Free the iPhone!

[MacVault]

Why in the world did Apple have to A) "lock" the iPhone to Cingular, and B) "Lock" it to a wireless provider at all??? This seems like such an un-Apple way of doing things The Keynote was like seeing Steve pull the world's most precious and unobtainable invention out of his pocket and then throwing it into a dirty toilet with the whole Cingular/2 year deal. I felt like I was smoking marijuana! I went from the highest high to the lowest low in the two+ hour keynote.

Apple's all for open-source, all for letting us "own" our iTunes downloads, etc. And then they have to go and $%^# up the world's most beautiful mobile phone by selling it with a $%^#ing TWO YEAR CONTRACT! I feel insulted! Do they really think we'll roll over and take this crap? AAHhhhhhhhh!

Earth-to-Apple... Give us an UNLOCKED iPhone, put a GPS chip in it, and install Skype client on it for those of us who don't care about everywhere-coverage and just want free WiFi Voip whenever we can find a hotspot!

 

[atszyman]

There have been numerous threads on this already and I for one am getting sick of the "why only Cingular" threads.

Apple wanted to make a phone. Since they have not previously been in this market and they would now be competing against some giants like Nokia and Motorola, there was no other way to get the phone to market than to partner with one of the providers. To reach as many people globally as possible this meant GSM service which limits to T-Mobile and Cingular.

Without the partnership with Cingular the other cell phone producers could have pressured the GSM service providers to limit the amount of support that would be offered to the iPhone and since Apple has no previous experience with phones it would have been a poor move to try to sell lots of phones. A phone that is not liked by the carriers from a first time phone maker is not a good way to pull market share.

The iPhone also looks like it has a couple new features with the voice mail and other phone interaction that may require some tweaks on the carrier's side to function properly, without partnering with a carrier, Apple would have had a hard time implementing these features.

Yes it sucks that you're stuck with a carrier that may not be very good where you live but just wait. Next year, or the year after watch for a more streamlined iPhone with a 40-120 GB Hard drive and improved UI (if they can improve it) and open to more carriers once Apple has established themselves as a phone maker. For all that keep griping about this keep in mind that there would probably be no iPhone without the partnership.

 

[winterdude010]

Well one of the main reasons Apple chose Cingular is they have a GSM network, which is used worldwide. Apple wanted to make a products that they could release everywhere without making different versions of the phone.

If they chose Verizon, or Sprint they could only distribute in the US because they use CDMA and PCS networks.

T-Mobile doesn't have the customer base Apple wants.

 

[andiwm2003]

with the iphone being GSM is it then likely to be UMTS in Europe/Asia?

That would be great because then it would run both in the US and Europe. All you have to do is change the sim card and you're good to go almost worldwide. I'm doing this with my Nokia all the time.

It only sucks that you need to pay for two contracts and that you have different numbers in US and Europe.

For that of course the phone will have to be unlocked but in a year or so it will be. All other providers/manufacturers allow you to unlock the phone for a fee ($100 or so ).

 

[MacVault]

...For all that keep griping about this keep in mind that there would probably be no iPhone without the partnership.

Geee, you're right, and then the keynote yesterday could have been used for something that's NOT "locked" to a two-year contract and NOT 6 months away! Like Leopard, or new Macs, or an Apple Home Server, etc. Seeing the iPhone announcement was like seeing gravity-control announced, and then saying you must first figure out how to get to a different dimmension before the gravity-control will work.

 

[Hashton]

Well one of the main reasons Apple chose Cingular is they have a GSM network, which is used worldwide. Apple wanted to make a products that they could release everywhere without making different versions of the phone.

If they chose Verizon, or Sprint they could only distribute in the US because they use CDMA and PCS networks.

T-Mobile doesn't have the customer base Apple wants.

Cheers on that, mate thank you for explaining this to those that do not savvy heh.

Cingular is the biggest GSM Network in U.S., with the required technologies for an iPhone to perform the "reinvented" tasks...period, and by the way this is just a beginning (uhm "market testing" have you heard of that term?) it will be available to all Cellphone Service Providers within a year after release...

 

[Hashton]

.

 

[projectle]

As soon as it comes out, there is certain to be some avaliable without contracts through "other" channels as there are with other normally locked phones.

Remember, this is still 6 months off.

Either enough people will complain and get Apple to release an unlocked version for a premium price and a big disclaimer saying "certain functionality will not work on other networks", or someone will manage to unlock it, publish the steps and then put their own disclaimer out that "certain functionality will not work on other networks".

 

[Fotograffiti]

There have been numerous threads on this already and I for one am getting sick of the "why only Cingular" threads.

I, for one, am getting sick of people saying "I, for one" before they tell you what they think. *L*

 

[atszyman]

Geee, you're right, and then the keynote yesterday could have been used for something that's NOT "locked" to a two-year contract and NOT 6 months away! Like Leopard, or new Macs, or an Apple Home Server, etc. Seeing the iPhone announcement was like seeing gravity-control announced, and then saying you must first figure out how to get to a different dimmension before the gravity-control will work.

I'm not saying I wouldn't have rather had the keynote about Macs or Leopard with a brief iPhone preview at the end and neither was the post that started this thread. This thread is about the Cingular/Apple iPhone exclusivity.

I was just pointing out that there are a ton of people here complaining about the fact that the iPhone is only carried by Cingular, but the phone would probably not exist or would have compromised features if it weren't for the exclusivity. Everyone wanted an iPhone and now that it's here they complain about the carrier, without the carrier deal there would be no iPhone so you need to decide if you want the phone or not, if you dislike the carrier enough just bide your time until other carriers pick it up.

If you dislike Cingular more than your desire to have the iPhone sit back and laugh as the early adopters find the phone scratches easily or that the 4-8 GB is too small or the GUI has bugs and wait a year or two for an unlocked iPhone with a built in HD that fixes the initial issues. If you want an iPhone enough to get past your Cingular dislike then get the phone.

Edit: I'm probably coming off harsher than I would like but I'm currently on a severe lack of sleep due to a daughter cutting molars and not adjusting well to her room after an extended Xmas vacation. It doesn't help that I spend too much time playing Wii while I should be sleeping either...

 

[zuggerat]

man you guys are whiny, cingular service is great out here in NY, plus i have amounted like 10,000 roll over minutes, ill never go over my minutes ever again!

 

[Coheebuzz]

Well one of the main reasons Apple chose Cingular is they have a GSM network, which is used worldwide. Apple wanted to make a products that they could release everywhere without making different versions of the phone.

If they chose Verizon, or Sprint they could only distribute in the US because they use CDMA and PCS networks.

T-Mobile doesn't have the customer base Apple wants.

The question is not why Apple chose Cingular to T-Mobile, but rather why choose a carrier in the first place. This is just the American way of doing business, in Europe you just go out and buy an unlocked GMS phone and then use the SIM card from any carrier you want. I know it's been already discussed in other threads, but people still don't get it, or consider the contract way to be the only way.

What are they gonna do when they start shipping to Europe and Asia, where each country has it's own exclusive carriers?

The only thing that makes sense to me, is that they chose to introduce it the the US first so that by the end of 2007, when they start going global, the price will be significantly lower for buyers to get without a contract.

We'll wait and see, else i know a guy who unlocks phones for a living and he happens to live right next to me.

 

[MacVault]

man you guys are whiny, cingular service is great out here in NY, plus i have amounted like 10,000 roll over minutes, ill never go over my minutes ever again!

I don't mind so much Cingular being the only carier. I just think the service contracts should be a thing of the past already. I HATE SERVICE CONTRACTS. If there was no service contract I would probably sign up with Cingular month-to-month and be with them forever. But I REFUSE TO SIGN ANY SERVICE CONTRACTS. So, they would have a better chance keeping my business without a contract. Haven't they figured this out yet?

 

[Iggy]

Either enough people will complain and get Apple to release an unlocked version for a premium price and a big disclaimer saying "certain functionality will not work on other networks", or someone will manage to unlock it, publish the steps and then put their own disclaimer out that "certain functionality will not work on other networks".

I swear I saw "some functionality limited to certain networks" written somewhere. Can't seem to find it though.

 

[MacVault]

...else i know a guy who unlocks phones for a living and he happens to live right next to me.

Yea, but how would you get an iPhone to unlock? You have to buy it through an Apple Store with Cingular's 2 year contract or through Cingular with the 2 year contract.

 

[whooleytoo]

Did Apple really have a choice?

Did anyone notice when Jobs was talking about Visual Voicemail (probabably the one feature to really sell the iPhone to me!), he mentioned it was possible due to a collaboration? Presumably, with the network provider - Cingular.

It's possible that feature (and perhaps others) wouldn't be possible without partnering with a network provider - which might also explain the delay in getting to Europe.

 

[atszyman]

Yea, but how would you get an iPhone to unlock? You have to buy it through an Apple Store with Cingular's 2 year contract or through Cingular with the 2 year contract.

It wouldn't be cheap. You'd have to buy the phone/service as you normally would and then cancel the service contract for probably close to $200. At that point you have a (presumably locked) phone that should be able to work with another GSM carrier's sim card once unlocked. It's entirely possible that Apple won't actually lock the phone and you'll be able to use it on T-Mobile or any other GSM carrier provided you either keep paying Cingular every month or you suck up the early termination fee. Whether or not the phone is locked all depends on how much input Cingular had into the implementation of the phone.

 

[Coheebuzz]

Yea, but how would you get an iPhone to unlock? You have to buy it through an Apple Store with Cingular's 2 year contract or through Cingular with the 2 year contract.

I was talking about when the iPhone gets to Europe and Apple will have to make deals with other carriers, since Cingular is a US carrier. They could choose Vodafone or O2 or any other EU carrier if they insisted in going the contract way, but then they would have to sell it through any electronics shop as the competition does.

It just sounds too complicated to have a different carrier in each country. The best thing would be to just buy the phone from any AppleStore or authorized dealer and then get a SIM card from your favourite GSM carrier. Simple as that.

From the software side of things am pretty sure a patch will appear in the future that will unlock the phone, as long there is enough demand.

 

[dernhelm]

Am I the only one who thinks "free the iPhone" really means bring the iPhone interface to the iPod line? I don't really want a 2 yr. Cingular membership, but I sure as heck would love to get my mitts on that device for use as a planner/mp3 player/portable mail/organizer/etc. I'll live with wifi only.

 

[MacVault]

What is the reason for "locking" a phone? I figured "locked" meant just that one was locked in by the service contract. But am I understanding correctly from the above posts that the phone is somehow locked in hardware/software to work with only a certain carrier? What is the reasoning behind doing that? Isn't paying the early termination fee enough?

 

[atszyman]

What is the reason for "locking" a phone? I figured "locked" meant just that one was locked in by the service contract. But am I understanding correctly from the above posts that the phone is somehow locked in hardware/software to work with only a certain carrier? What is the reasoning behind doing that? Isn't paying the early termination fee enough?

The main point as far as I know is to extort more money from consumers and to try to wrangle them into getting new phones (if switching carriers) which will probably also com equipped with a brand new X year contract for the new carrier.

Without it switching carriers with a phone you liked would be as simple as getting the sim card with the plan you wanted from your new carrier and no one would sign a multi-year contract for that. A new, supposedly $200, phone for free though and most people will sign the contract.

 

[Cobrien]

The only thing that scares me is that I normally get a phone for free on a 12 month contract.

I live in the UK, is the American way of doing things any different.

 

[atszyman]

The only thing that scares me is that I normally get a phone for free on a 12 month contract.

I live in the UK, is the American way of doing things any different.

Not all that different. Most US companies have now moved to 2 year contracts and there are usually plenty of free phones available for that contract. However the more features a phone has or the more desirable it is deemed will up the price from free. I seem to recall RAZRs costing in the $300-$500 range with a contract when they first came out. Now you can find them for free if you catch the right time. Just give the iPhone some time.

 

[MacVault]

The only thing that scares me is that I normally get a phone for free on a 12 month contract.

I live in the UK, is the American way of doing things any different.

Yes, we Americans are idiots - we just roll over and take the shaft! Personally, I say DOWN with phone service contracts, just like I say DOWN with DRM!

 

[Cobrien]

Not all that different. Most US companies have now moved to 2 year contracts and there are usually plenty of free phones available for that contract. However the more features a phone has or the more desirable it is deemed will up the price from free. I seem to recall RAZRs costing in the $300-$500 range with a contract when they first came out. Now you can find them for free if you catch the right time. Just give the iPhone some time.

Really,

I think RAZRs have ben free from the start here.