Going to buy iphone 4s from dubai and use it delhi with vodafone netwrok

there are two carriers in UAE and neither will unlock an iphone.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

Dubai (UAE ?) if so Apple sell unlocked iPhones at their online store

Look at the list at bottom of Country list referenced above for details

However since Apple seem not to have Retail stores "on the street"

there may be restrictions on who can purchase

Expanding on what Peter said, be sure that you purchase from an authorized reseller in the UAE; either Apple or one of the carriers (Etisalat or DU, both of whom sell iPhones as unlocked, according to Apple's information) If you purchase from any other source, you will almost certainly get a locked iPhone, and claims that it's unlocked will probably mean that it's been hacked.

Note as well that should you need service, you would have to send the iPhone back to the UAE. The warranty on the iPhone is not international. Note as well that Facetime is by demand of the UAE government blocked in UAE-sold iPhones, so if you buy an iPhone in the UAE, you will never be able to use Facetime.

Regards.

You should also be aware that if you do so, you will NOT have FaceTime. FaceTime has been permanently removed from all iPhones sold in the UAE. It is banned by law there. There is no way to add it again, even if you take the phone out of the country.

Do yourself a favor and purchase an iPhone in India. You may also want to consider using a SUPPORTED carrier in India. Vodafone India is NOT a supported carrier. Some functions may not work.

To correct you:

1. Etisalat and Du sell as locked phones.

2. Some retailers stock international iPhones which means FaceTime does work.

3. An iPhone in the UAE may be covered for support abroad with Apple dependent on the issue. This will have to be verified by the AASP at the country they visit.

Thanks.

1. Correct. They do.

2. Those phones were illegally imported and are illegal to sell there.

3. No, Facetime can NOT be installed on phones legally sold there under any circumstances.

2. If they were illegal to sell Apple would not have the stance to permit them at retail stores. They are referred to as grey market. There are plenty of grey market companies in the UAE which do not purchase from the Apple distributor.

3. FaceTime is not an installation. On grey market Apple products they already include FaceTime.

1. Then Apple's information (which as I said is what I was going by) is wrong: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

2. Such iPhones will get no support from Apple or the UAE carriers, and as Tim suggested may incur legal problems with the UAE government since the UAE prohibits Facetime.

3. No, it will not be supported or serviced elsewhere, and in any case an iPhone legitimately sold in the UAE cannot have Facetime unblocked, anywhere.

1. I'll clarify. Apple is not incorrect. You can purchase an Apple iPhone from an Authorized retailer, those tend to be locked. Not sure where you saw it as unlocked. However some retailers may also stock international iPhones, those are unlocked. Additionally the Apple online store for UAE is the only official location to purchase an unlocked iPhone. This means that the service centre in TECOM Dubai supports it. Also, point 3. on the Article states the carrier can provide technical support. The carriers do not have the expertise to provide much Apple support, they usually provide replacements. If you're looking for further assistance with a warranty product it's better to visit an AASP. As mentioned in TECOM Dubai there is an AASP, named ABMCare. They support online Apple store phones.

2. Consumers still look for support, which is what we provide as the leading Apple consultancy for UAE. We act as an intermediary between purchase and warranty or out of warranty. The UAE government have little involvement with FaceTime. When we had our discussions in depth with them the TRA which is a telecommunications company mentioned that this is being looked into.

3. iPhones are supported worldwide by Apple, our previous background is from Apple Inc. Unless their policies recently changed.

FaceTime is only on international phones once again.

1. I saw it as unlocked right on the Apple web page to which I linked, which states that iPhones sold by those carriers are not locked.

2. Irrelevant to the issue. Any iPhone sold by a non-authorized reseller may have come from another country - if it has Facetime it will definitely have done so - and will not be supported by the carriers in the UAE nor by Apple or any service provider (at least not officially).

3. No, that is completely wrong. Apple provides service for any given iPhone only in the country in which it was officially sold with the sole exception of EU countries; the EU is treated as a single country for the purposes of iPhone support. This is not a policy change; it's been that way since Apple first released the iPhone.

Official resellers in the UAE cannot sell an iPhone with Facetime activated at this time. If someone wants to purchase from an unauthorized reseller, that's the purchasers choice, but they need to be aware of the implications and consequences. There is nothing more to be said on the matter.

1. The webpage you provided from Apple with the Carrier authorized unlocking basically is unticked. If you went o the Apple store website it would be unlocked. The point is, they are locked.

2. You talked about the government so i answered that. The relevance of service is paramount because plenty of consumers purchase phones outside of the UAE. Some authorized retailers do sell iPhones when the distributor does not provide for clarification. No need to repeat the point about iPhone support for grey market products, that's evident throughout a lot of posts.

3. Your partially correct. Apple provides troubleshooting for devices worldwide but not necessarily replacements for UAE iPhones. I meant policy change in reference to this generally speaking.

The point i was making was:

A. Etisalat and Du sell locked phones.

B. Etisalat and Du don't heavily troubleshoot

C. ABMCare supports iPhones from the UAE Apple online store.

D. The government has little to do with consumers and FaceTime and is looking into it from TRA.

E. You can take a UAE iPhone abroad and Apple can troubleshoot, but not necessarily replace. Unless

you escalate the issue perhaps if needed.

Except all this happened on 2 April and OP is now probably long gone back to India

No idea why this new poster resurrected on old and probably now totally irrelevant thread

For future reference for others who read it. That's why they exist. Your probably could turn into a he replies on this post. Not that i'll wait for it.

Just to finish off the topic:

1. The column titled "Locked to carrier" on the referenced Apple web page is unchecked for the two carriers in the UAE indicating that the carriers sell unlocked iPhones. If the carriers are indeed selling locked iPhones, then that information is incorrect.

'nuff said.