# I Phone



## !RAY (21 Feb 2008)

Hi
I am going to the USA in as few week if i buy a Iphone there will i be able to use it here .I have heard that you need a American Sim Card.
Thanks
!Ray


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## wishbone (21 Feb 2008)

I heard that the EU operators at least are locking the phones to their own networks without the option of unlocking it - so you might just want to make sure that if you do get it that you will be able to use it here with an Irish SIM.


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## Chris (21 Feb 2008)

You would need an unlocked phone, and as far as I'm aware, unlocked iPhones are not available in the US. I think you can get them in France, but it'll cost you about €1k.


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## mathepac (21 Feb 2008)

"Real" iPhones in the US are only available with a contract from Apple's  network supplier partner, Verizon, IIRC. There are companies who will claim to unlock iPhones but you will lose certain functions.

Unlocked grey market iPhones in the US may not do what they say on the tin and tend to be dearer than those from approved sources.

The iPhone will be available around May in Ireland, or are available from approved sources in the UK, Apple Stores, O2 and their various resellers.


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## eimear25 (21 Feb 2008)

You'll get loads of info on this on boards.ie
It won't work here but if you can manage to unlock it will work with your Irish sim


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## truthseeker (21 Feb 2008)

ive been wondering about iphones, a couple of people have shown them to me recently, i never even thought to ask how they happened to have them as id no idea they werent available until i asked vodafone.
how are these people using them if they wont work here?


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## eimear25 (21 Feb 2008)

They have them illegally!! You can only make them work here by hacking into them


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## bankrupt (21 Feb 2008)

eimear25 said:


> They have them illegally!! You can only make them work here by hacking into them



Presumably it is not illegal to alter a device that you own?


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## mathepac (21 Feb 2008)

truthseeker said:


> ...how are these people using them if they wont work here?


Who said they won't work here?


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## Tuesday (21 Feb 2008)

The Iphone will work here if it is successfully unlocked, there are numberous websites which details instructions on how to do this, you need to be careful which firmware is on the phone though, iPhone's with firmware version 1.1.2 can be unlocked, but i'm not sure if you are able to unlock 1.1.3 yet, so if you are buying one stateside, with a view to unlocking it, you need to do some research on the firmware that it has.


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## truthseeker (21 Feb 2008)

eimear25 said:


> You'll get loads of info on this on boards.ie
> It won't work here but if you can manage to unlock it will work with your Irish sim


 
Mathepac - My understanding of above was that it wont work here?


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## mathepac (21 Feb 2008)

truthseeker said:


> Mathepac - My understanding of above was that it wont work here?


Sorry, the post you refer to is inaccurate, I missed it; it will almost certainly work here as an expensive unlocked phone with no warranty or manufacturer's support, but some functions may be lost (e.g. iTunes access and syncing with Apple products), depending on who does the unautorised unlocking and how they achieve that.


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## truthseeker (21 Feb 2008)

mathepac said:


> Sorry, the post you refer to is inaccurate, I missed it; it will almost certainly work here as an expensive unlocked phone with no warranty or manufacturer's support, but some functions may be lost (e.g. iTunes access and syncing with Apple products), depending on who does the unautorised unlocking and how they achieve that.


 
Ah I see - thanks for that - best wait til May and they are available here legitimately I think.

A friend who works in a large mobile phone company seems to think they are the next benchmark of mobile phone technology.


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## mathepac (21 Feb 2008)

truthseeker said:


> ...A friend who works in a large mobile phone company seems to think they are the next benchmark of mobile phone technology.


I'd agree with your friend, and at the forecast prices here they would want to be!

The competition are scrambling to compete with the iPhone, but so far they don't seem to making much inroad into sales in the US at least.


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## colm (21 Feb 2008)

mathepac said:


> "Real" iPhones in the US are only available with a contract from Apple's network supplier partner, Verizon, IIRC. There are companies who will claim to unlock iPhones but you will lose certain functions.
> 
> Unlocked grey market iPhones in the US may not do what they say on the tin and tend to be dearer than those from approved sources.
> 
> The iPhone will be available around May in Ireland, or are available from approved sources in the UK, Apple Stores, O2 and their various resellers.


Real iPones??? Please explain what features you think you will lose.


eimear25 said:


> They have them illegally!! You can only make them work here by hacking into them


 
What law is being broken here exactly???
If I buy an item & wish to take it apart or install 3rd party software what am I doing illegal?

The networks know at any given time exactly what phone you are using & its serial number etc....
No one from Vodafone has call to me & said stop using that phone on our network...............Oh yeah!!! cause I am paying them ...!!




truthseeker said:


> Ah I see - thanks for that - best wait til May and they are available here legitimately I think.
> 
> A friend who works in a large mobile phone company seems to think they are the next benchmark of mobile phone technology.


 
Again legitimately?? there is nothing illegitimate about buying an iphone & unlocking it.
Wait for them to come out here if you wish but you will be limited to either O2 or Vodafone , whichever gets the contract. I would also imagine you will be charged about €1000 for the privledge of having it sim free. A process that takes about 5 minutes BTW and is perfectly legal.
You dont need to pay anyone to unlocke them the information is frelly available.


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## truthseeker (21 Feb 2008)

colm said:


> Wait for them to come out here if you wish but you will be limited to either O2 or Vodafone , whichever gets the contract. I would also imagine you will be charged about €1000 for the privledge of having it sim free. A process that takes about 5 minutes BTW and is perfectly legal.


 
Why would you want it sim free? If you bought it off your network provider surely it wouldnt matter if it was sim locked as itd be for your own personal usage anyway?


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## colm (21 Feb 2008)

You dont have to have it sim free ofcourse.. But its nice to have a choice.
Either way I rekon we will be ripped off over here with the price. $300- $400 should convert to €214- €290
What do you think????


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## Chris (22 Feb 2008)

Even though it is not illegal to 'hack' the iPhone, keep in mind, that if something goes wrong with it Apple will NOT repair it, not even at a charge.
Friend of mind brought one back from the US after Christmas, and after a few weeks started having trouble with the display. Sent it to a friend in the US to try and get it repaired, but was told by Apple that it had been hacked and they would not repair it, even if he paid for it.
I'm sure that some people will argue that this is illegal behaviour on Apple's part, but who's going to pay a lawyer to go to court over a $400 device.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2008)

It's not illegal for manufacturer's to void warranties if their product has been tampered with!


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## colm (22 Feb 2008)

Chris said:


> Even though it is not illegal to 'hack' the iPhone, keep in mind, that if something goes wrong with it Apple will NOT repair it, not even at a charge.
> Friend of mind brought one back from the US after Christmas, and after a few weeks started having trouble with the display. Sent it to a friend in the US to try and get it repaired, but was told by Apple that it had been hacked and they would not repair it, even if he paid for it.
> I'm sure that some people will argue that this is illegal behaviour on Apple's part, but who's going to pay a lawyer to go to court over a $400 device.


 
As Clubman says they have the right to void warranties if the phone has been tampered with . However as of version 1.1.3 all unlocking & jailbreaking is software based, so is compleatly reversible. ie. your iPone can be fully restored to factory settings. The cases like the one you mention refer to hardware hacking where the phone has been physically opened & componants physically changed or altered.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2008)

colm said:


> However as of version 1.1.3 all ... jailbreaking is software based, so is compleatly reversible.


Eh?!


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## colm (22 Feb 2008)

_*Jailbreaking*_ is the term used to gain read write access to the iPhone's file system.
This enables you to install 3rd party software onto the phone.
Something all other phone manufactures allow you to do anyway.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2008)

OK - thanks for that!


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## Deirdra (22 Feb 2008)

The best phone I've ever had. Can't recommend it enough as it is so user friendly. Mine came from Hong Kong, SIM free.


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## Guest124 (28 Feb 2008)

The eagle has landed -well kinda -you get the idea!


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## colm (28 Feb 2008)

More like the Vultures are circling


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## mathepac (28 Feb 2008)

Yippee! only 15 days to iPhone day! Danuta was interviewed by Matt Cooper this evening and got promised an iPhone on air; for the rest of the interview he sounded like Danuta's straight-man.

Prices and packages don't sound too outrageous and  as a self-confessed non tech-head Danuta seemed to know her stuff, which was unrehearsed of course, as it always is in these live radio scenarios.

So long Vodafone, its been great, but its time for both of us to move on.

I have no connection with Apple, O2, Danuta Gray or Matt Cooper.


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## colm (29 Feb 2008)

I think those prices are too steep.
We are also the only country with the 1gig cap
compare the text & voice bundle with O2 uk & you will see what I mean,
There is no reason why we should be given less for the same price..
Then again we live in rip off Ireland.
Also no visual voicemail in Ireland either. (this is one of the main features of iPhone.)
Give me Jailbreak, SimFree & 3rd paty application on my iPhone anyday.
I,m sticking with ready to go on Vodafone with my iPhone
O2 wont be getting my money!


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## aircobra19 (29 Feb 2008)

The iPhone really needs a decent data package to make it work IMO. 3G seems to have the only half decent data packages.


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## aircobra19 (29 Feb 2008)

3G iPhone Six Months Away
[broken link removed]


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## dglav (3 Mar 2008)

I would urge all people interested in using an Apple iphone to email O2 to complain at our disappointment of the Higher tariffs that are to be charged in Ireland, and maybe if enough people complain we might get them to change their mind and increase the amount of minutes for the cost involved.


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## colm (3 Mar 2008)

Why not just buy one up the north & unlock it.??
If everyone does this both the networks & Apple will soon get the message.


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## aircobra19 (3 Mar 2008)

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0303/iphone.html
http://www.clubmac.ie/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=15956#Post15956

Complain to Comreg. 

That said its typical of Apple to do something like this.


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## colm (4 Mar 2008)

Also typical of Irish networks to up the price & reduce the allowance.


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## aircobra19 (4 Mar 2008)

True


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## z103 (4 Mar 2008)

€400 for a phone. I won't be buying one.


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## Jack The Lad (4 Mar 2008)

To be honest the iPhone as we know it was unveiled over a year ago. It's a very cool piece of hardware, but it does have limitations compared to, say the Nokia N96 (comming soon)... average enough camera, no video recording, have to send iphone back to Mac to change battery, no 3G, no SD card etc, etc..

These limitations have been loudly criticised since it's release... so taking all that into account, and based on the original iPod's introduction and subsequent development, I'm guessing there's an iPhone 2 in the works sometime between June and Jan '09. Anyone who buys an iPhone now, and gets locked into a contract, is going to feel well peeved if/when it arrives.

Personally I say hold off until then if you can... if enough punters do that, maybe even make 02 nervous enough to drop numbers- then pounce when it arrives.

That's what I'm doing anyway.


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## Blueberry08 (4 Mar 2008)

It was interesting to read some of the responses from non-Irish iPhone owners on macrumors.com to the charges Irish owners will pay - they were astounded. Truly, we're screwed at every turn, so to speak o).


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## aircobra19 (4 Mar 2008)

I'm with Jack the Lad on this one. As a phone its very limited compared to other phones, or PDA's for that matter. With our poor mobile data tariffs its even more limited. I've used the iPod Touch, and I thought it was cool. But then I was thinking its really only a web browser with a media player. As a music player it also is limited. I feel the same about the iPhone. 

It is cool though.


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## Jack The Lad (4 Mar 2008)

aircobra19 said:


> I'm with Jack the Lad on this one. ...
> 
> It is cool though.


 

Ah yes... the temptation! I'm having to fight it too. Sooo shiney.... sooo nice and shiney...


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## colm (4 Mar 2008)

With the unlocking software getting easier & coming quicker after each software release I am thinking Apple are fighting a losing battle yet again!


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## Blueberry08 (4 Mar 2008)

Jack The Lad said:


> Ah yes... the temptation! I'm having to fight it too. Sooo shiney.... sooo nice and shiney...



I know how you feel. To be honest, if Apple brought out a dog turd I'd probably buy it, I'm hopelessly besotted with their products. 

But I've decided to stick with my iPod Touch (the greatest invention since the wheel ) and my trusty Nokia 6230i, or whatever it's called. I've had fancy phones in the past and they let me down a bagful, all I want is one that is gimmick-free and WORKS!

And apart from anything the Irish charges/tariffs for the iPhone are so outrageous, compared to the rest of the world, I'll be happy not to sign up to such a swindle.


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## rmelly (7 Mar 2008)

why not wait a few months for the 3G/HSDPA version that is supposedly in development and due out mid 2008 in the US.


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