Apple iPhone is the phone everyone wants but not everyone has, hence the hype is immense and people do all sorts of crazy things to get their hands on it, ranging from selling their kidneys, to selling their kids and camping outside Apple stores since weeks to get the phone on the launch day. Our carriers have now jumped on the bandwagon and are now offering the latest iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to their consumers. However let us emphasise on the fact that they are bringing this iPhone very late to the Pakistani market when it’s already available since the international launch day here. Local retailers and wholesellers have imported units from USA and Dubai and are now selling it for a lot lesser as the initial launch hype is long gone and the initial buyers have already had the latest and greatest of the iPhone.
However there are a few advantages as well as few caveats that should be kept in mind hence we have decided to inform our readers and help them make a smart choice! There are 5 different carriers in the country and all 5 of them are offering the phone. Let’s talk about the advantages first and then the caveats.
The advantages are that the phones are officially imported through proper channels hence the devices are actually brand new and not pre-activated, also the accessories will be genuine and it wont be repacked as those are mostly sold in the local as gray market imports. Speaking of which you also get 1 year warranty on the device which is something you don’t get in the local market. These phones are also PTA approved but that also means that FaceTime is unavailable as PTA has a restriction on FaceTime. The prices are also higher(which we will discuss more about later in the article.)
The benefits of buying from the local market are that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are already available in the local market, at a cheaper price and have FaceTime enabled as well. However as we mentioned earlier that they lack any warranty or after-sales support and might not have original accessories and might be repacked as well. Hence it’s mostly upto the customer to choose where to buy from as the price difference is quite marginal.
However coming to price is where the real drawbacks come to play. The local carriers are all offering the iPhones but the terms and conditions are quite vague. Here’s a rundown of how various carriers are offering the new iPhone duo.
Warid: We spoke to their customer representative who stated that the launch is scheduled for tomorrow i.e 13th November 2015, however they said that there is no confirmed pricing at the moment and pricing could fluctuate and it’s best to visit your nearest service center tomorrow to get exact price and availability information.
Telenor: The customer rep has stated that they have no availability information at the moment however we have recieved a SMS from Telenor that states the price to start from PKR 80000 onwards.
Ufone: The launch date is stated for 13th November 2015 i.e tomorrow however pricing is yet to be confirmed.
Mobilink: Their staff states that they have no pricing or availability information at the moment.
Zong: They were the only carrier that gave us concrete pricing, however availability date is yet to be announced and you have to submit a PKR 1000 deposit to reserve your device. Pricing is as follows and all units are factory unlocked however without FaceTime:
iPhone 6s
16GB: PKR 85000
64GB: PKR 99000
128GB: PKR 111000
iPhone 6s Plus
16GB: PKR 98500
64GB: PKR 111500
128GB: PKR 124000
We honestly think that these prices are a bit on the high side however if you want total peace of mind with 1 year AppleCare warranty plan then we would ask you to go for it. Though prices in the open market have gotten lower and are now stable and even slightly used units are available as well for those with a lower budget. In the end it’s upto the consumer to make the choice and it’s good to see carriers finally bringing in the iPhone with warranty for those who prefer it this way.
