[linlam]

My son in law ( living in the U.S.) has just offered me his out of contract iPhone, as I'm having quite a few problems with mine ( which is not an iPhone).
My daughter says that the U.S phone will not work over here.
Will it be worth my S-I-L sending the phone over to me? Will I be able to get it fixed (legally) to work over here?

Thank you.

[Step666]

You'd probably need to get the handset unlocked for it to work on a UK network.

The proper way to do this with iPhones is to get the network that it was originally on to get Apple to unlock it.
Some networks offer that service for free but a lot of them will charge you (not a huge amount but something).

[Roush]

There is an iPhone 4 version that is specifically for the US network Verizon, as they use a different network system. This version won't work as the system they use (CDMA) is not compatible with the 3G systems used here in the UK.

All other versions and models of iPhone are universal though, and will work fine here in the UK.

[Daveoc64]

All iPhone models are the same worldwide, except the iPhone 4 sold by networks that use the CDMA2000 network standard (pretty much only Verizon and Sprint in the USA). That specific model won't work AT ALL in the UK.

The only problem you'd encounter is that the phone might be locked to a US network (meaning that you can't put a UK SIM card in the phone and use it on a UK network.

If the phone is genuinely "out of contract", that suggests that it's an iPhone 4 or older sold by AT&T and locked to their network. If that's true, your son in law should be able to contact AT&T and get the phone unlocked for free.

It's possible that he bought it outright, either from Apple or AT&T. In that case, it might be locked to AT&T or it might not, but again, they should unlock it for free.

[davethorp]

The other posters have pretty much covered everything. The only other slightly obvious thing is that it will come with a US style power adapter so you will need to buy a US-UK travel plug, a new mains adapter or just use the USB lead in a computer to charge it up if you don't already have a uk iPhone/iPad charger

[linlam]

Thank you everyone, for your help. The iPhone is a 3, I believe, so it could, eventually work over here.

[teh]

However I will make you aware of one thing... Might not apply to iPhones but it certainly did to my android.

You may find menus, and other features are disabled compared to the UK version.

I purchased an Atrix 4G from ATT, and an Atrix from the UK. The massive difference in menu options and other features that ATT and blocked off was amazing really.

Also, I thought CDMA iPhones could quite easily be enabled for UK use because they have both CDMA and GSM chips in them???

[Roush]

Originally Posted by teh

However I will make you aware of one thing... Might not apply to iPhones but it certainly did to my android.

You may find menus, and other features are disabled compared to the UK version.

I purchased an Atrix 4G from ATT, and an Atrix from the UK. The massive difference in menu options and other features that ATT and blocked off was amazing really.

No, this doesn't apply to iPhones as Apple does not allow networks to modify the phone's software.

Originally Posted by teh

Also, I thought CDMA iPhones could quite easily be enabled for UK use because they have both CDMA and GSM chips in them???

The 4S is a world phone, and contains both GSM & CDMA radio hardware but the CDMA iPhone 4 is specific to CDMA networks and only contains CDMA radio hardware.

[teh]

Originally Posted by Roush

No, this doesn't apply to iPhones as Apple does not allow networks to modify the phone's software.


The 4S is a world phone, and contains both GSM & CDMA radio hardware but the CDMA iPhone 4 is specific to CDMA networks and only contains CDMA radio hardware.

Thanks for clearing that up!