US Iphone

C

cj10jeeper

Lifer
 Lichfield, England
Guys,

I'm just about to buy and iPhone to replace my much loved but now 15 month old Blackberry Pearl

Instead of the UK standard £275 and contract limited to O2 I happen to be working in the US from the end of next week so wondered if a US iphone would work in the UK?

If it's quad band it should work in any country - right? Sure the charger will be different but I tend to use USB charging anyway.

Are US iphones locked to a specific network or only available in a US package deal?

Thoughts appreciated before I buy one here in the UK or wait and screw up with a US phone in a weeks time only to find it won't work on a UK SIM

Thanks
 
My tri-band motorola worked perfectly fine in Europe, so I would imagine that the iPhone would work just as well, unless the UK has some other silly rule regarding their phone networks. :)
 
Don't the US ones use EDGE instead of 3G, or is that the case for all Iphones? Having never really wanted one I didn't look into it that much, but I had a feeling some if not all were not 3G.
 
None of them are 3G yet, although I think Iphone mk2 is meant to be 3G. I want one but not until the O2 monopoly here has been sorted.
 
iPhones only work on the AT&T network over here. I'd love to see one that worked on Verizon's network but no clue on when/if something like could happen soon.

The press release last fall from the NY Times suggests that the iPhone has similar carrier constraints in your neck of the woods as well:

Steven P. Jobs, the Apple chief executive, said the iPhone would become available to British consumers in November in an exclusive arrangement with O2, a mobile network operator owned by Telefónica of Spain. Similar deals are expected to be announced with the T-Mobile subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom in Germany and with the Orange unit of France Télécom.

Full article: NY Times
 
OK so what I now gather is that the US phones are locked to AT&T which is not disimilar to the UK Apple/O2 deal, so in many ways no real benefit there unless I were to source a US phone and then have it unlocked.

Given that Apple US seems to be at around $400 and the UK at £280 ($560) then probably not worth all the hassle of warranties, and unlocking etc.

Mike - a MKII?? When I asked about this at Apple they told me a major OS software upgrade was released in June, but the phone was the same so I could buy now and it would not be surpassed in a few months. Does thius ring true or do oyu know more?
 
Not really an expert on it, but I do know that 3G will be here sooner rather than later, this link is a bit old so there may be some newer news on the subject.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3460650.ece

Apple gears up for June launch of 3G iPhone - Analysts have suggested that Apple is working towards a mid-year launch date for the much-anticipated 3G iPhone
Click to expand...

I think Steve Jobs has already confirmed 3G is coming, so it's just a matter of when, not if.
 
I have to admit I've bought two Last week :oops:

They are the most amazing things ever... I got mine from Carphone Craphouse. If you go in and get them as gifts they are not registered, and you can unlock them easily. Be it right or wrong I used ZiPhone, it was a one button press and job done. I'm using them on my current Orange contract.

As to the 3G thing........ I guess the answer is yes, at some point there will be a 3g version, as to when it's not yet known. There will be a major software update towards the back end of this year and I'd expect the phone to follow about xmas time.

To be honest you want to connect to a WiFi connection anyway, I do mine through Cloud for £9 for 24hrs or piggy back someones open network :thumbsup:

The only down side is that some ( banking ) sites do a security check to make sure your running IE, so these don't work at the moment.... :evil: But people are pushing to remove this as we should not be locked to a Microsoft browser anyway....

But I 100% love my iPhone, even my Mrs who hates things like this has not stopped using hers, she loves it.

I bought the 16gb ones for £285 as I had a discount voucher :D
 
iphones are one of the best inventions ever! :thumbsup:
on a side note...I read somewhere that if you unlock the phone you can not get the updates. Might want to check on that.
 
It also comes down to what protocol/system the phone uses. Verizon uses the a CDMA network. AT&T uses GSM, which is what 95% of Europe uses....
Verizon is supposed to be opening up their network to allow all phones to work but I don't think that has happened yet.

With CDMA, the phone network relies on your ESN number burned into the phone and your ESN number will be normally located on a sticker under the battery. Sorta like a MAC address.
With this approach, you can login to your Cell account online and just update your phone number with the new ESN and in about three minutes that new phone is now on the grid and the old phone is now a disabled. (I have done this numerous times with numerous phones on the Verizon network)

GSM uses a SIM chip encoded with all your info, so theoretically you can just pop your SIM chip out and place it in a new phone and it should work... Never done this so I have no first hand knowledge.
 
Shipkiller said:
GSM uses a SIM chip encoded with all your info, so theoretically you can just pop your SIM chip out and place it in a new phone and it should work... Never done this so I have no first hand knowledge.
Click to expand...
You are correct, sir.

... IF the phone is unlocked from the carrier
 
iPhones do not work unless they are activated, dropping your SIM card in does nothing, this is why they must be unlocked. This fools the phone into thinking it's registered and thus allowing your normal SIM to work. It's an Apple software lock to enable the phone to function. :tumbleweed:

You can get the updates, you just have to wait for them to be unlocked. It's already rumored that they have done so with the new 2.0 release of software !

If you goto http://www.modmyifone.com there is plenty of info out there :thumbsup:
 
Thanks guys - looked into it in more detail and frankly with the US phones locked to AT&T and UK to O2 and being now out of my existing contract I opted for the straightforward Apple shop supplied iPhone on O2 with all thee advantages it carries. No worries about the unlocking, lack of support at Apple, etc. although I know the unlocking is easy with friends having the programme.

Bringing one in from the US became less interesting in the end.

Anyway had it a few hours and love it already. Even better whern I can use it to make calls... :)
 
In case anyone is interested in one on O2:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/171022/iphone-price-reduced-to-169-from-to/
 
pvr said:
Have you found out yet about the 5 hour battery time? :evil:
Click to expand...

Yep - I have - and I can drive it from my laptop battery, so I now have 3 gb of material to watch and listen to on the plane Saturday
Biggest worry is can I hold an iPhone in a viewing position for an 11 hour flight... :rofl:

Only slightly pissed that they reduced the price of the 8gb by £100 less that 48 hours after I purchased and that o2 has poor reception in my area. May raise this wih them when I get home
 
Just got this off of Slashdot.

"The Times Online reports that European sellers of the iPhone are braced for 'significant losses' on unsold inventories of first-generation iPhones which must be cleared away for the new 3G versions expected in June. The three European distributors of the iPhone 'sold 330,000 units to the end of December, but industry sources say that European sales of the iPhone were forecast to be between 500,000 and 600,000.'"
 
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