No contract, unlocked iPhone coming in January 2008 to UAE

[Magnus]

We've been told by a reliable source working in the telecommunications industry in the UAE that the iPhone will go on sale here starting January 2008 for the retail price of 3299 Dhs. That's without contract and unlocked.

This is a source we trust, but we've not confirmed it with anyone else.

[Superglue]

Hooray ! Does that mean, if we get an iPhone from US/Canada now, that it will work here from next Jan

[Magnus]

I don't think we know the answer to that Superglue. We'll try to find out, and if anyone else knows, please let us know.

You may want to wait even if they would work. Most people seem to say that for iPhone to be a success in Europe it'll have to be 3G, and that makes sense especially since EDGE is rare in Europe as far as I know, but 3G is pretty much everywhere. My guess is we'll see an updated model before it's on sale here.

[Superglue]

Many Thanks Magnus for the advise I need that time to time

[senthil03]

I heard some guy offering me a iphone unlocked at AED 4,500. Can't trust the source, but he claims that he would deliver the iphone in 2-3 weeks. Any one else got such offers..

[Magnus]

Sure, check Souq.com and you'll see iPhones being offered "unlocked". Be careful though what this "unlocking" means. Because on iPhone you have the double problem of it being tied to AT&T and you have to activate it to use it.

[Magnus]

Here's the latest update. In addition to what's in the first post in the thread, we've also learned that the iPhone that will be sold here is different than the one sold now in the US. And an iPhone bought in the US will not work here. It has to do with hardware differences. What differences exactly we've not been able to find out, but presumably 3G may be one difference.

[Appleholic]

1st of all... if someone tells u he will sell u and iPhone unlocked for whatever price, always ask for proof before buying it... cause so far, only one person was able to Unlock the phone, and that is DVD Jon... he is a well known hacker.. but here is the catch.. he only hacked it to a point where he can only Activate the phone for u to use as an iPod/WiFi device... and by placing a diffent sim card will only prompt u sim error, which u can ignor and go on playing with ur Activated but not fully functional iPhone.... so if anyOne says iPhone is Unlocked and can be used in the States is Lieing big time.. plus, this Activation unlocking that was done by DVD Jon, is cool for now... but we still dont know the conciquences of this Hack when a new update has been released by Apple in the next month or so for some nice sweet extra features, so its better to be on the safe side and wait till they have tried every posible Hack and update before getting one and unlocking it... but for a crazy Appleholic like my self, i will get one even if they never Unlock the iPhone, just because i want to collect every version of the iPhone that comes out... thats how dedicated i am to Apple i will Activate it in the States when i go there and then before i leave i will cancel my prepaid service and play around with it here without the phoneing capabilities... the Safe way

[Appleholic]

And yes EmiratesMac, the ASIAN version that will arive in the Middle East in January will have something Different in it... most probably 3G, because the ASIAN market is not easy to dominat and u could not dominat or get much share if u stick to older EDGE technology, and trust me Apple knows very well how hard it is going to be to please the ASIAN market if they just release a 2.5G iphone that doesnt even do Video recording off the camera... Stevo has something Up His Sleaves... its just a matter of time

[Magnus]

Stevo has something Up His Sleaves... its just a matter of time

Let's hope so!