Rumour: iPhone Australian Release In June, Multiple Carriers, 3G
So. Very. Exciting. The Australian MacTalk Forums are reporting that Apple Australia has begun informing Apple resellers about their iPhone rollout plans.
The good news is that we’re looking at a 3G iPhone launched in the last week of June across multiple carriers and with no contract. Current resellers will also be able to sell the device, completely breaking with how the deal has been done in every other part of the world.
If this is true (and until it’s confirmed by Apple, consider it a rumour), it’s a fantastic end result for Australian consumers. The end of June date fits in perfectly with everything we’ve been hearing about a 3G iPhone too, and will coincide with the opening of Apple’s flagship Sydney store.
Having the iPhone across multiple carriers is the best option for Apple really – despite the fact that we Australians are rabid for new technology, we are only a fairly small market and shutting out a good percentage of your potential customers by locking them to a carrier isn’t good business sense.
Also allowing resellers to stock iPhones will increase their market share even more. Without a contract lock in, I’d expect to see deals at these resellers bundling an iPhone with a Mac for a special price.
In any case, we have to wait and see if this latest rumour is true. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed – how about you?
[Australian MacTalk Forums - Thanks Andrew!]
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Comments
Can confirm, we were told 2 months at my apple store.
Awesome if true.
Also amazingly un-Apple of them if true – choice of carrier, no contract etc – its postively free marketeer.
Cool thanks AU Giz! Like the idea of a 3G iPhone but already splashed out on a iMate Ultimate 8502. Wait a minute…did you just say end of June? Doesn’t that coincide with the end of Financial Year?
Yippee!
Does this rumor cover Telstra NextG as well? Because thats the only 3G service we get here in country-ville.
If that’s the case, then I might even consider getting one when my current contract is up in December.
This is awesome. I (unashamedly) subscribe to all of the iPhone fever. I’ll very much be looking forward to developments on this story.
But then, no lock-in will most likely mean a more expensive iPhone….
Yeah, that’s my fear too…
begin a part time rural im hoping im hoping its hspda not just 3g. so i might switch from a 7 year run with vodafone to telstra.
wow 3 year ago i hated mac now i own one and i want to switch to those crazy fellas at telstra.
i need a flu shot
I think lots of people will be prepared to pay absurd amounts of money for this.
In other news – has anyone noticed how the amount of AU comments don’t show up on the main page anymore? Could we possibly get that back, Nick?
Please be true :)
And if without contract will carriers still provide costly services like visual voicemail?
Hey Jimbo – short answer is that we’re working on it. There are a few kinks we’re trying to work out with the CMS and that’s one of them… shouldn’t be too long before everything’s sailing smoothly.
Knowing how we get ripped off here in Oz I bet the retail price is around $1100.
In which case I will persevere with my GPRS iPhone and try to restrict its use to wireless networks (as we get ripped off so much for GPRS)
Or wait for the unlock hack and buy a Chinese one.
If there’s a 32Gb option coming, nothing BUT NOTHING can stop me storming the Apple store to get a hold of it.
Man, I’m glad I’m not locked into a long term contract right about now. :)
It’ll be interesting to see the data plans that get promoted with these. The devil will be in that particular detail I suspect. Although the Blackberry data add-ons aren’t too exorbitant.
Kevin
This is great news! I had an interview for a job at the Sydney flagship store today and they mentioned that the store would open late fall/early winter. Imagine if the launch coincided exactly with the opening of the store! That would be CRAZY.
Had an iPhone in Aus since mid last year on Optus and it’s hands down the best phone I’ve ever had. Going 3G and hopefully with a bigger HD will make it an almost unbeatable option for both people simply wanting a phone and those wanting a PDA. However, with the exchange rate and Mac’s penchant for over charging in Australia, it will still be cheaper to get it from O/S, probably the States. One thing: Android vs iPhone looks like the real news.
Just checking my piggy bank
Est. Price anyone?
Cool in one sense, but no lock in could mean higher prices, and if it’s not exclusive then they might just sell it as another mobile phone sans proper plan, which means that if you actually use the phone’s functionality (imagine that!) you’ll be paying $300 a month in bills.
Jury is still out for me – I want to be able to use it to it’s full potential and not pay more than $120-ish a month. I was really hoping that this would shake up the telco industry a little & force mobile data prices down, but I’m not so sure now…
interesting, although throughout the recruitment & interviews for the new mac store in Sydney, they seemed to be reluctant to do both (open shop & release iphone) at the same time, and word on the street is a June opening of the George Street store.
The iphone is cool, but i’m not completely sold on the touch interface for sms’ing. I used to use a HTC touch and ebayed it after 2 months of frustrating use. I’m also loathe to replace my crackberry with an iphone and give up my push email option… not really keen on exorbitant 3g data charges simply for the joy of being an iphone lemming.
i have an ipod touch and a blackberry… for those of you old enough to remember the Motorola Startac 5200 and sony walkman’s, you’ll agree that its NOT that big a deal to carry around two devices these days.
The receptionist at my work is starting work at Apple (chatswood store) soon. Here is what he said:
One of my sources at EYE (a large advertising company) told me that Apple have leased the HUGE bill board next to the Anzac bridge for June.
My instincts tell me that this may be for campaigning before the release, “iPhone coming soon” or something like that.
The reason I say this is because there is two months of staff training before commencement at the store. As some of you may know, my training starts in May and if you add two months you get……JULY.
@Peter Griffiths… If you had an “interview for a Sydney Store” then there is no way in hell any Skippy would be talking about the “late fall”
I call BS. It is Autumn in Australia you know.
I spoke with Steve Jobs personally yesterday. He is a friend of the family, he told me this story was true but he didn’t tell me much more than that. I asked him if I could confirm it he said yes.
Yeh right!! – anyone can state this story is true and I have just porved that, until apple say its a goer I am not going to beleieve it
You get used to the keyboard pretty quickly! With the capacitive touch screen and the smart dictionary, typing becomes a breeze! It does require more concentration, which means hard to type while walking, but it’s SOOO much easier than previous touch screen phones!
I will be in line to get one if they are released in June! But I do hope there are more improvements than just 3G!