How does one purchase a new iphone for use in Syria? They are already using them over there but I'm always told I must purchase one with the service contract. Thanks.

Buy an iPhone here, unlock it, and use it.

Or buy an unlocked iPhone in a country where they are sold.

Sorry, I'm tech challenged, but Apple tells me I have to buy one with the service contract here?

Is it easier to just buy it in France? thx

If you buy an iPhone from Apple or AT&T here, you can pay full price (around $800) to just buy the phone with no contract. But the phone will still be locked to only accept an AT&T SIM card. You will therefore need to unlock it.

For the same amount of money, I believe you can buy an unlocked iPhone in France. So I would just buy it in France.

According to this official list from Apple all the carriers in France sell phones that are locked to the carrier. I bought my iPhone 4 in an Apple store in Canada, officially unlocked and usable with any SIM around the world.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937


You may need this link to access the data profile of the specific carrier that you use. You may need to update the APN profile. This can all be done without jailbreaking your new phone.

http://www.iphoneuserguide.com/apple...for-iphone-3g/

Or you can download the app from this site and you will be able to change your APN settings on the fly by simply looking up the carrier you wish to use.

http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/

These might be the settings you need:

Syria
Provider Name Syriatel
Provider APN mms.syriatel.com
WAP 1.0 Gateway 172.20.5.6
MMSC http://mymms.syriatel.com/

That list was written by an idiot. Under the laws of France, if you sell a phone, you must offer it in an unlocked version although you can charge more for that. I have posted links to the Orange.fr website numerous times.

Besides that, the list in question shows that the carriers in France offer "authorized unlocking."

I don't know the rules by heart, but I'm pretty sure that after a period of time, something like 6 months, you can ask your operator here (I use Orange) to unlock the phone and they will. That doesn't disengage you from the 2 year contract you probably signed to get the iphone in the first place, but it at least allows you to put in other SIM's while traveling.

That part is easy. The hard part is dealing with the micro-sim in the iphone4. That's why I keep an iPhone3GS as my traveling phone.

But back to the OP, other countries in Europe, such as Belgium and Italy, require the operators to sell the phone unlocked. If I were you I would look for a used 3GS phone that is unlocked. It will be both cheaper and easier to use in Syria.

Thanks, but when I called my local Apple store, they told me I could not buy the phone without the contract. This phone is not for me, but for a friend living in Syria, so if it's easier to purchase it in France enroute, I will buy it there.

You're, of course, correct. I had forgotten about the six month rule since it hasn't affected me for a long time. In fact, when I got my last phone, a few years ago, Orange unlocked it on delivery without my asking.

I would suggest confirming with Orange France. You might want to search this forum for other threads.

It seems you can buy an unlocked phone via Ebay and there are announcements from Apple regarding the ability to buy the phone without a contract for a steeper price. I will enquire at my local store once again but maybe Ebay is the way to go.

Just found out I don't need an unlocked one, they can unlock it there, but all Iphone4's do not work in Syria, so is it the GSM or the GDMA that would work there? Is it the one that works with the AT&T network? I still can't buy one at my local Apple store without some sort of contract.

The GSM/AT&T version is the one you want. It's the same as the one you'd get from Orange.

Like I said above, be careful about the mini-SIM issue. The SIM cards they have in Syria will not fit in the iPhone4. If you know what you are doing and are handy with an Xacto blade, then you can cut the Syrian SIM down to size and make it work.

Or just buy/use one of the many sim cutting tools / punchdown tools readily availble on ebay and elsewhere.

Thanks so much, now I just need to figure out where to buy the darn thing without the contract. My local Apple store is no help.