iPhone 3GS unlocked

I was at an Apple store near Boston and inquired about the iPhone. Now, normally when one buys an iPhone in the US it is locked to AT&T. Meaning it costs $200 for a 16 Gb iPhone 3GS but you have to buy it with a 2 year contract. So they charge you for the full 2 years in advance. Which can make the price as much as $800 to $1000 depending on your plan.

But the sales person there told me that I could also buy the iPhone unlocked for US$ 400 above this price. If this is true then the iPhone 3GS would cost $600 or about Rs 28000. This is considerably less than Vodafone's india pricing for the newly introduced iPhone 3GS that I posted about a few weeks ago. Scroll down for prices I wrote about. Or check Vodafone's or Airtel's sites.

Of course, buying it 'officially' from Vodafone or Airtel gives you the peace of mind of support and a warranty. I don't have any actual experience of the support or warranty on an iPhone in india but from what people tell me, Vodafone doesn't actually repair your iPhone if it's broken. They send it to Bangalore and there, if your phone has not been waterlogged, or it hasn't fallen, it gets replaced.

iPhone 3Gs in India

The iPhone 3Gs has been introduced. Finally! At the moment it looks like Airtel and Vodafone will be selling it. But in time other service providers might, too.

A cursory look through the FAQ at Airtel shows up these details.

• The iPhone 3Gs will be available at Airtel dealers from 26th March.
• No exchange offer with old phones or old iPhones
• The warranty link on the Airtel iPhone 3Gs is linked to Apple's warranty page. So its Apple's warranty for the iPhone 3Gs in India.
• Prices (before taxes are)
• iPhone 3G 8 GB (Black) for Rs 29,500
• iPhone 3GS 16 GB (White & Black) for Rs 35,500 
• iPhone 3GS 32 GB (White & Black) for Rs 41,500
• You can use any airtel SIM with the iPhone 3Gs
• But you cannot use the iPhone 3Gs with another service provider

At these prices, the iPhone 3Gs in India will sell for US$ 790 for the 16 Gb and US$ 1010 for the 32 Gb. I wonder how it will compare with the iPad when it becomes available from Apr 3, 2010. 

For the moment though, it appears that in India the iPad may sell for less than the iPhone. And if you've got yours earlier from the gray market, or from HongKong, it looks like  you probably got a better deal.

After I wrote this piece, my good friend Prabhat Garg at Autsun wrote and informed me that the iPhone 3Gs is also available at autsun.com.

Links here

From Autsun in India...
iPhone 3Gs 16 Gb
iPhone 3Gs 32 Gb
Shipping is free anywhere in India.

What this means is that wherever you buy your iPhone 3Gs in India, it will work if you pop in your Airtel or Vodafone SIM. The one from autsun.com will work with any Airtel SIM.

SIMs from other service providers may not work by just inserting them. You may need to do some work to make them work.