Buying an iPhone 5S in USA

Hello - we're heading to Tampa a month today ^) and I am thinking of purchasing an iPhone 5S when I am over there as I believe they are cheaper?

It would be from the Apple shop, so I assume fully unlocked. I'm currently with O2 on a cheap SIM-only deal.

Just wondering if any one else has done this and would they have any pointers/advice?

Hi yes I bought a 5c it works out much cheaper even with the tax. You just get one that is unlocked then go to the O2 shop when you get back to the uk and they give you a new sim. I think the 5s worked out about $685 with tax

best buy as at today have
5s 32g at $299+
5s 64g at $399+
16g at 199+

that's all with people like Verizon and sprint
unlocked ones are over 800 !!

at walmart prepaids start at $649+ tax

[mitchja]

Do remember though the US iPhones have slightly different 4G/LTE bands to UK ones.

The US version, whilst having band 3 (1800Mhz - will work on EE and Three UK 4G) and band 20 (800Mhz DD - will work on all UK 4G networks), does not have band 7 (2600Mhz).

Whilst 2600Mhz is not in general use yet here, most of the UK networks, excluding O2 have a licence to use this band. The 2600Mhz band is a high bandwidth, low coverage 4G band which will likely be used where there's a lot of people in a small area. Places like concert venues and shopping centres etc.

See http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ for more details

Do remember though the US iPhones have slightly different 4G/LTE bands to UK ones.

The US version, whilst having band 3 (1800Mhz - will work on EE and Three UK 4G) and band 20 (800Mhz DD - will work on all UK 4G networks), does not have band 7 (2600Mhz).

Whilst 2600Mhz is not in general use yet here, most of the UK networks, excluding O2 have a licence to use this band. The 2600Mhz band is a high bandwidth, low coverage 4G band which will likely be used where there's a lot of people in a small area. Places like concert venues and shopping centres etc.

See http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ for more details

I'm unlikely to upgrade to 4G within the next couple of years, so would this affect me at all?

[mitchja]

No, it won't make any difference if you are not using 4G (and even if you do, it will still work for now).

One thing you might want to look into though is the warranty situation. Whilst all other Apple products come with a worldwide warranty, iPhones never used to. Not sure if this is any different now though sorry?

Would you have to pay any tax at customs on your return?

Would you have to pay any tax at customs on your return?

Of course


if you declare it :w

Thanks for the replies folks.

In short it looks like provided I don't worry about 4G then I should be fine.

Saving over the UK price seems to be ~£50 or so?

Just reviving this thread as my folks are in the US at the moment and will buy a 5S on my behalf.

I will now definitely be using 4G as the sim-only plans look pretty good.

Should I be concerned about the US version missing band 7/2600MHz? Will it make any difference to my user experience on a day-to-day basis? If so I might forego the saving and buy in the UK.

[mitchja]

So far only EE have said they are rolling out band 7 (2600Mhz) and even then it's not officially launched yet. Will be available in London in a couple of months as they plan to launch LTE-A starting in London shortly.

Not having that band shouldn't have any impact though as EE also use band 3 for standard 4G/LTE. Three also use band 3. O2 and Vodafone are using band 20.

No idea if Vodafone plan on rolling out band 7 LTE as they do have some band 7 spectrum to use?

O2 and Three have no band 7 4G spectrum to use as it stands now anyway.

One thing to be wary of though is I'm sure I read somewhere that Apple have now updated their iPhone activation policy only allowing iPhones to be activated in the region they where purchased. US purchased iPhones have to be now activated in the US region and will not activate in other regions?

You may want to confirm this directly with Apple.

Would you have to pay any tax at customs on your return?

No duty on phones.
but 20% VAT is payable. (if value > your personal allowance of £390)

So that should factor into your calculations.

best buy as at today have
5s 32g at $299+
5s 64g at $399+
16g at 199+

that's all with people like Verizon and sprint
unlocked ones are over 800 !!

at walmart prepaids start at $649+ tax

Any idea of the ease of unlocking those? Do you need to sign a contract? Provide an address?

You would need to go to an Apple Store, and buy an Unlocked Phone. You can also just buy it from their site, and ship it to your hotel, etc.

The phones are GSM compatible, and as long as your UK carrier supports LTE, you should have no problems.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BUY A SUBSIDIZED PHONE FROM AT&T, VERIZON, ETC. You will not be able to unlock the phones, and you'll have wasted your money.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BUY A SUBSIDIZED PHONE FROM AT&T, VERIZON, ETC. You will not be able to unlock the phones, and you'll have wasted your money.

This is not entirely true. Verizon's iPhones have been unlocked since at least the 5 (possibly 4s). When I go over to the UK, I take out the SIM and put in a PAYG sim from whoever I want. Works like a charm.

Granted, the cost of locking yourself into a 2 year agreement just to subsidize your phone is silly, seeing as though you don't live in the US.

You'd need an American Address, credit card, and credit check to qualify for subsidized pricing. So, a subsidized phone is obviously off the table for foreign nationals visiting.

Plus the cost of US contracts is super-high...

The 2 year cost of ownership is much higher than the unlocked phone-only cost. But US buyers are so used to the system, that they really do think an iPhone costs $199.

It's so true. You can save over $1000 over a two year contract by buying an unlocked iPhone, then using an unlimited plan from one of the carriers, such as T Mobile. But the average person is not forward thinking, and doesn't extrapolate the total cost of ownership. They just analyze things from a "can I afford this monthly fee" perspective.

I bought an IPhone 4S last year (or the year before) from L.A. The guys in the apple store confirmed that the warranty was world wide, I saved myself a packet by purchasing it in the U.S even with it being unlocked and it's been great, no problems at all.

[Darren Wheeler]

Apple's policy on warranty claims for iPhone and iPads purchased in US:
http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/pro ... glish.html

Reading around this effectively means that an iPhone repair will only be done in the US and iPads with cellular connection are the same. Wi-Fi only iPads can be done anywhere. This is because of the differences in mobile frequencies around the world.

All other Apple devices such as Macbooks have an international warranty.

Thanks folks. Having weighed up the risks I've decided to buy in the uk.