Buying an iPhone in Shanghai

[saikyo]

Hello everyone.

I'm going to be moving to Shanghai for a couple of years, and am wondering whether I should pick up an iPhone to use while I'm there.

I understand iPhones are usually much more expensive in China than in the states (where I am now). Is that still the case?

What about monthly cell phone charges for a phone if I get it in China? What should I expect to pay?

I understand I could get one here in the states, jail break it, and bring it... but for simplicity's sake, I would really rather just use a local one if it makes any sense.

Let me know what you think!

[Brandon263]

If cash is at all a consideration, you might want to look into buying an iPod Touch; the latest version of the iPod Touch has much of the functionality of the iPhone at a much lower price.

If you're looking to buy an iPhone, your best option is to buy an iPhone 3GS in the States and bring it here.

A US-bought 3GS is easier to unlock and use in China than a US-bought iPhone 4. Dev Team (http://blog.iphone-dev.org/), the group of hackers that provides unlocks for AT&T and Verizon iPhones, has not yet found a way to unlock iPhone 4s with the latest Apple software. So far, unlocks are only available for the iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS. It's a bit complicated to explain the reasons why (you can look at Dev Team’s blog for more info), but basically you can only unlock an iPhone 4 that was bought early last year and has not been updated since then. You can jailbreak any iPhone 4 but can only unlock iPhone 4s with the earliest version of Apple's iPhone software.

A 3GS from the States is also easier to use in China because most Chinese mobile providers use a normal-size SIM card that won't fit in the iPhone 4, which uses a "micro-SIM". You can cut around the edges of the normal SIM card to convert it into a "micro-SIM", but this is nearly impossible without a special SIM-cutter. The only company which may be able to sell you a "micro-SIM" is China Unicom, the sole provider of iPhone 4s in China, but I am unclear on whether they sell their "micro-SIMs" without requiring you to sign a 2-year contract.

If you do want to buy an iPhone 4 here in China, the cheapest new one you can get is a 16GB China Unicom iPhone 4, which costs ~5800RMB upfront for a two-year contract. The ~5800RMB is “given back to you” as part of your mobile subscriber fee, but you still have to pay an extra ~20-30 RMB per month for a basic package of minutes, texts and data. iPhone 4s from China Unicom are locked -- you can't use them with any other SIM. You can buy an unlocked iPhone 4 from a shop, but store-bought iPhones cost between 6500 RMB and 7000 RMB (roughly US$1000) for a new 16GB iPhone 4. Store-bought iPhone 4s are unlocked, that is, you can use them with any carrier, but you still have to have a "micro-SIM" to use the phone

A new 8GB iPhone 3GS from a Chinese shop costs between 3800 RMB and 4000 RMB -- about US$600. The 3GSs that stores sell here are unlocked, which means you can choose them with any mobile provider. As far as I know, China Unicom no longer offers the 3GS (at least in Nanjing).

In the States you can get a new, unlocked 3GS for betwen $400 and $450 on eBay. Beware that these phones are "software-unlocked", which means they will work in any country as long as you don't update the phone's software through iTunes. If you have a lot of music and/or you would like to play games or movies on your iPod, I would advise you to buy a new 32GB 3GS, which costs around US$550 on eBay.

You could probably find someone who would sell you a used iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 in Shanghai or on Chinese eBay-like sites (e.g. Taobao <http://www.taobao.com/>) for a price that's cheaper than the ones I listed above, but there are no guarantees on the quality of the phone. Buying the phone may also be a hassle (misunderstandings,getting cheated, etc.,), especially if you don't speak Chinese.

Good luck with whatever choice you make. An iPhone is very useful for learning Chinese, if that's what you're coming here for. Look into the Pleco Chinese dictionary app after you buy your phone.

[saikyo]

Thanks for the in-depth reply!

It's ridiculous how expensive the iPhone is over there!

I currently have an iPod Touch. One generation back, before the camera and the retina display. I do use Pleco and some other tools for language learning.

One clarification question.

So if I want to get a 3G here that I can use in China but that I can use on the iTunes Store, and keep the OS up to date regularly, and use on China's phone network, do I want to get an unlocked on? Or a jailbroken one?

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!

[Brandon263]

You'd want to get an unlocked 3GS, which sells for ~3800 to 4000 RMB for an 8GB one.

[gato]

A 3GS is going for around RMB 3000 in Shanghai right now. You can buy them at 美罗城 in Xujiahui.

[yersi]

.

[gato]

Yersi, did you buy in the last month? I asked just out of curiosity a few weeks ago and was quoted 6000 for an iPhone 4 16G at 百脑汇 in Xujiahui. I bought mine last year for 5100. The Apple Store sells them at 4999, but they are out of stock most of the time.

[yersi]

No, I bought it October last year. Price hike, maybe?

[gato]

Yeah, they just don't have enough to meet the demand at the official Apple Stores.

[fanglu]

A 3GS from the States is also easier to use in China because most Chinese mobile providers use a normal-size SIM card that won't fit in the iPhone 4, which uses a "micro-SIM". You can cut around the edges of the normal SIM card to convert it into a "micro-SIM", but this is nearly impossible without a special SIM-cutter.

Actually it's really easy to cut a normal sim to fit in an iPhone 4, there are plenty of videos on the Internet explaining how to do it. I tried the other day just using normal scissors, it took about 10 minutes.

[saikyo]

I forgot to ask how much monthly phone bills would be... but I seem to remember most of the plans being pay as you go right? What about data plans? How does that work over there?

Thanks for all the help.

So far I think I'm going to try to buy an unlocked 3G iPhone here in the states to bring over with me.

[gato]

I use China Mobile's 神州行 pay-as-you-go plan. They offer a EDGE data package of 150MB for 20 yuan per month, which is plenty for emails, news, and occasional web browsing.

[flameproof]

I use China Mobile's 神州行 pay-as-you-go plan. They offer a EDGE data package of 150MB for 20 yuan per month, which is plenty for emails, news, and occasional web browsing.

Can you combine that with an existing China Mobile prepaid SIM? I don't want to get a new number....

For iPhone 4 dreamers, Unicom seems to have new plans:

http://iphone.tgbus.com/news/class/201104/20110408175504.shtml

[gato]

Can you combine that with an existing China Mobile prepaid SIM? I don't want to get a new number....

Yes. Send a text message of "ktgprs20" to 10086 to activate the 20yuan / month plan. The plan only becomes active in the following month, so you may still need to pay on a per MB basis for the current month.

See here.

http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/118410949.html

编辑短信ktgprs5至10086就可以了…次月生效，kt的意思就是中文开通的缩写，gprs是指移动数据，也就是流量，5表示5元套餐

目前中国移动有5 10 20 50 100 200这几种上网套餐，根据自己需求订制，开通5元套餐后是每个月都有30M流量，用完了，就没有了，每个月1号重新计数，超过的就要收钱了，1M=1024kb,1kb=0.01￥（超出的）

[saikyo]

Question, how do I unlock an American 3G iPhone to set it up for use in China?

[edit] nevermind youtube told me.

[saikyo]

Just an update everyone. So I have my 3G phone unlocked and working. Going to check details on that 20RMB per month for 150 MB data plan tomorrow and probably sign up.

Thanks for all the advice!

[yialanliu]

Another solution.

Buy any iphone from Canada or Hong Kong as cellular phones that are bought directly from Apple are required to be factory unlocked. This means you are guaranteed that the phone will work in China even when you update the phone.

~yiaalnliu

[DPClean]

Well, I'm gonna look for this.

Two questions,

1. I would thing there are place in Beijing that unlock iphones, how would I find one?
   
2. If I unlock the Iphone and use it in China, will there be a problem when I bring the phone back to the US?
   

[character]

Apple has started selling unlocked iPhones in the US. Perhaps, like the iPad 2 with GSM 3G, it will be popular with people who want to use them overseas.

[radioman]

iPad 3 users - I'd be interested to hear your thoughts/impressions with specific regard to reading Chinese, especially if you previously owned an iPad 1 or iPad 2.

I know this is a bit of a loaded question because anyone who bought the iPad 3 will certainly think it is a good device. However, all the iPads have the ability to rescale documents/images, etc., (such that small text might not be so small). So maybe the impact is not as significant as one might initially think - really not sure. Anyway, comments, appreciated.