iPhone 5 in Malaysia on 14 December 2012

Thinking of getting the newly launched Apple iPhone 5? While it’s not out in Malaysia yet, you can rest assured that we will be updating this article when it does, so do keep checking this guide to make sure you are getting the best deal out there! If you don’t feel like waiting around, why not fill in your email address here and we’ll be sure to let you know when it does get launched in Malaysia!

What is the Apple iPhone 5?

The Apple iPhone 5 is the latest smartphone released by Apple as a successor to the very successful iPhone 4S. The announcement was made on 12 September 2012 (13th for us in Malaysia) by the boys at Cupertino, California and the initial batch of countries will be getting it on the 21st September 2012. Some new features of this new iPhone are:

• Larger 4 inch display (the iPhone 4S had a 3.5 inch screen)
• Aluminium back, glass front
• New Lightning connector (smaller than the previous 30-pin)
• compatible with nano-SIMs
• New faster A6 chip with the latest iOS 6
• 4G LTE Connectivity (but LTE services probably not yet ready in Malaysia)
• 8MP rear-facing camera (1080p); 1.2MP front-facing camera (720p)

For the full technical specs and some more nice photos of the Apple iPhone 5, you can go ahead to the Apple website here.

If you’re totally not bothered about anything Apple, why not have a look at our Best Samsung Galaxy S3 Plans in Malaysia article, where we compare the top plans for Malaysia’s top-selling phone (and Apple’s main competitor in the smartphone market) this year.

When will the Apple iPhone 5 be available in Malaysia? When is the Malaysia Launch Date? UPDATED

Only Apple (and probably the networks in Malaysia know)! If past releases are anything to go by, we can expect Malaysian networks to offer the phone sometime in October/November 2012, especially since Apple themselves have said that this will be the fastest iPhone rollout they will have had. Having said that, we will be right there when they do, comparing plans offered by each provider to find out which one of them offers the best deal for you!

The first batch of countries that got the iPhone 5 on 21 September 2012 are:

• USA
• Canada
• UK
• Germany
• France
• Australia
• Singapore
• Japan
• Hong Kong

The next batch (no Malaysia we’re afraid) which got it at the end of September are:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Liechenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

UPDATED 3rd December 2012 – Apple have officially announced the Malaysian launch date for the iPhone 5 to be the 14th of December 2012 (just in time for Christmas!). We expect the local networks to follow suit with their prices and plans in the coming days, so bookmark this article now to be updated!

In the meantime, Maxis have set up their registration of interest page here.

How much will it cost in Malaysia?

No word yet, but judging by previous releases again, the prices in other countries look to be similar to the prices of the iPhone 4S when it launched last year, so we can expect the RRP in Malaysia to be something like RM2,190 – RM2,290 with most of the networks offering similar levels of discounts as of right now (early September 2012).

If you’re convinced by that argument, why not have a look at our Cheapest iPhone 4S Plans in Malaysia Compared article to see roughly how much you might need to fork out when it does launch here in the coming month(s).

Will the Apple iPhone 5 work in Malaysia?

While the phone has not yet launched in Malaysia, we tested a working model on hand to work with the major local network carriers micro-SIMs (Maxis, DiGi, Celcom, U Mobile) reduced-by-us to nano-SIMs. Maxis and DiGi are the only ones that have announced they will issue nano-SIMs for a small fee, but based on our initial tests, if you are willing to do something fiddly with your Mini-SIM or Micro-SIM then any provider should work.

Have a look at a snapshot we did with one of the working models that we tested it with:

I can’t wait for the Malaysian release date, how do I get an Apple iPhone 5 now?

We’ll we would probably say you could pick it up next weekend from one of the first batch of countries, and we’re pretty sure some ‘grey’ market models (ie. bought overseas and sold here for an unsavoury amount of money!) will be available in places like Low Yat, Queensbay and Digital Mall.

Keep in mind that you may have to do something fiddly with your local network SIM card (except Maxis) as the iPhone 5 is only compatible with nano-SIMs (iPhone 4/4S used micro-SIMs, iPhone 3G used regular Mini-SIMs).

Alternatively, you could sign up below for the latest updates, we at SaveMoney.my might just be doing something exciting in the coming days/weeks!

Reference. http://savemoney.my/iphone-5-malaysias-best-plans-compared/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The+Apple+iPhone+5+is+Coming+to+Malaysia%3B+AirAsia+_+Enjoy+2013+Low+Fares+Promotion+Review+-+Save+Money+Tips+4th+December+2012+&utm_campaign=20121204_m114444942_The+Apple+iPhone+5+is+Coming+to+Malaysia%3B++AirAsia+_+Enjoy+2013+Low+Fares+Promotion+Review+-+Save+Money+Tips+4th+December+2012&utm_term=The+Apple+iPhone+5+is+Coming+to+Malaysia+this+month_21