So you want a cheap iPhone? You had best take your eyes off the shiny, new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Those will cost you a pretty penny for a long while yet. No, instead the cheapest iPhone in Australia’s brick-and-mortar universe right now comes from JB Hi-Fi: $499 for an iPhone 5s.
JB Hi-Fi will sell you Telstra’s 16GB iPhone 5s in Space Grey (sorry, Gold lovers) for $499, which includes a $30 Telstra Pre-Paid Starter Kit.
Despite the fact that we’re talking about a three-year old phone, it’s still a great deal here. Apple sells the same phone for $749 in its online store, making JB’s deal a $250 saving.
Be wary though: if you’re not a Telstra customer, you’re going to run into some issues with this particular iPhone 5s. Because it’s a Telstra pre-paid device being resold through JB Hi-Fi means that it’s soft network locked to the carrier. Telstra charges up to $150 to unlock a new pre-paid device, which would bring the total price of the device up to $649. Still, that’s $100 you’re saving by not buying it through Apple.
The second catch is that you can’t get the deal online: you’ll have to go in-store to get your hands on it. It’s also worth pointing out that if JB Hi-Fi sell out, Telstra have them in stock for the same price as well.