the iPhone is sold in Israel
I came back proudly from my trip in the US with an iPhone, thinking i would still be an early adopter in the Israel where the iPhone is not sold. What i realized when i came back was that i was a late adopter: 1 person out of 2 that i meet has an iPhone.
I just twitted that and Orli points me to this page (and Niv to this page) of this site for second hand stuff where an iPhone can be bought from 500 USD++ (2000 NIS) meaning nearly 1.5 times the official price. Of course those iPhones were bought abroad and brought back to Israel.
There are tones of easy ways to make it work with your cell operator (you can even change the name of the operator like i did on this screenshot).
Buying an iPhone in the USA is particularly a no brainer with the strong Shekel and the low dollar. Apple has not officially started to sell the iPhone in Israel and by the time it happens a large part of the population will already have an iPhone.
There is a parallel that can be established between that and the movie industry. When a movie is good and people want to see it they don't want to wait to see it on screen, they download it specially when the international roll out date is delayed compared to the US one. This is not legal but it happens.
iPhone is paying the price of its success: people want it and find ways to get it earlier in alternative channels of distribution.
How does this affect the warranty? How does one go about setting it up with their provider?
Posted by: Harry | 24 March 2008 at 07:42 PM
Apple warranty goes worlwide. But once you jailbreak it your operator won t garantee any service.
Posted by: Ouriel Ohayon | 24 March 2008 at 10:18 PM
Aware of the worldwide warranty (I am, like you, a proud owner of a macbook pro), just want to know what "jailbreaking" entails. How do you use it in Israel?
Posted by: Harry | 24 March 2008 at 10:20 PM
with my regular operator. works perfect
Posted by: Ouriel Ohayon | 25 March 2008 at 06:55 AM
Apple wins anyway
Posted by: Assaf | 25 March 2008 at 02:41 PM
not on 100%. Apple business model on the iPhone is also based on rev share for data package the users pay to the operator. Once an iPhone is not used through the official channel, apple is missing this part of the business
Posted by: Ouriel Ohayon | 25 March 2008 at 02:45 PM
are there unlimited data plans with the cell phone operators over in Israel? how much does such a plan cost? I might be staying there for sometime and would like to know what it's going to be like to jail brake my iphone and use it over there? thanks!
Posted by: Hajster | 06 April 2008 at 06:28 AM