Saw that Telstra now sell the iPhone SE 32gb as a prepaid phone.
Unlocking costs $80 if you do it in the first 6 months but overall cost to purchase and unlock is still only $529 vs full RRP of $679.
Link for unlocking terms/costs:
https://www.telstra.com.au/support/category/mobiles-tablets/…
The 32gb version of the iPhone SE was only recently released so won't be old stock. Should also get full 2 year warranty from Apple.
Looks Like Space Grey colour only.
Tried this a while back to get a 4G device unlocked - asked in September (2016). They advised me it was done a month or so ago ;)
Is it possible to apply that $30 SIM value to an existing prepaid number?
Probably…
Activate then credit me2u
It will take 3 days though…
($10 max transfer per day…)
Unless you do it by 24/7 chat…
Thanks
No worries…
I like my SE. Wished it had a better selfie camera and faster Touch ID. Also missed 3D Touch.
As it's just like the 5s, it's not as drop proof as the larger iPhones nor as water resistant as the more recent ones. Best to get a good glass protector and a case that at least covers the power button so it's protected in the rain.
If you're unsure about 32GB, iCloud storage is not too expensive for the 50GB tier I think for $1.50 a month.
I managed to secure a free unlock offer from one of Telstra chat supervisors! <save $80>
Now the harder task, to ask OFW to beat that price. Currently Space Grey is unavailable in most SA stores, online unavailable as well.
Any tips on price match at OFW given phone color mismatches?
I tried OFW in store and online and they wouldn't do it because this is Telstra specific locked stock.
Bought from melb. Elizabeth St. Unlocked via live chat.
Haven't tried the last part but should be the ok.
No charge. Yay. Thanks all for your confirmations on the unlock. Another success story here
My unlock on two of these was also successful.
Just picked one up at JB HiFi Garden City
I thought I would also confirm that these are locked to Telstra, I purchased one today, and tried an Optus SIM in it and a message came up and said it was an unsupported SIM… I jumped onto the Telstra chat and they were able to unlock it for me in about five minutes (no cost), and now the Optus SIM works. I'm travelling overseas in a couple of days and need to use an USA SIM for the month… unfortunately the Telstra store forced me to activate the included SIM on the spot.
Thanks for the good news. So do I need to find an excuse to ask them to unlock the phone or just tell them I would like to unlock it without any special reason?
they didn't actually ask for a reason, but I did mention after asking them to unlock it my reason why just in case… is a pretty good reason, when the guy in store activated the SIM I asked of I could waste its credit overseas, he said their prepaid do not work very well overseas at all!
Long time lurker - first time poster.
I purchased one of these online through Telstra on Thursday. Delivered yesterday. I checked the IMEI online which indicated it was unlocked.
Have you tried different sin card
Yes I did & it said it was locked! I just jumped on to live chat & requested an unlock which they did - no questions asked.
Mine also showed as unlocked on the IMEI lookup, but came locked.
Am travelling for work soon so the unlock came in handy!
Nb. First unlock didn't quite work but called the activation line and worked good.
1800 816 655
Thank you, your comment with the phone number helped me, as i had some troubles with unlocking before that.
I'd like to second andyvolk's thanks. Tried unlocking online through the Telstra site linked elsewhere in this thread, and they look to have amended it to call a different number instead. Opted for your 1800 816 655 number and had it unlocked for free in 5 minutes flat.
Planning on getting one of these tomorrow to replace a lost/stolen iPhone 7. Great that it seems everyone is getting these unlocked FOC. Just wondering if there's a specific live chat service/call centre route people are using to unlock happiness? I've had two chat sessions with different Telstra reps/depts so far, both confirming the $80 unlock fee? If anyone has any wisdom I'd be very grateful.
I don't know how other people wrangled the free unlock but here's how I did. I bought from JB Hi Fi (they are a Telstra reseller and have the phone for the same price) as this worked out even cheaper for me with discounted JB gift cards. Then I just went onto the Telstra online live chat and played dumb. I said that I had bought an iphone form JB Hi Fi and when I tried to use my sim card in it, it didn't work, that I had contacted JB and they said that the phone was locked to Telstra and I needed to contact them to unlock it. I said I was confused about this as there wasn't anything in the store or on the shelf indicating the phone was locked to Telstra and I wasn't told this when I bought it and I paid full price for the phone (I wasn't actually lying as there really was nothing indicating that on the shelf and the sales person really didn't mention it). I also didn't mention anything about an unlocking fee. I said could this be unlocked or should I just return the phone? The chat operator just asked me for the IMEI of the phone and unlocked it straight away without arguing or mentioning a fee.
I think it makes it more believable if you buy from somewhere other than Telstra that you didn't know the phone was locked to Telstra and didn't know anything about an unlock fee or how it works - they don't want the hassle of you arguing that you were misled etc. Whereas if you buy from Telstra and already know the phone is locked and there is an unlock fee, your only argument is really "please be nice to me and waive the fee!"
LOL, that was kind of a long response but I hope it's helpful to someone!
I did this, it helped. I was just vague about it - mentioned JB Hi-Fi, mentioned my non Telstra SIM not working - they unlocked it over the online chat.
Just to update - I was about to crack and buy it online last night but as I was buying it (through chat) the rep told me it would come unlocked (I confirmed this twice with him) and that they had stock in a local store. So I picked one up this morning in-store. Surprise, surprise it was locked. Hopped on chat (prepaid phones > activation), told them I bought the phone having been told it would come unlocked (actually true though I didn't really believe what I had been told) and they unlocked it straightaway (I don't have a Telstra account, just gave them the IMEI), no argument whatsoever, no mention of $$. Personally I think they're more interested in getting a positive outcome to the chat than having an argument. Having looked at the pre-paid Sim they give you (after I had finished the unlocking chat), it does say the handset is locked but obviously Telstra don't seem too bothered about enforcing it. I guess they think getting some good will is worth it and I'd agree. Hope this helps someone out.
I bought this phone this morning, and just unlocked it via live chat. The staff is quite nice.
Bought this from JB Hifi at $449 and can confirm it is locked to Telstra. You will need to contact live chat to get it unlocked. It says sim locked when any other sim is inserted
I've unlocked one using iTunes and it didnot cost anything. Going to get another one today.
This might save someone a few minutes, but LiveChat sent this link to unlock the phone https://unlock.telstra.com/iphoneunlock/main?execution=e1s1
Edit: How long does the unlock take to process? The Telstra page says "up to 72 hours"
In my experience, there is no waiting time. I've just done it via live chat this morning. Once the staff has unlocked it, I can use my iPhone SE straight away with non-Telstra SIM card.
Got one thanks OP. Is it me or are JB HiFi staff always hipsters lol
Bought one from JB HiFi, thanks OP! OzBargain is making me broke!
btw for those of you guys unlocking, they transferred me on live chat to a specialist team who are available between 8am-8pm.
If you try to get it unlocked outside of these hours chances are the consultant wont be able to help you.
Unlocked immediately by the specialist who advised that all iPhone SE are free to unlock!
xx
Bought one today. Got back to the office and went on Telstra Chat, the first guy didn't unlock it for me and asked me to call 132200, I hung up the chat and connect to chat again. This time I spoke to a different analyst, I just tells him that I need my iPhone SE unlock. He asked for my IMEI and unlock it straight away without any question. Tried with my Kogan/Vodafone SIM and its worked after 2 minutes.
So it is really depends who you talk to on Telstra Chat.
Bought from JB Hi Fi using woolies e-gift cards bought through RAA. Unlocking was a pain in the ass. Telstra eventually did it after 4 attempts on chat & phone took 14 hours.
So the consensus is buying from jb with gift cards is the best bet?
Yes! I tried to call 5 different telstra stores of which only one answered to tell me they had no stock. 30secs to call JB and went in to make the purchase, just specify that your after the telstra prepaid one.
I bought this phone and according to this page: https://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/Announcements/Pre-Pai…
you can give it back within 30 days.
Does anyone know, what I can do now, because I get rejected at any point of contact!?! Very frustrated.
Why did I ordered? Because first I was told it's unlocked, then in another chat I was told it's locked. To be eligible for return, the phone needs to be untouched, unopened, which it is.
Sorry but your post isn't making any sense.
There is plenty of information in this thread on whether the phone is locked, the unlocking process and whether you are likely to be charged a fee to unlock and the fee schedule. Please read all the comments as people have been very informative and helpful.
TL:DR
The safest thing to assume is the phone is locked and you will have to pay to unlock it.
There is a chance you may not be charged an unlock fee.
You won't really know if your phone is unlocked or not until you open it, at which point you cannot return it.
It is still a good deal if you have to pay for unlock.
With most things in life you must accept the risk if you want the reward (in this case cheap unlocked iPhone).
If you don't want to take the risk you are probably better off returning it.
Wow that's old, June 2013
I think you need to try the number again and speak to someone else
Hi, thanks.
I mightn't be clear enough. Returning the phone is what I want. But I can't because neither the provided number, nor online chat, nor a telstra shop is taking the phone back. So I am stuck with, although it says I can return it.
It says on my box the same thing about being able to return it (no instructions though). I bought at a shop.
Did you get an invoice email with a phone number in it? I'd call that number to see if they can help.
But from people's experiences here you should be fine to unlock it without charge. You can even try without opening the package (though you will really not know until you put the sim in). I guess if you got it unlocked free before opening, then you can open it on the spot while on the phone / live chat and test it before letting them go. Then complain if it didn't work.
Up to you.
I can confirm that an iPhone SE bought from JB Hifi, can be unlocked, free with Telstra (called the 1800 line). I didn't even open the box before calling. After unlocking, then I opened the box, turned the phone on, and checked with a Vodafone SIM. All unlocked within a few minutes.
Could you please tell me the exact 1800 number you have ring?
The number john_connor suggested: 1800 816 655
Thanks, I am heading to JB HiFi now.
Picked up my iphone se this afternoon from JB Hifi and called the 1800 as you mentioned (ta macmine). The fellow on the other end of the line unlocked it without issue :)
Great to hear. It was so easy- I was half expecting some rejection or having to call multiple times. But nope- he did it right away. Really smooth process :)
For those who managed to catch Coles' 2000 bonus points for the Ultimate Kids Gift Card in last week's catalogue, you could get $10 off every $30 gift card you bought and put towards this purchase (limited to one lot of 200 bonus points per card). Potentially $150 back if you bothered to buy 15 $30 cards, separately on 15 Flybuys cards!
Any idea how long this promotion will last? I might be going overseas later this year (November/December). Any chance this promo will last till then (and can I claim TRS on this)?
Bought today from JB-Hifi at the Strand. Unlocked around 8:30pm by live chat. Thanks all for the comments.
Used e-gift cards to buy JB Hi-fi gift cards to get another $20ish off
Hey guys,
You might want to try this url below. I spoke to a friend of mine regarding this phone, he also bought one, then he just use this link to unlock it without the need to contact Telstra either on Chat or on phone.
https://unlock.telstra.com/iphoneunlock/main?execution=e1s1
Good luck and have fun hunting bargain guys.
thanks for sharing! Anyone here had any success using this? :)
Yup - no problems here.
Sweet! Did you have to do anything on iTunes after, or was it unlocked straight off the bat?
@justcallmeboss: I restored the software in iTunes because I activated it using a Telstra SIM and needed to update to 10.3.1 (highly recommended unless you need to jailbreak because 10.3 frees up ~3GB of space with its new file system).
I got the 'Congratulations - your iPhone is unlocked' message in iTunes when I did so…
Aldi Sim works fine in this ^.^
Anyone know if I can use jb Hifi e-gift cards in store or are they online only? Someone on here is offering 8% off the gift cards which isn't a bad deal.
Went to JB Hifi to buy one… the lady said she had to activate the Sim to sell it to me. Now I have $450 worth of woolies giftcards and no SE :(
how come you were using woolies gift cards?
Any reason you didn't want to activate the sim?
I was going to use the woolies gift cards to buy JB Hifi gift cards (5% off). I didn't want to activate Sim cause unsure whether that locks the phone etc
Ah ok. 99% sure it doesn't lock the phone as I've used the telstra unlock process before on used iphones with no hassle
Not sure what you mean by lock the phone. The phone is network lock from the box. Doesn't matter whether provided Telstra sim activated or not. You will need to contact Telstra to unlock it to use it with other networks.
Where is everyone getting their JB Hifi giftcards from?
Someone on ozb is selling the e vouchers at 8% off.
Not sure if you can use them in store though?
Bought one from JB HIFI, don't need to activate the Telstra sim. The above unlock link able to unlock automatically. However, that is after around 24hrs.
Thanks so much OP. My iPhone 5 broke and this is so good. I've never posted before, but this is such a great deal and I was able to unlock it through Telstra Chat. Bought mine from JB HiFi and updating iOS now.
For those who called and got Telstra to unlock, I suggest testing it out. What happened in my situation is I got someone who's probably not experience in unlocking phones. She tried couple of times had issue with the IMEI I gave and finally said its unlock on a third try but I am guessing she couldn't do it lied and said I will get a text from Telstra which I can click if I still have issues but never did.
Ended up calling Telstra again the following day and got someone who knew what to do and got it unlock. However, I needed to connect the phone to iTunes for the unlock process to complete when I was told I just needed a wifi connection.
Been told twice on chat to call a number for unlock and called the number to be told there is a cost.
Used the link above so hopefully it works.
Consult just called me back and apologised for wanting to charge as she just confirmed it is free and has unlocked.
Now to test.
With the link above, did you have to do anything on iTunes after, or was it unlocked straight off the bat?
Not sure as the call centre ended up doing mine. No iTunes needed.
okay, thanks for the response!
Do Harvey Norman stock these? Could be used with Amex offer.
As in price match? Does that work for locked phones? Someone said not
No I meant, do HN sell the Telstra prepaid ones? At same price? They do have several others under Telstra prepaid but not this one.
Will try to find out.
Yeh wonder if you found a rookie salesman if they wouldn't click it was telstra locked (in name only) and price match this
http://www.harveynorman.com.au/phones-accessories-gps/phones…
No need to price match at OW: they are selling for $448 - I bought one today.
Link: https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/telstra-ip…
From my experience:
Make sure staff scan the prepaid SIM barcode not the phone itself or it won't come up at $448 on the register
These phones are kept in the back room not on display so get a Staff Member to fetch once you have confirmed availability before you go
At the officeworks I went to they had a big sign on the iphone display advertising this deal.
https://www.target.com.au/p/telstra-iphone-se-4g-32gb-mobile…
Target now selling, no indication on website that it's a prepaid phone.
Does Harvey Norman have a price match policy? Seems like a good deal with the $50 off amex offer.
Could try, but having Telstra on the title will most likely give it away as being a prepaid phone.
Girlfriend bought one on the weekend and got it unlocked for free by ringing some telstra/apple number that the telstra store game us.
Purchased one today for $426.00 and unlocked via Telstra chat in about 10 mins…..Awesome….Now to get my GST back on my trip to NZ in 3 weeks
Did you use JB Gift Card?
No my daughters BF works there….just shows staff don't get too much of a discount.
still 5% is not bad :)
Last iPhone I had that was network locked to Telstra was unlocked for free.
It was a few years ago now, but I called them, told them I was going to the US on holiday and wanted to use a local SIM card there.
Maybe things have changed?