Ok sorry for that very cheesy line. In reality I'm absolutely over the moon to have found out today, the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone 4, that the UK will be selling phones that are factory unlocked!! What this means is that you will not be getting a cheaper subsidized phone that you'll have to then break your head over unlocking or won't be able to upgrade the software till a hack comes out that "jailbreaks" the next version. The factory unlocked versions allow you to put any SIM in from anywhere in the world, and have the device work perfectly each time! Now doesn't that sound like a dream?
When Apple announced the 5 countries that would be launching the iPhone 4 on the 24th of June, I was concerned about France being the only one that sold the unlocked devices. I then heard a rumour that the devices would be locked there too, and only the next batch of countries (including Hong Kong) in July would have any unlocked pieces. So finding out UK has them available is very, very good news, especially since I'm going to be there at the start of next month.
For those in Dubai who want Factory Unlocked units, this is also really helpful as it's much easier to get products from the UK than it is from France.
Go online to the UK Apple store here and pre-order whichever device you want. Unfortunately, only the black iPhones are available for pre-order as of now. Moreover, you DO need a UK, US or a European credit card to make the transaction go through. I don't know any workaround this one, and if anyone knows of one, please email me so I can post it up. After that if you know someone in the UK who can have it sent to you, mail it to them, or open yourself an Aramex Shop & Ship UK account here and they will receive the item and post it to you ASAP.
You should then be a proud owner of the iPhone 4 before the end of the month, as your device (if ordered today) will be received on the 24th, and shouldn't take too long to get to you.
Hope you found this helpful. Happy shopping!!
6 comments:
I guess its much better not to get into the hassle of ordering one from UK by bothering your friends & relatives as you can not buy anything from apple store unless you got a UK based address & account :) ,
I found the best way of ordering it, there is a website algadgets.com. I bought my iPad from them and there rates & services are reliable,I'm going to have my iPhone4 from them again.
The website is quite vague on its details about whether it provides a factory unlocked piece or a US-based jailbroken one! I REALLY suggest you make that very clear before ordering a device from them. The iPad would not have had that issue.
Best case scenario, they ARE getting you a factory unlocked device from the UK, it it still a lot more expensive.. Do the math!!
And a friend of mine DID find a workaround to the credit card situation... You can order it from your UAE based card- as long as you call your bank and ask them to authorize such a transaction.
Just got on the site and no where do I see they sell the "unlocked" version. How do I know for sure it is unlocked? Help!
Don't stress.. if you are buying it from the Apple site, it IS the unlocked version.
You'll notice a price difference between the ones selling on the US site and the ones on the UK site for this very reason. US one is subsized by AT&T, hence is cheaper :)
so did u use ur UK based card or just a normal one... since i have already pre ordered one which is goin to be shipped to the aramex address on july 2nd. Just wanted to confirm tht i wil be getting it for sure. if by anyway u can get me one incase i dont then just do tell me.. very eager to get one.
Hey Kiran. That workaround you refer to, using a non-UK credit card to purchase items from the Apple Store website, could you give me some kind of details on that? Cuz the billing address that I give to Apple on their website does not allow me to select the UAE as the billing country.
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