Buying an iPhone from another country

Question

Buying an iPhone from another country

I am currently living in Egypt and the iPhone 11 pro hasn’t been released in my country yet and even when it gets released the price would be ridiculous as always due to taxes and stuff, so my question is:

right now i’ve two friends one of them is in the USA and the other one is in the UAE and both of them are willing to buy me the new iPhone and i will receive it once they come back to Egypt and of course they are gonna be opening the device to avoid paying more ridiculous taxes in the airport and the difference in the price is huge compared to buying from Egypt so

1- what’s the difference between the iphone models being sold in the USA,UAE And Egypt?

2- how will i be affected if i bought a phone from another country that is unlocked an bought from the Apple store ?

3- will i face any problem with the Warranty here in Egypt ?

4-I was told before that the Authorized resellers in Egypt would refuse fixing my phone if i bought it from another country is that true ?

5-will i have to send the phone back to USA or UAE if i am having any troubles with it ? And if so will i have to pay for shipping ? And what’s the service level here ?

guess that’s all for today Thanks in advance.

iPhone 11 Pro

Posted on Oct 10, 2019 1:09 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Crynay

Level 3

649 points

Oct 10, 2019 2:51 AM in response to Marwann_mostafa

Do not buy an iPhone from a different region for all the reasons you listed *unless* it is SO cheap that you are OK with NO warranty and service. I had a friend who went through this while on vacation.

1. Some wireless bands are different. See here (https://www.apple.com/eg/iphone/LTE/)

2. See #1 - even if unlocked, your wireless provider may need one of those missing bands so you will get limited or no service

3. Yes - warranty will be a big problem, especially from a different continent. Apple's warranty says, "Apple may restrict warranty service for iPhone... to the country where Apple or its Authorized Distributors originally sold the device." Read it here (https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-document-us.html)

4. See #3 - if the phone needs service, Egypt Apple store cannot legally import USA / UAE phone parts because Egypt has not approved them to be in the country.

5. Yes - you have to send the phone back to your friend and he has to bring to Apple Store USA / UAE to get it fixed. You cannot send directly to Apple store because of #4 (Apple store US / UAE cannot legally send back to you.) So yes - you have to pay for shipping to your friend **both ways - maybe even some extra money to pay for all the work he's done to get you a phone.

Reply

Answer 2

Elitegate

Level 6

8,212 points

Oct 10, 2019 4:32 AM in response to Marwann_mostafa

The LTE bands are different for an USA phone but it should still work because the iPhone is a world phone.

Your US device will have FaceTime enabled which is illegal in the UAE and you could face problems because of that. Every UAE sold in the UAE doesn't have FaceTime and it cannot be enabled, even when you leave the UAE.

And yes, the warranty is only valid in the country you buy the iPhone in. In your case, the US. If you have any issues with the phone, you'll need to fly into the US in order to have your phone serviced. Apple might still service your phone in the UAE, but you'll need to pay for an out-of-warranty replacement.

Please see: https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-document-us.html

Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty

IMPORTANT RESTRICTION FOR iPHONE, iPAD, APPLE TV and HOMEPOD SERVICE.

Apple may restrict warranty service for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and HomePod to the country where Apple or its Authorized Distributors originally sold the device.

This is taken from the document i have linked you. This is the US version of the warranty, but you'll find the

same paragraph in other versions of this document aswell.

In order to see the warranty document specific for your country, go to this page:

https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/ and select: iPhone --> iPhone --> then select your Continent and Country.

Reply

Buying an iPhone from another country

Similar questions