DISQUS

Name · 4 weeks ago

There is a lot of misinformation going around by these "news" sites that keeps getting repeated. First, I live in Beijing and have an officially unlocked iPhone (not jailbroken) with WiFi that I purchased through Apple's online store (one of the only places in the world to buy an unlocked phone directly from Apple, but it needs to be shipped to a HK address). I signed up for a China Unicom 3G account (not contract) got a sim card and plugged it in. No problems. Nothing to do with any ridiculous claims about having to sign up for an "amnesty program". Its just a standard 3G pay by the month option from China Unicom that costs me $27 per month for 60 MB of data which is plenty for my needs as I'm usually on WiFi.

Next, the prices stated for grey market phones in China are absolutely false. A brand new grey market 3GS iphone will set you back over $1,000 USD in the local stores. There is no way to obtain one at the prices quoted in this "article" as NO ONE sells them that inexpensively at their original source. The Hong Kong prices directly from Apple for unlocked iPhones are $579 USD for the basic 3G, and top of the line 3GS is $811 USD.