Buying an iphone before I can use it as a phone

needthephone said:

I willl probaly be going to the US in July. AS I live in Australia can I buy an iphone over in the States and take it back?? For me the phone bit is the least attractive part of what it can do. I will take the wifi, ipod and email before I can use the phone.

So is it possible can I buy one and take it back to OZ, if I sign up for a2 year deal with cingular??

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Cingular may not let you sign up for service unless you have a US billing address.

mojohanna said:

Cingular may not let you sign up for service unless you have a US billing address.

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I suspect there will be contract-free iPhones for sale on eBay by then. It only costs $150 or so to get out of your contract, so you may be able to buy an iPhone for $750 or so.

wordmunger said:

I suspect there will be contract-free iPhones for sale on eBay by then. It only costs $150 or so to get out of your contract, so you may be able to buy an iPhone for $750 or so.

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That may not apply in the case of the iPhone. That's the model for service-provider-subsidized phones, where they sell the phone cheap to make their money back (and then some) on the service. Apple seems to have made it clear that they don't want this to be the model for the iPhone, because it gives the service provider too much control over the sales and service of the hardware. In fact I seem to recall hearing that it would be the other way around with the iPhone -- buy the expensive phone up front and get subsidized service.

Of course we'll have to wait and see how it pans out, but it just might work out for people who want the phone without the service.

Will the phone work WITHOUT service? I had a phone with Palm a long while ago and it won't get past the setup without a valid signal from the phone carrier...

gkarris said:

Will the phone work WITHOUT service? I had a phone with Palm a long while ago and it won't get past the setup without a valid signal from the phone carrier...

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In my past experience that's typical with GSM phones... My Nokia also just sat at the "Please insert a SIM card" screen and pouted.

But the with Apple's product, who knows?

considering that the iPhone will be lock to a carrier it would not work in another country where cingular is not since it has to be a cingular phone.
so no point to buy it here and take it to your home country

I simply just don't understand the number of threads asking questions about a device that isn't available yet, and which little information is available. People want to know if they can do this or that. This is the 3rd thread this week asking the same question. Please search first. And then be patient. Not to be harsh, but I find myself thinking, you've got to be kidding me.

gkarris said:

Will the phone work WITHOUT service?...

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I think the question was more like: will the non-phone features of the device (wi-fi, iPod, camera, photo viewer, calendar, etc) be useable when the phone is outside of its service area? I sure hope so. If I buy one of these things and happen to take it somewhere where there's no Cingular coverage (like deep into a national park) I hope all the other features don't totally lock up on me!

Given that, what would stop someone from buying an iPhone here, activating it, and then taking it somewhere where it gets 'no service' indefinitely? Seems kinda expensive, but it seems like it should work for all the non-phone features.

roland.g said:

I simply just don't understand the number of threads asking questions about a device that isn't available yet...

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Seems crazy, eh, yet here we are. I think we're just excited, and like talking about it.

roland.g said:

This is the 3rd thread this week asking the same question. Please search first.

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Is it? I did a search and the only thing I could find that was close was asking whether you had to buy the 2 year contract, or whether you could buy the phone unlocked, or whether you could use it with another cellular carrier. None of those is what the OP is really asking here, if you read the question carefully. They're willing to buy the 'locked' phone under contract with Cingular, and just want to know if the other features will work if they take it outside of the Cingular coverage area. I think it's a good question.

Why buy an iPhone when an iPod will do most what you want? I doubt some of the Internet features will work without a tie to Cingular, even though it does wifi.

I'd wager by July, Apple will have released a widescreen iPod with touchscreen a la iPhone but without the Phone/internet features. I'd expect 16 GB flash memory but around the same price point ($499).

With Apple's legal troubles regarding their click-wheel, Apple's looking to go touch-screen as soon as possible.