Nope.. even if you get an iphone 3GS from US it will never be officially unlocked. AT&T has this evil plan of selling the iphone without contracts but yet keep it lock so that you will still have to sign on a plan with them. They have only announced the price and that they will sell it but I don't think they have officially announced when. Took them over a year to finally sell the 3G without contracts.

Unlock & Jailbreak for 3GS has been released so you can still unlock it yourself to use in Malaysia if you buy one from US.

Back in 2007, I got my iphone 2G for USD399 without contract but it was locked. So I had to use the unlock method released by GeoHot. It was an overpriced ipod touch for a few months until GeoHot cracked it. Back then it was worth it because it was only RM1.3K++ and wasn't sold officially in Malaysia. Lowyat was selling for nearly RM3K.

I was also considering getting it the 3GS unit from US but their price for iphone without contract is USD599 for the 16GB and USD699 for the 32GB so it is actually not that much difference compared to Maxis IF they maintain the RM2450 price for the 3G 8GB to 3GS 16GB and RM2960 for 32GB. With the exchange rate at 3.5 it is better to just get it from Maxis with the 1yr warranty and it being unlocked coz the difference will be like Rm200-300.

So my advice would be just wait for Maxis to announce their price this month (if they decide to start selling the 3GS units).. or singapore then compare the rates. If it's not too much difference, having an officially unlocked phone will save a lot of hassle.

This post has been edited by Doppelgriff: Jul 4 2009, 11:15 PM