Use of iPhone in Canada

[gallinger]

I Live right next to the border to Watertown NY and I live in Ontario Canada, and I plan on going to get it on the 29th. Just wondering if anyone thinks i will have any problems bringing it back to canada and using it if I can get it unlocked?
thanks!

 

[X5-452]

even if it's not unlocked, since it just takes a sim card, couldn't you just pop your own in? assuming of course, you're on rogers or fido.

 

[gallinger]

that would be amazing, I didn't know i could do that Thanks

 

[kamiboy]

even if it's not unlocked, since it just takes a sim card, couldn't you just pop your own in? assuming of course, you're on rogers or fido.

Prolly not because since it was sold by att it should be locked to the att network and only that network. I wouldn't get my hopes up about the iPhone being unlockable in the foreseeable future or even at all. I have a gut feeling that att and Apple don't want you to use an att purchased iPhone anywhere other than with att and they are making damn sure you can't do that.

The integration with iTunes might be one of the many portals allowing them to enforce exactly that. Some workarounds might come out after a few weeks or even months but given the control Apple is going to have on each iPhone unit I think those workarounds and hacks are going to be so cumbersome and limiting in nature that using them will negate many of the advantages of the iPhone, e.g. ease of use and lack of hassle.

I live in Europe and might move to Canada within a half a year and I really want the iPhone. I would love for nothing more than to import one when it launches in two weeks, but if it turns out that using it here would involve more hoop jumping than typing in a unlock code and popping in my current SIM to get the full iPhone experience sans the useless visual voice mail then it just isn't worth it to me.

Leave it to corporate greed to suck out all the joy and glee I experienced for that wonderful device when I first saw Steve Jobs convince me it was exactly what I had been wanting for these past many years. The iPhone is definitely up there for me with the MacBook and iPod on the list of genius must have Apple devices. Unfortunately though unlike other Apple products this one has all the fun and joy of it weighed down by the ball and chains that is the greed of the phone industry.

Apple themselves are to be blamed here in my opinion by feeling they needed to score something more that what they would from the hardware sale and decided to do that by screwing over their customers by partnering with att.

They could have just sold the iPhone from their stores without any contract and all we would have lost was visual voice mail, everything else would still be as it is. Alas....

 

[tutubibi]

even if it's not unlocked, since it just takes a sim card, couldn't you just pop your own in? assuming of course, you're on rogers or fido.

Definition of a locked phone is that it won't work with any other SIM card but the one it's locked to (in this case AT&T). Unlocking means freeing the phone to work with any SIM card.

 

[gallinger]

Thats what I thought too. But now I have to find a way to unlock it, which i have no idea how to do. but as soon as i know i can do it I will be buying the iPhone for sure!

 

[dejo]

I wouldn't be surprised if you must have a U.S. billing address for the at&t contract.

 

[NJDevils44]

yea I live in Vancouver, right next to Seattle and i would do ANYTHING to have the iPhone :'(

 

[quigleybc]

yea I live in Vancouver, right next to Seattle and i would do ANYTHING to have the iPhone :'(

What's the problem?

Rogers will carry the iPhone. If I had to guess, it will be available between Aug and Dec.


Feel free to use the extra time to watch the Americans (aka Bug testers, first gen users) work all the kinks out. The odds of the iPhone working flawlessly out of the box is super small IMO. At least if recent first gen products are any sign of the QC out of Cupertino....
By the time it gets to us Canuckers, hopefully the bugs and flaws are worked out.

Even if I was in the US and A, I wouldn't gamble on a first gen...

 

[tutubibi]

Thats what I thought too. But now I have to find a way to unlock it, which i have no idea how to do. but as soon as i know i can do it I will be buying the iPhone for sure!

Well, unlocking it may not be so easy. There will be unlocked iPhones either from Apple in other markets or via some hack sooner or later but not sure when.
And even if it's unlocked as a phone it still may not support all the features on the other network.

 

[NJDevils44]

What's the problem?

Rogers will carry the iPhone. If I had to guess, it will be available between Aug and Dec.


Feel free to use the extra time to watch the Americans (aka Bug testers, first gen users) work all the kinks out. The odds of the iPhone working flawlessly out of the box is super small IMO. At least if recent first gen products are any sign of the QC out of Cupertino....
By the time it gets to us Canuckers, hopefully the bugs and flaws are worked out.

Even if I was in the US and A, I wouldn't gamble on a first gen...

But I've already waited since january, i want it NOW

lol, but i cant wait until december, i know its coming here its just a matter of when

 

[elgruga]

so much invention, so few facts...

"Useless visual voice mail"? Not for me, its one of the features I NEED!

I dont think the iPhone will be locked to ATT, I think that you can use it with a SIM card, but you might lose a couple of features...this isnt just a phone - its also a wi-fi internet device and an iPod...locking all the features might be difficult/impossible.

Lets wait and see?

I am in Vancouver, BC and if there is ANY chance of getting one - I will!

 

[fishkorp]

I dont think the iPhone will be locked to ATT, I think that you can use it with a SIM card, but you might lose a couple of features...this isnt just a phone - its also a wi-fi internet device and an iPod...locking all the features might be difficult/impossible.

I 110% guarantee it's locked to AT&T. If you just pop in any SIM card it won't function at all as a phone (other than 911 calling).

 

[jasonbrennan]

I agree it will likely be locked into ATT, which is too bad. A friend of mine thinks it may be possible to use in Canada because Rogers does support GSM and works with ATT somewhat, so if you gt a contract with ATT in the states, then you could use your phone here, just with brutal roaming charges. But I thnk att requires you have an american address.

I want to get one, even if I can't use it as a phone, I really could stand it even without the phone part so long as the rest of it functions, including the wifi.

I think it would, the only reason why it wouldnt is because Apple says you need an iTunes store account...and I bet that would require a US one too! But we don't really know why we need that yet, so there could be a way around it. ALSO, I recall you used to be able to get a US account by simply buying an iTunes gift card from the US and entering it in Canada...

Thoughts?

 

[antibact1]

Even if it is unlocked, even if you can switch it to Rogers or Fido, there are no unlimited data plans available on either provider. Unless you are looking to spend a few hundred dollars a month just on service, I would forget about it for the time being. The reason Rogers doesn't have it at the moment, is they won't comply with the demands of Apple. I imagine an unlimited data plan is one of these demands. Apple is going to want all owners of the iPhone to have a full user experience at a reasonable rate. They are not going to want users to be hesitant to use the iPhone for fear of extraordinary service charges.

 

[jasonbrennan]

But what aobut using it sans-phone functionality? I wouldn't mind not using it as a phone if I could still use it for music/wifi (not EDGE). That would be more than enough for me