SingTel iPhone 3G: FAQs for Malaysians
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I’m a proud owner of a brand new iPhone 3G. While I’m really busy with work, I’ve got so many questions from interested friends and Twitter-ers I had to post this FAQ.
How much does it cost?
To get an iPhone 3G from SingTel, you need to sign up for a 2 year plan. No 2 ways about it. I signed up for the iOne Plus plan, which is the cheapest in terms of monthly commitment that qualifies you for an iPhone. The handset costs S$848 while the plan costs S$25.68 per month.
Cost of 16GB handset: RM2,049.97
Cost of monthly fee: RM62.10 (or RM1,487.62 for 24 months)
Short story, the iPhone 3G will cost me RM3,537.59 over a 2 year period (assuming 1 SGD = 2.41586 MYR).
Update 16 Sept: The handset is subsidised depending on which plan you pick. On the lowest priced iOne Plus plan the 8GB handset is S$698 and the 16GB is S$848. You can see the new iPhone section in the SingTelShop to figure out how much the plan+handset combinations will cost.
Can you get the iPhone 3G without a SingTel plan?
No. The other alternative is to get it on the black market.
Can I buy the SingTel plan and then cancel it later?
Sure, but canceling the plan incurs an ‘equipment penalty’ of S$800 (RM1,938.16). That’s even more expensive than paying for the plan for 24 months.
Is the iPhone 3G from SingTel unlocked?
Yes, the iPhone 3G is not tied to SingTel. I went home, popped in my DiGi sim card and it didn’t even blink.
So all I need for a iPhone 3G from Singtel is RM3,537.59?
Unfortunately.. no. Singtel won’t sell their plans to foreigners. So you’ll either need to:
- Have an employment pass.
- Have a friend/relative buy or upgrade to the iOne or iFlexi mobile plan, and let you have the iPhone handset.
- Have a friend/relative sign up for the plan, but you foot the bill for everything (this is what I did).
How’s it so far?
I’m absolutely loving my iPhone 3G. However, there are a few niggles. It’s buggy and prone to crashing as widely reported. I’m going to upgrade to the 2.1 firmware tonight and I’ll report back if that solves the problem.
All the features, except visual voicemail, work as advertised. GPS is great, and 3G shouldn’t be a problem if your operator has it.
You’re an idiot for paying so much for the phone
That may be true, but that’s the price to pay for being an iPhone fanboy. It does cost an aweful lot, but I’ve been waiting and saving for it, so there are no regrets.
The only bit of concern that I have is the phone contract. I don’t particularly like being tied to SingTel but I’ll have to live with it.
Should I get an iPhone 3G?
It depends. It depends if you have the money to spend. And it depends on how much longer you can wait for the local telcos to bring it here.
If you already have a first generation iPhone, I would advise waiting for our local telcos to get their acts together. The iPhone 3G isn’t a fantastic upgrade over the original handset, you’re only missing 3G and the fixed earphone jack.
You should really also read up the SingTel iPhone 3G FAQ.
Send in your questions
This post will be updated as I get more questions. If you have a question I didn’t cover in the FAQ above please post it in the comments.
Last of all, check out my iPhone 3G unboxing pictures on Flickr.
32 Comments
Aww…this is so helpful! Thanks for posting this
does the A-GPS working in Malaysia? How many seconds does it take to get your GPS position?
updates 2.1 is really helpful. !!! Oh ya congrats on your purchase of iPhone.
@LiewCF yes A-GPS works. It takes 10-30 secs to locate and load the map.
@solihin I agree, 2.1 update has been good so far
Hi there,
Is the handset price you provided for 8GB or 16GB iphone? Please clarify…
Yo David/ MyMacBuzz… I am still here in Malaysia… As of yesterday something is wrong with iPhone 3G and Maxis 3G… Any news? It could be 2.1 Software Update. I might try and downgrade today.
This is Sunil by the way…
@Ahmad the price is for 16GB model. I’ll update the post
@nvidia2008 I’m on DiGi so I really don’t know. I also just upgraded to 2.1 today and have no probs so far.
10-30 secs for GPS position is fast! N95 takes a few minutes.
[...] SingTel iPhone 3G: FAQs for Malaysians [...]
Dude, lucky for you who happens to live just across the island. When will the iphone be here in Malaysia?
You said that Singtel does not allow foreigners to sign up for a plan. I take it they will ask for ID? I’m a Canadian currently residing in Malaysia.
Thanks, e
I will wait for the iphone to arrive in Malaysia…
@echo yes they ask for a S’porean NRIC. get a friend/relative to sign up for you.
Great phone. Congrates! It’s my dream phone too, but spend RM3.5k for a toy is expensive for me
blogjunkie…have u upgrade to 2.1 firmware? Anything u want to share? I’m about to get my new telco unlocked iphone 3G and my sim is from Maxis. Will it be any issue of upgrading to this new 2.1 firmware? Please advice…
10-30 secs for GPS position is fast! N95 takes a few minutes. - LiewCF
Liew, the iPhone has the advantage because Maps is customized by Google for the iPhone’s OSx whereas it is a placeholder application for the other smart-phones.
@tommy Peters: I think iPhone GPS is fast because it is the better A-GPS. N95 is using GPS only. GPS is not related to the map software it use.
@EDGE yes I’m on 2.1. no problems at all
@Tommy & LiewCF, 10-30 secs is on a good day. I’ve also experienced much slower to get my position. Also, it doesn’t zoom down to the same detail as the N95 i think.
blogjunkie.. i have an offer from someone claiming to sell a singtel iphone 3G 8gb for 2000 RM.can this be possible or is it another fraud case?
hi blogjunkie, i’ve just received my 3G iphone bought by a colleague from Singapore. i’m just curious, is it better for me to register the phone in the itunes in his name or my name. he doesn’t mind my using his name and address in case of any repairs tho i hope this won’t happen la
tx
not9to5, i don’t think it matters whose name you register your iPhone with in iTunes. enjoy the phone!
hi blogjunkie, tx mate for the quick reply.
have just succeeded upgrading my 2G iphone to 2.1; it’s quite nerve wrecking i’d say;)
now i’m off to upgrading my 3G iphone. wish me luck…
Hi not9to5, So with ur original 2G iPhone & 3G iPhone u juz bought, u see any difference? Apart from the camera & physical difference, i cant really tell. BTW, i’m considering either to go for the 3G or get the original 2G then upgrade to a 2.1 Wat u think?
My friend bought his iPhone from Hong Kong at HKD 6200 which is unlocked. Works perfectly in Malaysia.
We are IPHONE/HTC TOUCH sales company…
Comment edited to remove advertising content
Newapplestore….by the way, where is your outlet ? Would like to have a look at the new Iphone you mentioned at USD400 each…
Nov 06 2008 Update: I have been able to upgrade my Singapore Singtel iPhone 3G to 2.1
Did a fresh restore to 2.1 firmware, made sure I did not apply any carrier updates, etc. So far so good on Maxis 3G in Malaysia.
Yeah, so far 2.1 update is good. Improvements over 2.0.2
For those not on Maxis 3G with the RM99 unlimited a month (for the iPhone3G/ 3G phones), you should really consider it if you have an iPhone 3G.
Very fast. Very very fast in certain areas. Fallback to EDGE if needed in some areas.
If jailbroken and used in “tethered” mode, I measure up to 2.0mbps in some areas (shopping mall [Bangsar], my house [near MidValley]….)
what application are you using to tether your iPhone to your Mac? were you lucky enough to get NetShare before it got killed?
On 2.0.2 on my iPhone3G on Maxis3G I jailbreaked it, and then used the method of 3Proxy, MobileTerminal socks, etc.
The problem I encountered when I tried to upgrade to 2.1 firmware over a month ago was “iphone kcferrordomaincfnetwork error 302″… Googling this does seem to indicate some workarounds. Will let you all know how things are going if I can.
May be a DNS issue.
Leave a Reply