Hi all,

I'm a Brit living in Singapore in keen need of an iPhone now! I've identified Australia as my saviour, specifically the Optus pre-paid phone. A friend of mine in Sydney went to an Optus store and was told 1) that they're out of stock, and 2) they're not selling the phone pre-paid for two weeks yet.

Yet from what I've read online here, I thought the Optus pre-paid phone was available now. I think the trick is the Apple Store in Sydney; is that correct? So I'm looking for the answers to two questions, then:

1) Can my friend buy (outright) a pre-paid Optus iPhone from the Apple Store right now?
2) Does anyone know how the Apple Store's stock levels are doing?
3) Bonus Question: If he can buy (outright) a pre-paid iPhone on Optus from the Apple Store, how exactly does he go about getting it unlocked?

Thanks,

S.

Welcome to MacTalk, Pods!

1) No. On contract only.
2) Good I think, assuming you are on contract and aren't fussy with wanting 16GB Black. 8GB Black and 16GB White should be fine.
3) Optus charge $80 to unlock and can take up to 10 days. He can't buy it from the Apple Store anyway.

Suggestion: Optus World stores. Prepare to wait. Or find another carrier such as Vodafone or Telstra and buy them outright, have them unlocked ($75 to unlock from Vodafone and $150 for Telstra. Handset costs differ among carriers, outright).

Vodafone: $785 for 8GB, $915 for 16GB.
Telstra: About the same as Optus... $729 and $849, AUD. I don't know what they are exactly since I'm not a fan of Telstra.

Huy, thanks for the quick reply! Are the Optus World Stores selling pre-pay now? Alternatively, is Vodafone selling pre-pay now? The key word is "now".

S.

Optus World stores are low on stock from what I have heard. Don't expect anything 'now'.

Vodafone I believe (through DickSmithElectronics) have stopped selling them outright now, as far as I know. They are all contracts now. I say this because the iPhone doesn't appear on their website any more and I was told to call the store individually regarding stock.

Thankfully I got mine on the only 2 days that they were selling them outright (this weekend). As of right now, they are not doing it, from what I have read.

So your only option is Telstra outright plus an uncertain unlock, or Optus and playing the waiting game just for stock (although they have said something about unlocks).

Too much demand, not enough supply (apart from contracts...)

I see. Depressing! Ok, thank you very much.

S.