Will UK Vodaphone iPhone 4 work in HK?

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  1. #1

    Will UK Vodaphone iPhone 4 work in HK?

    Please excuse my noob questions but I'm a total novice when it comes to smart phones.

    I'm thinking of buying a UK iPhone 4 from a guy when I'm home in the UK forthe summer. He says it was bought on Vodafone but he has tried an Orange sim which worked so he assumes it's unlocked. Does that mean it'll work in HK? If I buy a sim contract in HK will I be able to use 3G and all the phone's features?

    Thanks, I've tried looking online and I'm seeing stuff about EDGE and I'm utterly clueless...


  2. #2

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    If its network unlocked, then yes it will work in HK.


  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    If its network unlocked, then yes it will work in HK.
    I'm also a newbie with Iphones so couple of dumb questions from me:

    1) I assume any/all iPhones can be unlocked by a skilled individual (SinTat), am I right? Are there any that are impossible to unlock (some special hardware in there)?

    2) What is an approximate cost to have a phone unlocked?

    I'm not giving up my dumb-phone anytime soon, but just curious....

  4. #4

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    Howard, iPhones sold in Hong Kong are already unlocked.


  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Claire ex-ax:
    Howard, iPhones sold in Hong Kong are already unlocked.
    Yup, yup - aware. But my parents (Canada) and inlaws (UK) dont have the same luxury...Hence my curiosity questions.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by HowardCoombs:
    I'm also a newbie with Iphones so couple of dumb questions from me:

    1) I assume any/all iPhones can be unlocked by a skilled individual (SinTat), am I right? Are there any that are impossible to unlock (some special hardware in there)?
    Yes they can be unlocked, but there is no guarantee that they won't get locked again inadvertently during a iOS upgrade or connecting to iTunes. It is better that you can get them legitimately unlocked through the carrier.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by sxc:
    Yes they can be unlocked, but there is no guarantee that they won't get locked again inadvertently during a iOS upgrade or connecting to iTunes. It is better that you can get them legitimately unlocked through the carrier.
    So you mean I could connect a newly unlocked phone to iTunes and it may lock again? Ugggh.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by dave_van_damn:
    So you mean I could connect a newly unlocked phone to iTunes and it may lock again? Ugggh.
    If it's not unlocked by the carrier, I think it's unlikely that connecting to iTunes will lock it again, but definitely if there is an OS update, that will lock it again. Or if you need to backup/restore your phone for technical reasons, this will lock it again.

    How old is the iPhone of your friend? If it is off contract, they should be able to call the original carrier and get it unlocked.

  9. #9

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    If you unlock thro carrier or some resellers legitimately, it wont lock while updating and its unlocked for life.

    If you unlock it other ways like through grey channels or through exploits, you cannot update your iphone officially thro itunes or apple servers. You have to depend on those developers to come up with a way to update without getting locked jailbreaking , exploiting a code bug etc etc..and there is no guarantee...

    Sent from my GT-N7105 using GeoClicks mobile app

    Last edited by shafiq; 16-07-2013 at 08:36 PM.

  10. #10

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    OP, you need to check the phone is definitely unlocked before buying it. Or just buy a new (and unlocked) phone when you get to HK.

    The UK (or at least Apple in the UK) seem to be making it harder to get your hands on unlocked iPhones. I was visiting the UK just as the iPhone 5 was released and I intended to get it on contract (my UK contract had just run out and financially it would cost me about the same to buy a new iPhone 5 and pay the UK contract over it's lifetime as it would to buy an unlocked iPhone 5 direct from Apple HK - except at the time it practically impossible to order one in HK).

    However, talking to staff in various phone shops, notably Carphone Warehouse (who usually seem to know their stuff), I was told that with the iPhone 5 (in the UK at least), it locks to whatever SIM is first put in and this can't be changed even with the network provider's help. I don't know how true this as I rapidly lost interest at this point and got a free Galaxy S3 instead (and bought the iPhone 5 from Apple HK when the frenzy calmed down).

    Of course with your friend's iPhone 4, it should be different as it's an older phone (unless they bought it recently...worth checking). My old UK iPhone 4 was unlocked by the network provider as soon as I asked (I was still in contract with O2 but working abroad and they had no issues unlocking it....although you will need to sync with iTunes if you keep swapping SIMs like I was when I was based in multiple countries - total pain in the arse).

    Last edited by bibbju; 16-07-2013 at 09:31 PM.

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