Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Me too. Does that mean you can't actually get fully sim-free iPhone 5s in the UK now?

I think some stores will have them, but not in high enough supply to allow reservations. This is clearly a knock-on from yesterday when they opened up to more countries, so the UK will probably receive less shipments for a bit, hence the limited stock message. I don't see what Apple thinks they're accomplishing by opening up iPhone 5 availability to more countries, when they can't even cater to the 10 launch countries properly.
 
I think some stores will have them, but not in high enough supply to allow reservations. This is clearly a knock-on from yesterday when they opened up to more countries, so the UK will probably receive less shipments for a bit, hence the limited stock message. I don't see what Apple thinks they're accomplishing by opening up iPhone 5 availability to more countries, when they can't even cater to the 10 launch countries properly.

I don't think they could postpone their roll-out plans without taking a serious hit on their reputation. By the time the supply problems were known, it would have been too late to swap phones between markets and re-package etc.
 
I don't think they could postpone their roll-out plans without taking a serious hit on their reputation. By the time the supply problems were known, it would have been too late to swap phones between markets and re-package etc.

Supply problems were known as soon as preorders went up and should have been anticipated before that. And now the knock-on is rather than having decent stock levels in a few countries, there'll be incredibly low stock levels in many countries e.g it was reported that Ireland was only allocated 500 iPhones for the whole country, and most if not all other international orders have slipped to 3-4 weeks. I'd hardly say that was good for Apple's reputation.
 
Last edited:
Supply problems were known as soon as preorders went up and should have been anticipated before that. And now the knock-on is rather than having decent stock levels on a few countries, there'll be incredibly low stock levels in many countries e.g it was reported that Ireland was only allocated 500 iPhones, for the whole country. I'd hardly say that was good for Apple's reputation.

I'm wondering if the QC problems are greater than they anticipated. And when decisions were made probably expected Sharp to have ramped up earlier. If they've had to completely withdraw a batch from stock due to finding phones with cosmetic damage, then that will exacerbate the problem further than just replacing occasional bad phones.
 
You guys have any idea why I can't seem to pick up HDPSA on my IPhone when I could with the exact same account and exact same areas before with my SGS2?? Really weird! I can only get 3G now?
 
I think it annoys a lot of people that CarPhoneWarehouse continue to call them sim free

SIM Free means exactly that - it doesn't come with a SIM.

It has never meant that the phone is Unlocked.

In ye olde days, you couldn't buy an unlocked phone very easily, but you could buy one at full price, without a contract - i.e. SIM Free.

----------

You guys have any idea why I can't seem to pick up HDPSA on my IPhone when I could with the exact same account and exact same areas before with my SGS2?? Really weird! I can only get 3G now?

Are you talking about speeds or what the iPhone shows on the screen?

It'll always show "3G" when connected to a 3G network of any type - even one that provides HSDPA.
 
SIM Free means exactly that - it doesn't come with a SIM.

It has never meant that the phone is Unlocked.

In ye olde days, you couldn't buy an unlocked phone very easily, but you could buy one at full price, without a contract - i.e. SIM Free.

----------



Are you talking about speeds or what the iPhone shows on the screen?



It'll always show "3G" when connected to a 3G network of any type - even one that provides HSDPA.


Ahh ok. Just tested and Getting speeds of 5mb/s so don't know for sure but seems faster than 3G! Thanks
 
Has a anyone actually experienced their car phone warehouse sim free iphone locking or are you all getting your knickers in a twist about the small print on the website which most probably applies to contract subsidised phones?

In my experience all iPhones come with the ability to use any network sim in it but it will lock to the first network sim you insert. Sim free handsets never lock.
 
I'm wondering if the QC problems are greater than they anticipated. And when decisions were made probably expected Sharp to have ramped up earlier. If they've had to completely withdraw a batch from stock due to finding phones with cosmetic damage, then that will exacerbate the problem further than just replacing occasional bad phones.

That's a fair point we don't know whether they've had to scrap a batch, which would understandably lead to delays.

This whole situations makes me wonder when the iPhone 5 actually went into production, because we were seeing leaks as far back as March for the two-tone back plate so things were probably in advanced stages then. We haven't heard reports of any major roadblocks, like last year we heard the A5 was overheating in the 4S enclosure which would have delayed production. I just think Apple probably started the ramp up too late to even come close to satisfying demand. I know the iPhone is huge and that it was never going to be realistically possible to satisfy the initial demand, but I think if they're going to start getting anywhere near the demand they have to ramp up earlier. It's not as if there was anything they had to lose, the Internet already knew everything about the phone, barring FaceTime HD and improved audio.
 
That's a fair point we don't know whether they've had to scrap a batch, which would understandably lead to delays.

This whole situations makes me wonder when the iPhone 5 actually went into production, because we were seeing leaks as far back as March for the two-tone back plate so things were probably in advanced stages then. We haven't heard reports of any major roadblocks, like last year we heard the A5 was overheating in the 4S enclosure which would have delayed production. I just think Apple probably started the ramp up too late to even come close to satisfying demand. I know the iPhone is huge and that it was never going to be realistically possible to satisfy the initial demand, but I think if they're going to start getting anywhere near the demand they have to ramp up earlier. It's not as if there was anything they had to lose, the Internet already knew everything about the phone, barring FaceTime HD and improved audio.

Sort of gives a lie to all those claiming iPhone 5 isn't a redesign! If anything they may have done too much redesigning because so many components are new and they had to manufacture everything from scratch rather than re-using 50% of components.
 
Sort of gives a lie to all those claiming iPhone 5 isn't a redesign! If anything they may have done too much redesigning because so many components are new and they had to manufacture everything from scratch rather than re-using 50% of components.

Yeah those people are idiots who just wants people to instantly realise "oh you have the new iPhone"
Although its completely possible to just genuinely not like the new design, however I for one think it's nice
 
I've got 2 64GB reservations today at regents street. I've had 5 in the last 4 days lol but I'm finally free to pick it up today.
 
SIM Free means exactly that - it doesn't come with a SIM.

It has never meant that the phone is Unlocked.
.

Do you work for the CarPhoneWarehouse? Because they are the only idiots in the industry who try and use that definition. I worked in the industry for 10 years, directly for 2 networks, for a distributor and running my own business, and in all of them "sim free" meant an unlocked handset supplied to be used with any SIM card the customer had.
"Sim locked" meant supplied with a SIM card and locked to the individual network.

Until CarPhoneWhorehouse decided to play fast and loose with definitions.

Has a anyone actually experienced their car phone warehouse sim free iphone locking or are you all getting your knickers in a twist about the small print on the website which most probably applies to contract subsidised phones?

In my experience all iPhones come with the ability to use any network sim in it but it will lock to the first network sim you insert. Sim free handsets never lock.

Thanks for backing up my point, until CPW started their tricks every sim free phone was as you describe, but their iPhones definitely do lock to the first sim inserted.

I had a customer who bought a "sim free" iPhone 4S from CPW and decided to check 3UK coverage in his office with a PAYG sim before putting his Orange contract sim in, guess how happy he was when the phone then wouldn't accept his Orange sim. The CPW simpleton hadn't even warned him (at least some of their staff do have the decency to warn, some don't, just to get a sale).
 
As stated above, I bought a 64GB IP5 from CPW and it locked to GiffGaff (using O2 network), which was a pain as I was moving over to Three later on in the week. I took the phone back and they refunded me, although they did state that all retailers (excluding Apple) sell iPhones that lock on the first Sim card inserted.

The annoying thing was that they never stated when taking my £700 that it would do this, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. I'm now waiting for one to arrive from Apple.
 
As stated above, I bought a 64GB IP5 from CPW and it locked to GiffGaff (using O2 network), which was a pain as I was moving over to Three later on in the week. I took the phone back and they refunded me, although they did state that all retailers (excluding Apple) sell iPhones that lock on the first Sim card inserted.

The annoying thing was that they never stated when taking my £700 that it would do this, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. I'm now waiting for one to arrive from Apple.

When did you order?
 
I initially reserved on the 27th at 9am for regent st, white city and covent garden...no reply from all. Then I tried again this time on 28th at noonish for regent street (no reply), 2pm for white city(no reply) and 3pm for covent garden, which I did get a reply (at midnight lol) and now I have my iPhone 5...

I thought I would get the e-mail by 9pm but they didn't reply that early so I went and pre-ordered...but when I checked my e-mail this morning I found out that they e-mailed me in midnight so I cancelled the order and went to pick up my phone =D.

BTW I reserved the sim-free version of 64GB white.
 
You guys have any idea why I can't seem to pick up HDPSA on my IPhone when I could with the exact same account and exact same areas before with my SGS2?? Really weird! I can only get 3G now?

The iPhone displays all 3G singals (HSPA, UMTS, HSPA+, DC-HSPA etc) as '3G'.

A speed test would confirm this.
 
Do you work for the CarPhoneWarehouse? Because they are the only idiots in the industry who try and use that definition. I worked in the industry for 10 years, directly for 2 networks, for a distributor and running my own business, and in all of them "sim free" meant an unlocked handset supplied to be used with any SIM card the customer had.
"Sim locked" meant supplied with a SIM card and locked to the individual network.

I have never worked for any company related to mobile phones. I wouldn't even buy anything from CPW.

That definition has been used for a long time IMO - primarily because a lot more phones used to be network exclusives.

Back when that was the case, there was still demand to get the phone without a contract.

My point is simple:

"SIM Free" literally means that - no SIM included. It does not mean that the phone is sold unlocked or indeed that you can get it unlocked after purchase.
 
They dont seem to have any 32GB models for reserve :( I have tried countless times to get a 32GB white D:
 
are there any threads about o2 and use on 4g networks? I understand that the iphone 5 won't work on the 4g spectrum that o2 will get next year?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.