Apple iPhone - purchase in the US to use in the UK?

Okay Dennis, Paul, and whoever else knowledgeable about these things :

iPhone is coming out in the States 29 June... I haven't seen when it will be available here in the UK.
While I know it will overall provide usage anywhere in the world, am I being smart by asking someone in the US to get it for me and bring it back to use here in the UK?  Or will I be asking for trouble in re-configuring any initial set-ups?
I'm assuming I can buy the phone independently of any contract, then choose a contract to go with the phone... correct?

Bottom line:
1 - should I purchase it in the US
2 - if so, what sorts of different things (configurations, adjustments) need to be made in order to use it in the UK

I have a quadband phone I use now, but realized the hard way when I went home that, though easy enough to just use as normal under my UK number, it was LOCKED by the company under which I got the phone with the contract.  So not only do I want this iPhone, I also want a phone that is mine to use for a long time without being tied to any one company/contract.

Thank you!
 E.

I don't know about the iPhone, but it's simple enough to get your current phone unlocked, especially here in the UK.  There are loads of shops around that will unlock your phone for you..places that sell phone accessories and such.

Ok, thank you...
But if the phone is not 'linked' or locked in with a provider... is it basically the same to use in the UK as the US?  Just buy it and then find a good contract?

Ok, thank you...
But if the phone is not 'linked' or locked in with a provider... is it basically the same to use in the UK as the US?  Just buy it and then find a good contract?

if you've got an unlocked phone, you can use any sim card with any provider, whether pay as you go or contract..it's completely up to you. And yeah, if it's tri or quadband that goes for both the US and the UK (or any other country!)

Cool
That's what I thought... but then I always pause when I think it's that simple; surely I'll run into some issue I hadn't thought about!

Thanks Andrea

Hi Elizabeth!

Lots of noise about this iphone! i'll wait till much later when people start selling them off on ebay and see if it's actually any good and hopefully pickup a bargain! (i'm doing the same with the PS3 lets see how much Sony drop it's price as currently the Wii has stolen its thunder bigtime!)

Looking on some sites the price over in the US varies depending how much inbuilt storage you want $499 for the 4GB and $599 for the 8GB (disappointed it doesnt offer additional storage via a mini or micro SD card....) so it's 'relatively' expensive for a 'Snazzy' looking but average features based device even over in the US.

So far, the main thing sticking in my mind is that those prices include a contract with a US airtime provider, so you have to pay that..  for TWO years! a 24 month contract! wow..  talk about 'tying you in! - I wonder how much the monthly payment for the plans are?

So, technically, yes it sounds like you can get the phone over there and bring it here, however, I can't currently find any info as to if the iphone is 'locked' to Cingular as they have exclusive rights to it when launched in a few weeks. If so, then you have to find someone who's willing or even capable of 'unlocking' it. I seem to recall that T mobile USA would only unlock a phone from it's network 2 months after cessation of the contract - so maybe Cingular do the same? - something for you to call up cingular customer services and ask em.

If the phone isn't unlocked then cool - it supports the GSM standard we have here (and all the others for world usage)

I have a sneaky suspicion that cingular won't really allow many early contract ceasations (is that the right sp and word?!!) willy nilly and will control that quite well at least until the product launches here and the rest of the world maybe in order to control precisely what you want to do - they want that 2 years of dosh !!!

So some homework for you, if you can get out of the contract early and can afford to pay the contract off in the USA, get the phone over here, and pay up for a contract here you should be all good to go with being one of the first in the UK to have an Iphone!

Euro launch is slated for 'Q4' so you'll be 'exclusive' for 3 months!!

So, I have to ask, is it actually worth it? you might as well pay the money you have to to cut the contract there and put it towards a plan here when it's launched and maybe even port your current number across to it ...


here's the URL of the page i was reading from
http://www.mobilewhack.com/handset/apple_iphone.html

Let us know what you find out and decide to do!

Hope that helped!

Cheers! Dennis! West London & Slough UK!

Hi again

Well, Elizabeth..  looks like your plan will be foiled from the get up!

Scroll down that page I referenced and you'll see lots of comments posted up about the phone. It's mainly users saying 'how cool it is' and how 'they will get one' etc

But a Posting on June 11th shows up some of iphones rather ludicrous shortcomings.

1. If the guy who posted that is right - then the iphone doesnt have a Mini SIM slot, so you can't put your current SIM card in anywhere! - that means they've in effect 'locked' the phone to it's carrier! - terrible!

2. No user removable battery - again if the guy is right - this is beyond belief! as as he points out, what if your power levels falls and your not near a socket? Apple say 'tough sh@t - go find another phone cos you're not using this until it's charged!' - terrible!

3. I'm dubious about his claim that there's no mini USB connector slot to sync with a MAC or PC - if this indeed is the case and Apple want you to sync/download of movies/songs etc to the iphone ONLY via your data plan - then whats the point of having a 'consumer' phone? seems like they want you to upgrade to wireless technologies on your MAC for that to happen - ludicrous!

4. The poster already gives you the figures for coming out of contract - that was to be expected anyway.

5. Lack of expandable storage, no stylus and data entry points - I already mentioned that 8GB is stingy nowadays, but that fits in well with Apple seemingly wanting you to buy everything off their site, and you can only transfer stuff you've already got if you have a wireless connection to your MAC ! - no stylus, ok, only customer/user feedback once the device is in use will see if thats a postivie or negative (i'd think its negative) and leading from that, the data input is likely to be more difficult when trying to press certain letters and you keep hitting the wrong one! but again, feedback once the device is being used will see how successful that feature is.

Overall, so far these are pretty bad shortcomings in such an 'expensive' phone - i seem to recall a rather distasteful episode where the batteries in ipods didn't exactly last long - so they shouldn't have done the same for this kit, it's likely to suck up battery power with all that wireless bluetooth or wifi going on!

I'll have a look around other sites to see if indeed those claims are true - but from that post(er) the iphone (to me) certainly loses alot of appeal if he's right..

Cheers! Dennis! West London & Slough UK!

Yeah... I've heard that the phone will not be able to be "unlocked" and will only be available for use with the Cingular/Now ATT services. Lame. It's the same with my sidekick. They say they will not unlock it because it supposedly can't be unlocked. Even if I go from TMobile US to TMobile UK, I can't use it or get it unlocked.

 
alrighty then.

Man. See, thinking I've read some stuff about it, I KNEW there would be something (let alone SEVERAL things) I wasn't even aware of.
In my ignorance, I just thought Mac was Mac, and you could buy the phone from Mac, hence choosing your own plan...

And part of me has been thinking it's always best to wait a while after something's been out on the market, tested and recalled and improved, etc.  before spending the money.

Hey, took me two years to get an iPod, sevaral more to go back from Windows to Mac... so knowing all this, I think I'll be a grown up and wait a bit .

Dennis, you ask if your info helped??!?!?!?
Um, YAH. 
Many thanks for all that!

Well, I have to confess that until reading the link Dennis provided I had not bothered to investigate the details of this new product, mainly through having very little personal interest in it myself.

The contract issue is certainly a stinger, along with some of the other concerns about accessibility of the battery, etc.  There's also the point to consider that with a unit as complex as this, it's not at all unusual for quite serious software bugs to be discovered in the early releases, and revisions over the first few months of a product's life often iron out these early problems. 

if you've got an unlocked phone, you can use any sim card with any provider, whether pay as you go or contract..it's completely up to you. And yeah, if it's tri or quadband that goes for both the US and the UK (or any other country!)

The iPhone specifications state quad-band, so no problem here, but for any phones advertised as tri-band do keep in mind that this can mean different things in different places.  Basically, the U.K. uses 900 and 1800 while the U.S. uses 850 and 1900 MHz. 

A tri-band U.K. phone probably means that it covers 900, 1800, and 1900.  Tri-band in the U.S. is most likely to mean 850, 900, and 1900, which means that it will work in the U.K., but not with full coverage.  In fact you wouldn't be able to use it on some networks at all (those which are 1800 exclusively).

Elizabeth, here are a few video clips about the iPhone in case you weren't clear on all the features.   

LOL.  Thanks for that.
Yeah, the 20 minutes does concern me!

Hi Elizabeth,

glad it helped!

Like anything there's always plus points and negative points, it's a matter of evaluating them for your own personal requirements. Apple does 'seem' to have shot itself in the foot for some features and lack of with this forthcoming product, but as it's aimed at consumer's who want to appear 'cool' above all other requirements, I'm sure it'll do well!

I've posted on another board as well as a snippet or two here on UKY about the whole Windows Vs Mac debate and I'm going to run a 'real world' test for myself and my needs soon to see if the MAC really is (for me!) worth all that hype!

So are you gonna wait till it's released over here ?! or wait till it's been out a while and wait for the inevitable price reductions?!

Cheers! Dennis! West London & Slough UK!

Yes, and yes.


I think that's the smartest way to play it.


(And I love, love LOVE my Mac!  Much more than I ever did my pc)