Imported 3G iPhones are starting to appear on local e-commerce websites at prices lower than the official Apple\/Vodacom prepaid iPhone pricing.<\/p>\n
A recent advertisement on MyBroadband offered 8GB 3G iPhones at R5 700 per phone which included overnight courier fees. This is cheaper than Vodacom’s prepaid price of R 6 389 for the same phone.<\/p>\n
On BidorBuy there are also many iPhone 3G offers, ranging in price from R5 950 for an 8GB model to around R 9 000 for a 16GB phone. Savvy users may therefore pick up a bargain while others may overpay for a hacked iPhone without any guarantee.<\/p>\n
More traditional online retailers typically sell the iPhone for a similar or higher price than Vodacom’s prepaid offers. Considering that there are no official warranties on grey iPhone imports – which are typically hacked to work on all networks – it would be particularly obtuse to go this route.<\/p>\n
The iPhone in South Africa is not network locked like most of the models found in other countries, which may make the local version of the iPhone a sought after commodity for exports. <\/p>\n
This is one of the reasons why Apple made certain that the prepaid price of the iPhone locally is not particularly attractive, a clear strategy from both Apple and Vodacom to avoid that the iPhone is used on other networks.<\/p>\n
The fact that the iPhone carries a warranty when purchased through official Vodacom channels makes it a better choice for most users looking to own an iPhone 3G. <\/p>\n
Although a few hundred Rand can be saved on hacked imported models, the subsequent hassles with firmware updates and the like may not be worth the saving.<\/p>\n