Buy iPhone 4: what you need to know

samer

Here's how things are going around here (I'm currently in the US)

$300 gets you an iPhone 4 provided you sign a 2 year contract with AT&T – the phone is not unlocked for you it stays locked with AT&T and you have to pay a monthly fee for the service,

$600/$700 (depending on 16/32 GB) get you an iPhone 4 no commitment contract – this means you don't need to get two years of service from AT&T – but here's the sad part, the phone is still locked to AT&T and the iPhone Dev Team (the authors of the best unlocking tools on the web) still don't support the iPhone 4 (they unlocked iOS 4 on iPhone 3GS though).

Another thing to keep in mind: the iPhone 4 uses a MicroSIM tray, what Alfa/MTC use are MiniSIM which are bigger. So people claim to have successfully cut it (it's just plastic) and had no problems - others claim that it will affect 3G speeds (something we don't have to worry about in Lebanon).

Finally, I got mixed answers from the Apple Geniuses (the people wearing blue that answer all your questions in an apple store). One genius in the Apple Store in San Francisco told me that I can buy the no commitment iPhone using my Lebanese passport while another genius in Apple Store Los Angeles told me that I need to be an american citizen…

As for some early-adopter bugs, I heard some problems with the signal being grounded when the phone is held in a sweaty left hand (only happens on some batches, not all) this can be fixed using a cover (apple sells those, or just go incase) – other problems include weird behaving flash (LED, not adobe :P) and yellow-tint on screen. Again, those problems are not being reported on all phones and you can a one year international warranty from Apple in case something goes wrong.

Joe

Thanks for the feedback.

And mabrouk for the phone :)

J4D

Gr8 post , although i have to comment on this

others claim that it will affect 3G speeds

This is just impossible .

Oh and have fun in the US :)

kareem_nasser

I got this once on twitter but i dont know if it is true though the site is good:
How to create your own Micro SIM card using a chef knife and some scissors

thanks for the feedback but i want one thing to be clear because many ppl in Lebanon say it is IPhone 4G but i doubt it to be right? it is 3G?

silverfox

10x samer .. i guess it''s pretty clear now

azife

yea for the unlocked version of the iphone 4 wait for it to come out in canada in a month and you can buy it unlocked from any apple store there i know that because my friend bought a unlocked 3gs for 549$ for the apple store

Aj_BlaZ

samer wrotewhile another genius in Apple Store Los Angeles told me that I need to be an american citizen…
.

and my post was deleted because this is what i've said in the other thread .....

samer

jadberro wroteGr8 post , although i have to comment on this

others claim that it will affect 3G speeds
This is just impossible .

Oh and have fun in the US :)

That's want an apple genius claimed. To be more precise he told me that he had issues with 3G and was stuck with EDGE speeds; perhaps he didn't cut it precisely and made the SIM card wobble inside the phone (well actually, it was an iPad 3G model…)

samer

Aj_BlaZ wrote
samer wrotewhile another genius in Apple Store Los Angeles told me that I need to be an american citizen…
.
and my post was deleted because this is what i've said in the other thread .....

That's what the genius claimed. Moreover, if it is in fact the case for the iPhone you do not need to be an american to buy anything else. As for why the post was deleted, I think you have received enough warnings regarding the writing guidelines and your comment was misleading anyway.

J4D

samer wrote
jadberro wroteGr8 post , although i have to comment on this

others claim that it will affect 3G speeds
This is just impossible .

Oh and have fun in the US :)
That's want an apple genius claimed. To be more precise he told me that he had issues with 3G and was stuck with EDGE speeds; perhaps he didn't cut it precisely and made the SIM card wobble inside the phone (well actually, it was an iPad 3G model…)

clearly he is not a genius :P , electronically speaking ; the sim card is nothing but a "memory card" that stores some info about the phone number , carrier,frequencies of operation ,of course phone numbers , etc ... Some phones do not even have sim cards , the carrier just programs the info straight to the phone . Just to be clear , im not against you Samer :) but against that "Genius", perhaps he had a defective model. The sim card is not to blame, following my analytical thinking .

hj88

The iphone 4 cannot be sold officialy unlocked in the usa because of the exclusivity contract with at&t . you can buy it officialy unlocked from apple store france (and uk ) at a price of 630 euros but there is a 3 weeks preorder time.