Black Market Phone Enquiry

javasatu

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Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
69
I am planning to go back to the states and planning buy the latest unlocked Apple Iphone and use in Indonesia.

Does anyone in this forum know if the unlocked Iphone will work in Indonesia? I heard that once the passenger arrived at the Soekarno Hatta International airport, the passenger need to pay the customs duties and register the IMEI number in order for the unregistered phone to work.

Any insight or information regarding the above will be highly grateful.
 
You heard right. You will need to pay the tax. And some of the Apple functions won't work here if you registered it there
 
 
I am planning to go back to the states and planning buy the latest unlocked Apple Iphone and use in Indonesia.

Does anyone in this forum know if the unlocked Iphone will work in Indonesia? I heard that once the passenger arrived at the Soekarno Hatta International airport, the passenger need to pay the customs duties and register the IMEI number in order for the unregistered phone to work.

Any insight or information regarding the above will be highly grateful.
I believe the exemption for phones brought in-person is US$500. You can also only bring in a maximum of 2 phones per person.

You can register your phone here.

 
Thanks for the information. I found a website that specified the process and taxes involved to bring a handphone to Indonesia. I conducted a comparison (Apple to Apple) and the Iphone 12 Max with 128gb in the states and in Jakarta, the savings will be only +/-$200.00. Then need to pay the taxes and register the phone, not all apps functions will work and warranty issues. As a result, seems that buying an Apple phone in Jakarta is more economical and less headache.

 
As a result, seems that buying an Apple phone in Jakarta is more economical and less headache.
That's the same conclusion I made a few months ago. Customs has a track record of always winning big with me so I try to leave them out of everything that I can. Warranty is also something you want to think about. Hopefully nothing goes wrong but if it did...
 
I would just buy the phone here. The warranty issues alone, you'll want the fully-backed warranty for such a costly piece of technology. Especially one that you'll use for a multitude of tasks and entertainment.
 
I couldn't live with a physical keyboard (read: Blackberry's Keyboard)...so I was tempted to buy a KeyOne or KeyTwo to replace my lagging, aging Priv...in a perfect world, yes I would follow the government's suggestion of declaring through customs and registering it...but god forbid I come across a naughty officer who wants to make it harder on me to make a quick rupiah...so I decided to learn to like a touchscreen keyboard. Not sure what I'm gonna switch my Priv to next....it's showing its age for sure.
 
I have BlackBerry keyone I bought brand new from Ambs in 2018
Waiting for mid year for the new 5G replacement

A new company has the licence now

I also hate touch screen and much prefer physical keys. I'm a very fast typer and touch screen response is too slow and jakarta bumpy roads and fat bule fingers don't mix well with an iPhone touch screen
 
Nice specs...but damn $775 and it was already painful for me to pay 9 mill for my Priv back in 2017 (i think around June when Whatsapp finally stopped working on my Classic). I tried searching for a new Key2 or maybe Key2 LE last year through Tokopedia..couldn't find it...if you happen to have a trusted source (either an online shop/toped or offline, I'd appreciate a help..)
 
My iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB would cost $400 (30%) extra in Indonesia, but for that I get official support for 1 year and no hassle by the tax man. I think the peace of mind is worth it if I live in Indonesia.

FYI most iPhone 12 models today have a display issue. Their black is not true black as expected from an OLED screen, except at the lowest and the highest levels of brightness. Apple is supposed to deploy a fix in iOS 14.5, but the beta testers say it’s not working for everybody. If you can wait 5 months for the next iPhone, it’s a better option. This defect doesn’t bother me too much because my screen is on most of the time anyway, but paying $1300+ for a brand new Apple product having a minor defect still sucks.
 
FYI most iPhone 12 models today have a display issue. Their black is not true black as expected from an OLED screen, except at the lowest and the highest levels of brightness.
I am not having that problem with my iPhone 12 mini. I wonder what is causing the issue on some phones but not all? Strange but surely fixable by Apple in the future. Still it's not fun to feel like a beta tester.
 
I am not having that problem with my iPhone 12 mini. I wonder what is causing the issue on some phones but not all? Strange but surely fixable by Apple in the future. Still it's not fun to feel like a beta tester.
Apple tries to downplay the issue because few people notice, so they are purposely vague on it. My best guess is a firmware or OS-level bug. The hardware is capable of true black, it just doesn’t do it for mid-range brightness. My guess is it’s related to the auto brightness setting, because I can see the screen changing when I cover the ambient light sensor on the notch. Apple still sells LED phones (iPhones 11, XR, and SE) that require backlight adjustment for auto brightness, so it could be an LED setting that accidentally got applied to OLED models.
 

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