G’day all
I am in the market for an unlocked iPhone SE and note the new Australian price is A$114 more than the US price when you do the current currency conversion. My son is in the US for a couple of weeks. Any reason why I shouldn’t get him to bring one back for me?
Cheers
Steve
None at all, unless you think customs might slap some sort of duty on it. I regularly have bought my Apple products, some of them new, where I ever happen to be, and I’ve never had issues then walking them into the next country. That’s Australia, Japan, and the United States. If your son was walking in 50 of them, sure, okay, big red flag, but one for you? No big deal.
Thanks kionon. I’ve been reading a bit since I posted. Any issues with the US phone working with our networks (Telstra)? Will warranty cover be an issue?
Cheers
Steve
Things may have changed but I’d always thought the 4G frequencies they use in the US are different to what we use here - hence why they say cellular rather than 4G - but I could be wrong. Worth checking though.
I used phones from US/Japan on Optus, who is who I had, but never Telstra. Here’s the important part, the US iPhone SE supports these LTE bands:
1 (2100 MHz)
2 (1900 MHz)
3 (1800 MHz)
4 (AWS)
5 (850 MHz)
8 (900 MHz)
12 (700 MHz)
13 (700c MHz)
17 (700b MHz)
18 (800 MHz)
19 (800 MHz)
20 (800 DD)
25 (1900 MHz)
26 (800 MHz)
29 (700 de MHz)
I believe the 700MHz range is the one you need for Australia. Which it has:
Australia is currently using these LTE bands
2100Mhz (B1) – Telstra (a handful of sites), Optus (Tasmania), Vodafone
1800Mhz (B3) – Telstra, Optus, Vodafone
850Mhz (B5) – Vodafone
2600Mhz (B7) – Telstra, Optus
900Mhz (B8) – Telstra (a handful of sites, utilises spectrum previously used by 2G)
700Mhz (B28) – Telstra, Optus
2300Mhz (B40) – Optus (Vivid wireless spectrum)
Note that you won’t get Australian Consumer Law coverage for any issues that happen outside of the first year, as that only applies to goods purchased in Australia (IIRC).
Benny is correct, yes. ACL doesn’t apply.
Yep. That’s probably the deal breaker for me bennyling. Thanks.
Band 28 isn’t in your list of supported frequencies for the device. That’s the band of 700MHz we use here, as indicated in your carrier band list.
Ah, good catch.
I copied those over. Hence I said, “I believe.” It’s not my list, it’s just the list that exists. Apparently, however, there are SE models that cover Band 28, but you’d probably need to ask Apple to get the right one, I found this:
“The iPhone SE has 3 models, and one of the US models does not cover LTE band 28 (700Mhz) which is probably the most important band for Australia, that model is A1662.”
Getting a bit complicated now! Pity the price diff is > $100 but I think I’ll buy here to be safe and for the extra warranty cover. Thanks everyone.
Is most of that price diff GST anyway?
And sales tax depends on the state so isn’t shown in the apple website price. So final price in the US depends on where @SteveClark’s son lives (although you might have factored that in already). Learned about sales tax in the US the hard way when I was about 8 and had saved up my pocket money only to be charged more at the register than in the sticker thanks to state sales tax!
This is getting into a bit of a quandry, there are two types of iPhones sold in the US depending on which carrier you’re with over there. There is also no homoginised standard as there is here in Australia. One type of iPhone will work the other will not. You will have to talk to Apple over there to get the right one.
You will save a few dollars but not be covered by consumer law. You will have to opt for the more expensive Apple Care Plus for your phone which eliminates the cost saving benefit. You may also be charged with customs duties if the Australian government finds out you bought a phone while overseas.
A lot of the difference in price also comes down to Sales Tax which is not applied at the point of sale but it is applied at the state level in The United States depending on which state you’re in.
For essentially the reasons you have stated I will buy the phone here.