iPhone 4 for Canada gets unlocked price: freedom is far from free

Sure, we in the US are pretty much stuck with AT&T when it comes to iPhone 4 indulgence, but Canada gets to pick -- for a price. We knew the of the option up north but not how much, and according to CBC News, that'll be $659 for 16GB, $779 for 32GB, and $549 for the 8GB iPhone 3GS. All Canadian dollars, of course -- the US conversion would be about $637 / $753 / $530, respectively. Carriers are still offering it up for a discount on contract, and to be perfectly honest, we think that's probably the route most people will take anyway. All the same, gotta love having a choice.

[Neotyguy40 Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:27AM]

Why do the Canadians get all the good thi-

Ohh wait...

Well it's about time though.

[kapanak Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:29AM]

@Neotyguy40

We get it for the same price as AT&T customers from carriers like Telus and Bell, HOWEVER, our contracts are THREE FREAKING YEARS!!!!

[coolbreeze Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:45AM]

@kapanak

lolumad at rape price!

[A Brown Kid Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:45AM]

@Neotyguy40
f'n rogers, and the big three, haven't announced prices officially themselves yet! and it's supposed to launch friday? wtf?

[kapanak Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:50AM]

@coolbreeze

Here is what I am wondering though. What is stopping me from driving down the border and buying an iPhone out of contract from AT&T and unlocking it afterwards?

I mean, after dev-team releases their magic.

[Mike10010100 Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:51AM]

@Neotyguy40

Wow. Would you look at that markup. Just goes to show how much of a kickback the phone makers get from the phone companies. And considering that the iPhone only costs a couple hundred bucks on contract...sheesh.

[bitcloudrzr Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:58AM]

@Mike10010100 I'd rather hurt now then hurt for 3 years.

[Psyclotr0n Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:01AM]

@bitcloudrzr
so either way, it's just a bag of hurt, eh?

[bitcloudrzr Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:03AM]

@Psyclotr0n Honestly, I'm glad Apple is offering this unlocked. It's not just about the contracts because the phones off contracts are still locked. Apple's store has this advantage.

[keyrol Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:04AM]

@Neotyguy40 yeah, it "seems" like a lot of money to pay upfront - but unlocked! no contract! quite possibly worth it.

[Plazmic Flame Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:05AM]

@Neotyguy40

But why in the hell are the prices more than the US dollar when the Canadian and US dollars are the same??

[Mike10010100 Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:05AM]

@bitcloudrzr

And that's exactly the problem. Phone manufacturers and carriers are getting too used to the idea of phone subsidies. It poisons the market and makes everyone sign up for 2 (or 3 *shudder*) year contracts.

[bitcloudrzr Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:10AM]

@Mike10010100 If I didn't negotiate so much with my carrier, I would have bought the unlocked iPhone 4 at 16gb. 3 year contracts plus starting plans for us are just stupid. I mean $20 for 500mb stupid.

[steed Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:19AM]

@kapanak
damn three years!!! I hate my 2 year contract!!!

[jhart2509 Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:57AM]

@coolbreeze
Dude, are you kidding me, over here in Australia, to get the iPhone outright costs $1000 AUD that roughly $900 US!!! if i could get an iphone outright and unlocked for 700USD i would fly myself to america and buy one... (obviously i wouldn't just to get the phone as that would cost more :P but if i was on holiday there soon i would just wait)

[bitcloudrzr Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:59AM]

@jhart2509 Want me to send you one?

[Kenny Fn Powers Posted Jul 27th 2010 3:07AM]

@Neotyguy40

What's this abooooot?

[Lundmark Posted Jul 27th 2010 3:08AM]

@bitcloudrzr
Just curious. Why would you wanna get it unlocked without a contract? To use Pre-paid? For travelling? Because without a contract the phone isn't of much use and you often get a way better price if you sign up for one, at least in Europe.

[abedinthehouse Posted Jul 27th 2010 3:10AM]

@Neotyguy40
hahah Ive already bought like 10 of these from canada and sold it in the US for 1150. Its great to have connections
[=

[bitcloudrzr Posted Jul 27th 2010 3:24AM]

@Lundmark First let me tell you the starting price for iPhone plans here on Rogers(the others are about the same).
For $50 we get 150 minutes+50 bonus minutes, 500mb data, free evenings and weekends after 9 and we can choose one of these magical features:
UNLIMITED Sent & Received Messages (Text/Picture/Video)
OR
UNLIMITED MY5 Canada-Wide (Talk/Text/Picture Messaging/Video Messaging)
OR
UNLIMITED Local Calling to/from Rogers Wireless, Rogers Home Phone or Fido® customers5
OR
Double Your Minutes (Equals 300+50)

If I was not able to negotiate a really good plan, I would have bought a phone unlocked and shopped for who would give me the better deal. Locking into a contract for a year or 2 isn't so bad when it's on your own terms.

[onomatopoeia Posted Jul 27th 2010 4:08AM]

@Darkroom
Funny thing is that WIND is the only telecom company that does offer unlimited data and iPhone4 does not support the cellular band. A good alternative is to get a N900 or N1 and head to WIND where they don't have contracts at all.

[bitcloudrzr Posted Jul 27th 2010 4:48AM]

@onomatopoeia Buying an iPhone 4 from the Apple Store is basically the same thing, except you can bargain with R, B, T and F for good deals. When they aren't providing the phone, it's much easier to get a good plan and really easy if you're threatening to drop them when a contract is up.

[travisonfire Posted Jul 27th 2010 5:16AM]

why would anybody buy 700$ defective phone in the first place?

[nooruls143 Posted Jul 27th 2010 7:06AM]

@Neotyguy40
The woman in the picture looks freaky and hipster

[Trek300 Posted Jul 27th 2010 8:11AM]

@Androidsugly

Oh brother, go back to the projects you mailroom worker.

[That guy 2 Posted Jul 27th 2010 8:29AM]

@Plazmic Flame Us and Canada dollars are just barely different, but the scale (1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and cents) is the same, and everything is called the same, and they are both valid in both countries, but look a bit different

[LeJay Posted Jul 27th 2010 11:36AM]

@Lundmark
Maybe you're not sure which country you're in for the next 3 years?

[doc69 Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:51PM]

@kapanak We get it for the same price as AT&T customers from carriers like Telus and Bell, HOWEVER, our contracts are THREE FREAKING YEARS!!!!

But, do you get a free "Bumper"??? That is the question........... :)

[Otsegowupiwupi Posted Jul 27th 2010 3:47PM]

@Neotyguy40 These are completely average prices for a smartphone. Yet the Dell Streak for $499 was laughed at on engadget comments for costing so much unlocked.

[Neil Anderson Posted Jul 27th 2010 7:30PM]

So I finally figured out how Apple is paying for all those free bumpers.

[SmokemeaKipper Posted Jul 27th 2010 8:05PM]

@kapanak

And features like call display, or voicemail or visual-voice mail, or texting/picture messages are all EXTRAS - except when you get the top tier package.

[Funkyfreshh Posted Jul 27th 2010 11:18PM]

@Neotyguy40 The choice between buying a $800 phone and signing a THREE YEAR contract isn't a tough choice at all. Just save your money.

[abedinthehouse Posted Jul 28th 2010 12:46AM]

@pple is poo
Whither or not it works here in the US says nothing about my connections. I am still able to to buy and sell them for a huge profit, my customers know what they are buying and do it willingly.

[ZeroCorpse Posted Jul 28th 2010 12:38PM]

Come on Canada! Come get your overpriced, defective, overrated telephone! It will only cost you half as much as a the newest iMac!

[engadgetcomexcludeengadget Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:27AM]

Wow, that exchange rate sure has come down.

[rchives Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:10AM]

@engadgetcomexcludeengadget

Freedom cost a buck o' five.

[iKid Posted Jul 27th 2010 2:34AM]

@engadgetcomexcludeengadget Yeh even considering the exchange rate here in AU, it's still around $280 cheaper than buying it outright. Apple, in a press release, announced the 16GB model to be $859. It's bad enough that we always get the latest tech 3 months later; we also have to fork out nearly double.

[Joseph9307 Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:27AM]

Word up to Canada, yo.


(lolwtf)

[kapanak Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:28AM]

Holy shit at those prices...WTF?!!

[Bahumbug Posted Jul 27th 2010 4:14AM]

@kapanak Yea, thats cheap! Or did you mean its expensive? Hah! Come over to europe and see what expensive unlocked iphones means...

[Zylam Posted Jul 27th 2010 4:19AM]

@kapanak

WHAT THE F.K this is NOT EXPENSIVE. Read Bellow

If you think $637 US dollars is expensive than prepair to die with the following; Here in AUS currently the iPhone 3GS is 800 Aus Dollar which is about 721 US dollars and the Nexus is the same, most of the latest crop of phones is slightly less.

The iPhone 4 just got priced at 859 and 999 Aus dollars which is 774 and 900 US dollars and the best part, on our Aus ebay the per order for Aus stock 16GB was 1300 Aus which is 1 172 US dollars.

Trust me, i am calling someone in canada rite now to send me a freakin 16GB cause for $637 US (706 Aus) is a freakin bargin!
Screw contracts they are useless junk

[marblewonder Posted Jul 27th 2010 4:34AM]

@Zylam LOL nobody's gonna sell you an unlocked iPhone from another country at retail. My plans are to buy a couple of iPhones unlocked here in Canada and sell them on ebay for at LEAST 50% markup...

[Andr Posted Jul 27th 2010 5:36AM]

@Bahumbug Yeah, the prices in Denmark are as following for the unlocked handset:

iPhone 4 16GB $837
iPhone 4 32GB $960

[trekkie0927 Posted Jul 27th 2010 6:08AM]

@Andr

Well, I'm not sure how much sales tax is elsewhere, but here in Canada, it's about 13%. That means that's $744 and $880 CAD for the 16 and 32 GB iPhone 4s. Not so cheap now....eh? :p

[midnightblade Posted Jul 27th 2010 6:45AM]

@kapanak

If you consider you can buy it outright from AT&T for $600 and it isn't unlocked then it's not a bad price at all. Of course sales tax is a bitch but it's the same in the US. The Chinese market is extremely hot for iphone 4's right now. So... if anyone wants to pick up some iphone 4's for me at cost in canada I'd be greatly obliged =P

[Shinigami Posted Jul 27th 2010 7:02AM]

@kapanak Thats pretty cheap, mate. Here they sell for $1600-2000.

[paul34 Posted Jul 27th 2010 7:53AM]

@kapanak

The iPod touch is what, not even 1/3 of that price? And they charge how much more for a cellular chip and antenna?

The only reason it is so high is because of the artificial pressure created by the practice of carrier subsidization. If that ever goes away and people start buying their service and phones separately, phone prices should end up going into freefall.

[Kurian Posted Jul 27th 2010 9:26AM]

@kapanak
The prices are normal for unlocked iPhone anywhere in the world. Its around the same price as India.

[WickedEast Posted Jul 27th 2010 10:17AM]

@Zylam

I guess cheap is relative.

It may be "cheap" for people who used to pay more for unlocked phones but in North America, 99% of the people will find 800$ for a phone expensive.

[szamot Posted Jul 27th 2010 12:12PM]

@trekkie0927
Got to love Alberta, only 5% GST...