iphone purchase without a SSN

Last July, A client of mine wanted to give me an iPhone and he wanted to give it to me in the box as a gift and not activated. So he went to an Apple store and told them what he wanted to do. They suggested a $200 gift certificate but he wanted to present me with the phone. So Apple sold him the phone for full price. When my client presented me with the phone, I grabbed my wife and went to the Apple store where they exchanged it for a gift certificate. We then purchased two phones and had them activated and we walked with a nice balance on our gift certificate. So they will sell it unactivated.

In a word, no.

The iPhone is sold in the U.S. as carrier locked with AT&T only, and none of the iPhone functions work until the iPhone is activated with AT&T with one exception - being able to place an emergency 911 call.

AT&T sells the iPhone at a no-commitment or no-contract price which is the full retail sales price, but activation with AT&T is still required when the iPhone is purchased. This is on a month to month basis without a contract so having a SSN and passing AT&T's credit check which requires a U.S. billing address is required regardless. Apple nor AT&T or any other retailer in the U.S. where the iPhone is sold officially by Apple will allow you to purchase an iPhone and walk out without activating the iPhone with AT&T.

The iPhone is sold in the U.S. as carrier locked with AT&T only, and activation with AT&T will be required when the iPhone is purchased - you need a verifiable billing address in the U.S., a SSN, and pass AT&T's credit check since the iPhone is not available under an AT&T pay-as-you-go plan.

AT&T does not officially unlock an iPhone for any reason or under any circumstances.

Apple's support and warranty for the iPhone is honored in the country where the iPhone was sold officially by Apple only. Hacking an iPhone to unlock it or for any other reason is against Apple's license agreement for the iPhone, is not supported by Apple directly or indirectly via these discussions, and voids the warranty.

You can buy it from New Zealand or Hong Kong. They sell factory unlocked iphone. The price is around 800$ for 16GB and 900$ for 32 GB 3GS. Also you can try eBay, about 1000$ per one.

But the warranty will be a problem for you.

Can i buy an iphone without a SSN?

The term “Social Security Number” is old fashioned and obsolete. It is in fact your Federal Identification Number or FID.

(Think about it, the vast majority of the time when this number is used it has nothing to do with Social Security.)

Yes, you need a Federal Identification Number or FID to buy a iPhone from Apple or AT&T in the US.

The number doesn't have much to do with "social security", but when requesting a line/number with AT&T under a post-paid account, AT&T will request your SSN. SSN may be old, but it certainly isn't obsolete because the term continues to be used by state governments when requesting unemployment benefits, for credit checks, for account verification, etc., etc.

Goes back to the 1930's I suppose.

The reason so many now call it your "Federal Identification Number" is because that is how it is used today. I am fine with the term 'Social Security Number', I just notice that most younger people call it your "FID".

I am so old that my Social Security card says "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PURPOSES -- NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION." on it. Things have changed.

If it's so obsolete why is the department that issues it called The Social Security Administration? Why does the card say Social Security on it?