will facetime in able in my phone if i use the sim of a carrier that supports factime

Hey Niel,

Are you sure about the AH/A model, or is it just based on assumptions as the phone is sold in the Middle East? I am asking because AH/A is only meant for Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait (all allow FaceTime) and NOT UAE, or KSA, or other Middle Eastern countries with FaceTime blocked.

AH/A has Greek writing on the back of the box too which suggests that it is available for sale officially in Greece which is not a Middle Eastern country and does not have FaceTime blocked.

Also, there is this post on MacRumors claiming otherwise. iPhone 7 purchased overseas & Facetime (A Warning) | MacRumors Forums

Probably not. Most of the devices sold there have it permanently disabled, although some carriers can enable it. No one could be sure here. And that is only when you are in that local geographic location. Ask the carrier.

Only if iPhones which originate from your country have AB, AE, or possibly AH just before the / in their model numbers. If the country code is something else, you won’t be able to get FaceTime on your iPhone even if the carrier supports it.

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That’s not a model number. On the device, choose Settings, General, and About, and look for a series of numbers and letters starting with M and containing a slash. The one or two letters just before the / are the ones which say where it came from.

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All iPhones sold legally in KSA have FaceTime permanently disabled. That phone will never have FaceTime.

All iPhones sold legally in KSA have FaceTime permanently disabled. That phone will never have FaceTime.

I originally thought so, but at least two people have reported getting FaceTime on them by inserting a SIM card from a Middle Eastern country which doesn’t ban FaceTime. Those iPhones didn’t have it when taken outside the Middle East, so they definitely originated from within that region instead of being illegal imports.

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They very well could have been brought into KSA from a neighboring country where FaceTime is not banned and re-sold. Phones intended for original sale in KSA and UAE will never have FaceTime. If that policy had changed, I would think it would have been all over the tech press.

I’ve seen part of how it’s actually implemented, and have reached other conclusions based on posts on these boards and information in Apple’s Knowledge Base:

1. An internal configuration file disables FaceTime on iOS devices that have AB, AE, or possibly AH as their country codes.

2. SIM cards for certain Middle Eastern carriers override the lockout from #1.

3. No card from Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates will do #2.

4. Aside from the originally-installed SIM card, there isn't any difference between Saudi Arabian and Egyptian iPhones regarding FaceTime.

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