Poll: You Going to Buy an Unlocked iPhone 4 in Canada?

By Gary Ng on June 15th, 2010 174

Last night the Apple Store went down and when it came back up–some changes occurred (aside from a refreshed Mac Mini). We read about how the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 will now be sold UNLOCKED from Apple when you buy them outright. Once again, the wording goes as follows:

When you purchase your iPhone from the Apple Online Store, you’ll get it commitment-free. So you can sign up for service with the carrier of your choice and change your carrier at any time.

It works internationally.
Because this iPhone is commitment-free, you can purchase a micro-SIM or SIM card and service from a local carrier at your destination. Or check with your home carrier regarding international roaming charges.

Canadians: The Shackles Have Come Loose

This is news is huge for Canadians. No longer will we be forced to use carrier locked phones to Rogers, Telus and Bell. Previously, getting an unlocked GSM phone meant paying full price for an out of country phone, or paying extra to get it unlocked from the ‘Big 3′ (if they even acknowledged you).

The reason for Apple’s change to factory unlocked units? I place it solely on the Google Nexus One being sold factory unlocked during its launch and the fact Apple sold the iPad 3G unlocked. These two events hinted that Apple would sell their iPhones unlocked. Many predicted Apple would match Google (including myself) and this makes travelling now with an iPhone truly a dream.

Previously, the only countries where iPhones were sold unlocked were Hong Kong and Italy. Now, you can include Canada, the UK and France to that list. Oh, and our American friends? Doesn’t look like they are included in the exclusive “unlocked” club just yet.

Poll: Will You Pay Full Price for an Unlocked iPhone 4 in Canada?

The iPhone 3GS is being sold unlocked for $549. We can assume from this price the iPhone 4 will be sold outright for $649/749 for the 16GB/32GB models. This is a small price to pay for freedom. What will you do?


Founder and Editor-in-Chief of iPhoneinCanada.ca. Follow @iPhoneinCanada and on Google+. Click here to save 20% OFF at ZAGG.com with coupon 'iphoneinca'!

Did you like the post?

Related Posts

Recent Posts

← Older Comments
  • jonpoeschek

    I would agree with you Gary, but aggressive promos usually involve signing some term commitment of at least a year. Think of the Rogers student deals… they usually require a 3 year contract.

  • jonpoeschek

    If Apple had a better defense for jailbreaking, i think we would have seen it in the iPad. Since it would be expensive and risky (security wise) to create new bootrom code for each new phone, I would expect that any exploits the dev team has saved away will work immediately when the new iPhone is released.

  • Xaroc

    Time will tell.

  • jonpoeschek

    I would agree with you Gary, but aggressive promos usually involve signing some term commitment of at least a year. Think of the Rogers student deals… they usually require a 3 year contract.

  • jonpoeschek

    If Apple had a better defense for jailbreaking, i think we would have seen it in the iPad. Since it would be expensive and risky (security wise) to create new bootrom code for each new phone, I would expect that any exploits the dev team has saved away will work immediately when the new iPhone is released.

  • Xaroc

    Time will tell.

  • Justcharlie

    how can I order some new iphones from canada if I'm outside of the country? I'm in Asia but myself and my coworkers want to buy a bunch. Alltogether, we'd like to get about ten if that's possible. Anyone have any suggestions on how that can be accomplished from overseas?

  • Pingback: redsn0w 09.5b5-3 iOS 4.0 Jailbreak for iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 2G Released | iPhone in Canada Blog - Tips, Tricks, News, and Tutorials for Canadian iPhone Users

  • Rogers

    The 2 advantages of buying the phone is that, first you get the liberty to jump from carrier to carrier depending on which offers the best promotion or plan and second, you can travel freely without those outrageous roaming charges by purchasing a local sim.

  • Rogers

    Canadian cell companies have abused its customer base ever since the cell phone appeared, its time to get our collective asses out of the dirt and show them we don't like to be stuck in long term contracts at high prices compared to other civilized countries. And their excuse concerning expensive infrastructures versus customer base is a corporate lie they happily share to subdue us all and increase their profit margin and EPS.

    But then again, since they control the signal, they can still charge the same monthly price whether you buy the phone with them or not. This is stealing people legally :)

  • Darren

    Well you also have to consider the cost to cancel your plan. If it's only $XXX to cancel, then you may as well get the rebate by locking your contact and take the risk you may have to pay that $XXX back one day IF you cancel your plan, either way, you pay for the phone.

  • Darren

    you can get several hundred bucks for selling your phone because other people under a contact already and lost their phone don't want to pay $499 for a new one.

  • lammann

    I checked the Apple website and the 8GB sells for $549. Telus's price is the same for no contract. One has to assume that the iPhone 4 will follow suite.

  • Guest

    Amen to that!

  • Sam

    Hi, I'm a teenager with wifi availability at home and at school. I have a Fido contract until next year and planning to get an Iphone 4 from the Apple store so I don't have to pay for data plans because I got free wifi already. Would data plans benefit me? I''m in school for 10 months, so, whats the point?

    Any suggestions? Please and thank you.

  •  Xaroc

    Well that depends on you. Do you want Internet outside of home and
    school or not? Are you likely to use it a lot when your cruising
    around on the weekend. Just depends on your life style.

  • Sam

    Well, I would use it if I had it. But if not, I'm fine without it. What option would I save more?

  •  Xaroc

    I would say go without it to save money. If you find yourself iching
    to use your new iPhone outside of home (and you will) you can always
    add it later right? Weigh your options and likely hood of use.

  • Sam

    Yeah, I thought of that too. But if I do that, wouldn't I pay more? 600/700+ for the unlocked phone plus the mpnthly data plan? (30/month)

  •  Xaroc

    Yes, with data it's going to be least 60+ tax unless you get your
    hands on a special plan that's given to you outside of the offered
    packages (normally to make you happy when shit hits the fan) 2nd
    question spending all that money for an unlocked phone, do you NEED it
    to be unlocked? I only ask because me personally would be cool to
    have one, but in reality I never leave Canada, so I would get zero use
    from that. Lots hate it, but you can always go on contract for
    cheaper (often give you better deals if your a first time signer, and
    willing to fight) or already have a smartphone and take advantage of
    the upgrade policy that will most likely take place. There is many
    ways to go at this.

  • Sam

    For some reason, I can't reply to your post. So anyway, basically all I want is the iphone. No data plans. ( id go for it if in the long run was cheaper) Unlocked or locked. The only reason im going for the unlocked one is because it's much cheaper, for now. Id go out of the country maybe twice in 3 years. But thats it..

  • http://www.inkatechnology.co.uk iPhone Developers

    iPhone 4 is already available in UK since 24th June itself and that too Sim-Free. What is the point of getting it from another retailer and spending all your time to Unlock it?
    Is there a way of buying it from UK and Importing to US?
    Please let me know.

  • cece

    I was told by Apple that they only carriers that i can use the iphone 4 is with Telus, Bell, rogers, and AtandT. Why is that? I thought since the phone is unlocked i can use it with any cell phone provider.

  • cece

    Oh i should mention this non of the customer service new what they were talking about. i got 50 different answers to one stupid question. Honestly, my dad got pissed at me for giving him different answers. Argh he just had to live in the States.

← Older Comments