Has anyone bought an iPhone in the States?
I'm off over there in a couple of weeks and fancy saving some money on an iPhone 5s!

However, the Apple US store online doesn't seem to sell an unlocked iPhone ... only a T Mobile version without contract. The site says this phone needs to be activated either at a T Mobile shop or online.
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-iphone/iphone5s

I'm on o2 in the UK ... I'm guessing my SIM wouldn't work with this phone?

Help!

Thank you!!

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago :

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showt...ghlight=iphone

I think there are problems with the warranty and 4G not working properly on a US iphone 5s.

The 5c does work with O2's 4G bands. Not sure about the 5s, I would have thought it would though if the 5c does.

Just remembered something they told me in the Apple Store in Palo Alto, California a couple of weeks ago. They did say that you can't buy the 5s unlocked yet, only the 5c.

The us version doesn't do 2600 mhz which is a key European band. While O2 don't have any now, what's to say we don't see another merger that changes the frequency band ownership.

Also don't forget the state tax, but it would still be cheaper.

Don't buy t-mobile as it locks to the SIM once you activate it.
Check on Mac Rumours but I think it is the Verizon iPhone that is actually unlocked.

Thanks for the advice everyone ... sounds a tricky one to get right!

There's no point in buying one over there if it doesn't work on 4G over here and the warranty isn't valid. Best to check first before wasting your money.

Whilst they can limit the warranty to the country of purchase Apple tend to not to enforce this.

Only 4G it doesn't support is 2600MHz and that is not really a problem. As only Vodafone and EE have and even then it is not going be in most areas. Even in areas it is you will get a 800MHz from Vodafone and 1800MHz from EE. So not really a problem at all.

A lot of people only keep a phone for 2 years and they have an idea of what network they'd consider. The 5s and 5c do support most of our 4G networks. If the network you want is supported, go for it.

Bear in mind 1800Mhz 3G (HSPA) is NOT supported by either phone so they won't work on EE's 3G network.

EE uses 2100MHz for 3G. 2G & 4G is 1800MHz

Sorry yes my mistake it doesn't support their 2G network. Of course everyone uses either 900Mhz or 2100Mhz for 3G (which it does support).

Thanks again for the replies everyone.

I'm on o2, so would the phone support its 3G and 4G frequencies?

Yes it would support

Don't O2 (and Vodafone) have some LTE at 2600MHz which a US model won't support? It will, AFAIK, support their principal network at 800MHz

Only EE and Vodafone have 2600MHz but right it wouldn't support that. No network will use 2600MHz as main LTE.

I've bought my last 2 iPhones in the states a 4s and a 5 and both have worked perfectly on tesco and now on tmobile/ee also apple have repaired them under warranty without any issues

The "repair under warranty" is totally contrary to what Apple's website states and should never be relied upon!

Things seem vastly better with the 5S but the US iPhone 5 was and is useless for UK LTE!