Yes sports fans, it’s almost that time. On Friday the highly anticipated successor to the iPhone 3GS is released. My experience so far with Rogers wireless this last week, as well as on launch days in the past, seems to indicate that Friday is going to be a complete gong show for everyone involved.
Unlike the previous launches, we now have an interesting option in Canada: we can purchase an unlocked phone from the Apple store. Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t believe we’ve ever had that luxury in Canada, at least not with Rogers. I remember getting my first Motorola phone back in 2000 – the guy at the counter had to punch in the 6 digit subsidy code simply to activate it. Of course, without that code it is impossible to change carriers, which is one of the ways carriers try to keep you locked to their service.
My plan right now is to get an unlocked iPhone from the Apple store. The main reason I want to do that is because I’d like to slowly watch my Rogers contract expire, and hit a point where I am finally contract free. The other reason is that I’m planning on doing some international travel in the new year, and would like an unlocked phone so I can use local SIMs.
Speaking of SIMs – it took me several attempts, but I finally managed to get an iPhone micro-sim (μSIM) activated and tied to my account. The first time I tried, Rogers refused to sell me one, saying that they were all reserved for Rogers customers buying phones on the 30th. The second time I bought one from Future Shop, only to get home and realize it’s one specifically meant for the iPad (which won’t work on the iPhone 4). Today I called down to the Rogers Wireless store, and found a guy willing to sell me one. So I now have a μSIM in my iPhone 3GS (courtesy of a little plastic adapter), and will be ready to simply pop it in when the time comes.
If you’re planning on picking up the iPhone, drop a comment and let us know if you’re going locked or unlocked. Happy waiting in line this weekend!
As much as I would love to get an unlocked one, I don’t have much of an option, I do not have a Apple Store here in Yellowknife and the closest one is 1500km away.
To make matters even worse we only have one carrier up here, Bell. So if I want a iPhone 4 on Friday or as soon as they get them in, I’ll have to get a locked Bell version.
It is a bummer, as I was hoping to be able to travel outside of Canada with an easy to use phone.
Apparently you’ll be able to order them from the Apple store after the 30th, so you can probably get one that way.
Same plan as you. I bought my 3GS straight up with no subsidy last year, unlocked it myself, and switched to Telus about 6 months back. The freedom to pick and choose my plan/provider (as well as the international roaming advantage) has been enough to sway me; I doubt I’ll ever sign a contract again.
We’ll see how long we have to wait though. I keep waiting for the pre-order link on Apple’s site, it keeps not materializing. I hope by Friday that will have changed, but even so, I’m expecting at least another month of waiting for it to ship out. Approximate ship dates in the US are upwards of three weeks right now, I doubt we’ll be different.
I’m going to be buying the unlocked iPhone 4 from the Apple Store in the next few months.
I got the 3G and 3GS from Rogers on launch day, but eventually I was so tired of Rogers I left them with no fee, after talking to customer service on numerous occasions.
I went to Telus and got a Blackberry. While it has been good to me, after getting the iPad 3G and installing iOS4 on my iPod Touch I really miss the iPhone.
I think this generation is a step in the right direction and I can’t wait to get it, switch it onto my Telus account and eventually be free of contracts when it runs out next year. After that I’ll have my phone with no strings attached and will be able to choose any carrier I want, for however long I want!