Unlock iPhone 3G available in my hometown (Hong Kong)

by Simon Ng on September 27, 2008

Apple is now selling an unlock version of iPhone 3G through its online Apple Store in Hong Kong. This arouses much interest in the iPhone communities. A number of news websites or tech blogs such as Engadget, PC World, Wired have coverage on the news. The unlock version of iPhone 3G is selling at HKD$5400 (USD$692) for 8G version and HKD$6200 (USD$795) for 16GB version. As checked out at Apple Store, Apple explains when you plan to purchase the iPhone 3G that iPhone 3G can be used freely with any carrier:

iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.

Earlier, iPhone 3G has been available in Hong Kong since mid-Jul but exclusively sold via 3HK, a carrier in Hong Kong. Same as iPhone 3G sold in other countries, you can only purchase it along with 2-year contract with 3HK. As reported by computer magazines in Hong Kong and source from CNet Asia, at that time, iPhone 3G is already unlocked. It can work with any SIM card. But it’s just not a wise decision to buy iPhone 3G along 2-year data plan and use SIM card from other carriers.

From what I know, this should be the first time Apple selling unlock iPhone 3G online. As I checked, Apple Store Online in US, UK, Canada or Singapore does not have such offering. This probably will trigger some Hong Kongers to purchase it and resell unlock iPhone 3G to other countries.

There should be a huge demand for unlock iPhone 3G. As what Apple advertised in Hong Kong online store, “iPhone 3G – Buy directly from Apple. And choose your carrier”. Yes, we all want to choose our own carrier. Hope the unlock version of iPhone 3G will be extended to other markets.

[Image via Apple Store]

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Tagged as: iPhone, iphone 3G

{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Alec October 20, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Thanks for the info. I’m heading to HK next week and would like to purchase an unlocked 3g but I don’t have an address to ship to or a HK credit card to buy it with. Are there any physical apple stores, or do the electronic dealers in Wan Chai have the unlocked 3g for sale with a slight mark-up? And if so, are they trustworthy? Any other ideas for procuring one of these babies if I’m doing a few-day fly-by in the Kong?

2 Simon Ng October 21, 2008 at 2:17 am

Alec, no apple store in Hong Kong. And, I’m not sure if you can buy unlocked iPhone (without joining a HK carrier) through authorized Apple dealer. But you can find quite a lot of electronic/mobile phone dealer in Mongkok or Wan Chai. I’m sure you can buy one during your trip. In case you find any problem searching iPhone during your trip, leave me email.

3 Alan December 17, 2008 at 8:07 pm

Hi Simon I brought my IPhone 3G in Malaysia and intent to upgrade to firmware 2.2. How do I confirm whether my IPhone is an unlock version from HK?

4 Simon Ng December 17, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Alan, you can check out this support web page from Apple. It lists out the model number for all unlocked iPhone.

5 denny December 31, 2008 at 12:02 pm

Hi Simon,
Are the stores in Mong Kok and Wan Chai grey market ? Are they selling cheaper than the online stores ?

The iPhone sold thru apple online, can it be used using the SIM card from other countries ?

6 Simon Ng December 31, 2008 at 5:13 pm

Denny, the one are sold online by Apple is an unlocked one. You can use SIM card from other countries. You may get a cheaper one at stores of Mongkok and Wan Chai. But they are not the official resellers.

7 wayne January 8, 2009 at 9:19 pm

hi Simon,i bought my iphone 3g ver2.2 from hong kong,the seller told me that this can be use international,so do i need to jailbreak it?

8 Simon Ng January 8, 2009 at 10:22 pm

wayne, the iPhone should already be unlocked. So you can already use other SIM cards. Jailbreak and unlock are not equal. If you wanna learn more about jailbreak, you can refer to this post.

9 Madhu February 16, 2009 at 11:54 pm

Hi simon,

I was wondering if u’ll have any problems while updating the iphone if u do it in another country? I mean, for example, i buy the OFFICIAL UNLOCKED IPHONE 3G from hong kong, and use it in India, will i have problems updating the firmware which will be released in the future? Moreover are u sure that i can use my current sim card ( a local sim card in India ) in the Iphone 3g? please answer this.. Ive been tryin to find ans to my questions for a long time.. please help.. thanks in advance.. cheers..

10 Simon Ng February 17, 2009 at 8:12 am: @Madhu, if you’re purchasing the unlock version of iPhone 3G, you should be able to use sim card in India. Regarding your question about firmware update, I’ve heard that some iPhone users failed to update the firmware. But they can upgrade the iPhone 3G after jailbreak.

As I already live in Hong Kong, I can’t test the firmware update in other countries. Anybody here can exactly answer Madhu’s question?

Reply

11 Alan February 17, 2009 at 9:07 am

Hi Madhu,

My iPhone 3G is a Hong Kong unit and have no problem upgrading to firmware 2.2 in Malaysia.

Last week I have accidently delete the application folder in my iPhone and cos my phone malfunction. I manage to restore it back to 2.2 without go through the unlock process. Trust it is a full unlock version from Apple.

12 Madhu February 17, 2009 at 10:33 pm

Oh thats cool alan, thanks for your info.. And simon where exactly do u get the officially unlocked phones in hong kong? Is there an apple store where i can drop in and purchase the iphone 3g? And is it OFFICIALLY UNLOCKED or the illegally unlocked phones sold apart from apple stores? I want this to be clearly answered coz i don wanna mess up with my iphone after buying and comin to know its not officially unlocked. Apologies conveyed if this question is being repeated.. And my final question is do u get the same iphone 3g ( the officially unlocked one, like how u get in hong kong ) in taiwan? thanks in advance

13 Simon Ng February 18, 2009 at 9:24 pm: There is no Apple Store in Hong Kong. You need to purchase it online via http://www.appleclub.com.hk. But you can also purchase unlock iPhone in Wan Chai Computer Centre or computer store at Mongkok. They also sell unlock iPhone (but may not be the official unlock one).

Reply

14 Madhu February 18, 2009 at 10:19 pm

thanks simon!!! but any idea u get the same in taiwan? where did u get yours by the way?

15 Simon Ng February 18, 2009 at 10:23 pm: I bought mine in Hong Kong.

Reply

16 Alan February 19, 2009 at 8:55 am

Hi Madhu,

If you refer to Simon earlier post by visiting http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 you can confirm whether the iPhone is an official unlocked version by matching the part number on the bottom of the box.

17 hena March 18, 2009 at 3:55 pm

Alan, how did you activate your iPhone bought in Hong Kong? Did you do it in Malaysia with iTunes, or did you have to activate it in Hong Kong?

I’m travelling to HK in Eastern, and am thinking of buying iPhone 3G. I am just concerned about the activation prosess once I’m back home in Switzerland.

Hena

18 webtech86 April 10, 2009 at 2:16 am

Hi, I love 3G iPhone. I bought my 3G iPhone from Greece last month. It has really wonderful features, I enjoy it. You can contact to good person who can help you out. Here is his email ID zoomobileslimited@gmail.com

19 Alan April 11, 2009 at 1:19 am

Hi Hena,

Apologize for my very late reply. I activate my iPhone with iTune in Malaysia.

You need to ensure the model you purchase is a fully unlocked version from HK. I have a friend brought a non-fully unlocked model which cause lots of trouble.

You can check the model number from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 and compare with the model at the bottom of the box.

Alan

20 Wen June 5, 2009 at 9:58 pm

Hi Simon, so did you actually buy the unlock version online via appleclub? I am from Singapore and I would like to buy one. But I am not sure if the SIM card can be used in SG? Currently there is one carrier here and we need to sign on a 2 year plan which we do not want to.

21 Simon Ng June 6, 2009 at 12:28 am: @Wen, it’s fully unlocked. So, it should work with any carrier.

Reply

22 Pim June 10, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Hi Simon,
You website has really helped me. Thank you.. I’ve got another question for you, I’m planning to go to HK and get the unlocked iphone (perhaps order online and get it sent to my hotel). My question is i hear that sometime when you do a software update or restore or whatever, the phone becomes unlocked again. They do sell an unlocked version in Thailand but the price is higher than in HK. So my question is when you do a software upgrade to 3.0, does it lock itself again? If anyone could help me with this when you have done the upgrade, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks so much

23 Simon Ng June 10, 2009 at 10:30 pm: @Pim, the one you can buy from Apple store (HK) is a factory unlocked iPhone. So, even after firmware upgrade, the phone is still an unlocked one.

Reply

24 Pim June 10, 2009 at 6:07 pm

** i meant the phone becomes locked again….

25 Johney June 18, 2009 at 5:19 am

I have an iPhone brought in HK a few weeks ago which is also unlocked by default. I just upgraded to the latest 3.0 iPhne firmware and after upgrade it was locked. However, after I restart the iTune and let it sync with iPhone again it becomes unlocked…

26 Pim June 18, 2009 at 5:46 am: @Johney
Thanks for the info. So basically what u did was plugged your iphone in and upgrade your firmware. Close itunes, then reopen itunes again and it was fine??? Also since i’m asking, how do you find the performance of it? any lag or slowness? Also does the key board show any delay?? Thanks so much

Reply

27 brandon June 21, 2009 at 9:35 pm

simon,

how do you exchange the hong kong factory unlocked iphones from apple? since apple does not have a retail store in hk, do you have to send it directly to them? or can you exchange it at their official resellers? or do resellers only handle locked phones? thanks

28 boom July 17, 2009 at 1:19 pm

Dear Simon,
im an iphone reseller outside hk, im planing to HK but i still dont know about the price of iphones 3GS in Mongkok and Wanchai, can u please provide me some info of the prices and how to get there.

Thanks, hope to see u there in HK

Boom

29 Simon Ng July 17, 2009 at 11:49 pm: For those Mongkok or Wanchai shops, they are selling iPhone 3GS at HK$6xxx (around USD790). The price is even higher than the official one sold at Apple Online Store. If you have friends in Hong Kong, ask them to purchase it for you. It’s only sold at HKD5388 (or USD 700) and factory-unlocked.

Reply

30 boom July 17, 2009 at 1:22 pm

or if i possible, can i have the number to both the shops, thanks!!!!!

31 Simon Ng July 17, 2009 at 11:57 pm: @boom, more information about iPhone 3GS at Mongkok shop. Check out here.

Reply

32 ljr July 18, 2009 at 4:23 am

Hi, I bought a 3G whilst in HK about 5 months ago. I was told not to do any update (it has version 2.2 (5G77) on it). I really would like to get the 3.0 Update. What happens if I do the update? Am I ok if I follow the instruction from Johney and Pim (earlier post)?

Thanks

LJR

33 ljr July 18, 2009 at 4:24 am

Forgot to mention: I am living in Germany and as the phone is unlocked I am running it on a local card.

34 Simon Ng July 18, 2009 at 8:36 am

＠ljr, where did you buy the iPhone in HK? From official carrier? Coz there are two kinds of unlocked iPhone. One is factory-unlock, that is officially unlocked by Apple. The other one is software-unlock, which is unlocked by software tools like yellowsn0w or ultrasn0w.

The upgrade procedures are different for these phones. For factory-unlocked iPhone, you’re free to upgrade to 3.0 via iTunes update. It won’t hurt your iPhone as it’s factory-unlocked. For the software unlocked one, you can still upgrade to iPhone 3.0 OS. But you’ll need to go through the jailbreak process and re-unlock using ultrasn0w.

If you’re using the software-unlock iPhone, you can follow this jailbreak & unlock guide to upgrade to iPhone 3.0.

35 ljr July 20, 2009 at 4:42 am: Simon,

your instruction was right on!!! I just followed the steps and no problems what-so-ever!

Many many thanks for providing the easy and simple to follow instruction to jailbreak my phone then unlock it!

Cheers!

LJR

Reply

36 apple July 18, 2009 at 9:55 pm

Hi Simon,
I’m going to visit HK very soon. Could you please suggest where could I buy iphone 3GS which is officially unlocked in hong kong? Is there any authorized dealer or trusted retail shop around tsim sha tsui or mongkok? I live outside HK, so I could not buy it from apple’s online store. Thank you so much for your help.

37 Simon Ng July 19, 2009 at 12:38 am: @apple, the only authorized way to get a factory-unlocked iPhone (without contract) is through Apple’s online store. But some shops in Mongkok also buy the iPhone 3GS from Apple website and re-sell it at higher price. I suggest you to check out those shops in Mongkok.

Reply

38 Martin-Schubert July 30, 2009 at 5:58 am

Sometimes it’s really that simple, isn’t it? I feel a little stupid for not thinking of this myself/earlier, though.

39 Marco September 13, 2009 at 4:33 am

Hi Simon,
There is an Iphone 3G bought in an official Apple reseller in Kowloon in its way to my home town in Italy right now when I am writing this message.
The person who bought it, who is not much into technology at all, told me that he tested it right in the store, using an OTB Iphone activated via Itunes, and could call home with no problem using his italian SIM.
He was enthusiastic when he wrote me and I told him that considering the source(apple reseller) I would go ahead and buy it as long as no contract was involved and the Apple warranty was provided togetehr with the proof of purchase; wish I had found this blog before.
Will it work here in Italy or if he were to connect it to Itunes?
I am positive that he didn’t sign any contract; he paid it $4488. Thanks for your reply and ciao, Marco

40 Piaget September 16, 2009 at 1:24 pm

Hi Simon, recently there is stock shortage for 32gb 3gs iphone. Do you know if i order online from apple.hk, do i have to wait about 1-2 weeks? i heard someone saying apple.hk can deliver it within 48-72 hours? Have you hear that?

Regards,
piaget

41 djoko trisanto October 4, 2009 at 4:52 pm

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42 Santiago Chong October 18, 2009 at 6:44 am

Hello, Simon Ng in 2 months I will travel to Hong Kong and wanted to use the trip to buy the iphone 3g 8gb my question is if the iphone 3g officially unlocked only be bought online or physical store if it does not have a credit card associated with hong kong and only I will stay in Hong Kong just for a few hours as I have to go to macau then

43 Simon Ng October 18, 2009 at 1:48 pm: @Santiago, you can also purchase the factory-unlocked in Mongkok or Wanchai computer centre. They probably are not the official dealer. But they also sell factory-unlocked iPhone.

Reply

44 Santiago Chong October 18, 2009 at 8:52 pm

simon i Simon was investigating and on this page http://www.apple.com/asia/iphone/buy/#hk tells me that also in a store called fortress, on fortress page look for the iphone 3g is the same price that has the apple store online and it is best to have a physical store and also has 3 stores in Kowloon (where I’ll stay a while), my question is if this is 100% iphone 3g factory unlocked or is tied to a contract, about you tell me, what is name of the store in mongkok that sells the iphone 3g Factory unlocked, the adress of the store and the price plz , lot of thanks

i`m using google traslator, please i want to talk with you in msn or QQ i need your help, my msn: santiagoshok@hotmail.com qq: find me with santiagoshok@hotmail.com

45 scort November 21, 2009 at 5:29 am