or know someone on AT&T, unlike the original where you just walk in and buy it.

From Apple's Site: "For those who are not eligible for an early upgrade or who wish to buy iPhone as a gift, the prices are $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)."

 

[Torq]

Go to an Apple store, not AT&T, and if they have stock it is $599 for 16 Gb and $699 for 32Gb off contract. AT&T have nothing to gain selling you an off-contract device.

If you are ~90 days from switching carriers you can sign up a 2 year contract with AT&T, keep the phone for a month, then ETF out of your contract and save about $100 overall.

Just bear in mind you cannot sign up again for 90 days without losing that saving.