Rumor: iPhone coming to Canada on December 7th?

According to a Boy Genius Report that shows an alleged leaked advertisement, Rogers could be launching the iPhone on its network on December 7th. You're gonna need to take this with a big grain of salt though: the depicted iPhone doesn't show the Rogers logo on the actual iPhone, a red bow effect awkwardly cuts through text on the iPhone, and some comments point out that the Rogers logo is drawn incorrectly. We're leaning towards Photoshop job at this point -- what happened to the trademark dispute? -- but if it's true, Canadians could be looking at paying $499.99 of their dollars plus signing up to a three year contract in order to pick up their own iPhone. Is the border really that far?

[Thanks, Rich]

[K.R @ Oct 28th 2007 10:29AM]

I would say shopped as well, but if it is real I'm curious to see the details of the data plan as at the moment the price is no where near the price levels in the states.

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 28th 2007 12:59PM]

I third that.

it doesn't look like a rogers ad. beyond it having the logo. it's not fitting their brand design at all.

[Chris Macdonald @ Oct 28th 2007 1:58PM]

rogers ads don't look that cheesy at all

[Michael Lerner @ Oct 28th 2007 10:32AM]

It's unlikely as there is no confirmation but I know for a fact they are going to offer new data plans starting November 1st which would make sense if they are introducing the iPhone. I guess we'll have to wait for December 7th in any case.

[Kalen @ Oct 28th 2007 10:33AM]

Well, $499 is better than what I was expecting, but I'm not too excited that I'll have to sign up for a three year contract with them. The cost of the phone is not really the problem though, its the fact that Rogers will charge me my life's savings per month to use the darn thing. Its not Apple's fault though, telecommunications in Canada is not exactly up to snuff with the states.

Still good news for us Canadians though, now where's my video store Apple?

[jodeltje @ Oct 28th 2007 11:06AM]

in canada cellphone speed/services are even worse than in the united states?? Fuck me...

[Franssu @ Oct 28th 2007 11:45AM]

@jodeltje : Yes, cellphone infrastructure is even worse in Canada. Compared to Europe and to Southeast Asia, North America is the third world of telecommunications. The situation is at its absolute worst in Canada because companies behave like a cartel, doing nothing to enhance the service and hell-bent on gougine whatever they can from the customers.

[maina231 @ Oct 28th 2007 11:52AM]

$499 doesn't seems to fit right...but the recent customer backlash may make Apple think twice on demanding a higher price.

[TEM @ Oct 28th 2007 1:24PM]

WEll, even if this is true, we should be glad that the iPhone is not CDMA, as otherwise Telus would be charging $800 and a lifetime contract.

[Matt H. @ Oct 29th 2007 5:48AM]

Ha! Telus would charge you the $800 and lifetime contract... but could you imagine what Ma BELL would charge?

It would be cool if Virgin had the iPhone.

My virgin bill is about a quarter what I was paying with Bell, better service, more time and no contract!

[Nirojan @ Oct 28th 2007 10:37AM]

If this were true...499 is too much...the canadian currency is worth more than the US now and the iphone is 399 in US that doesnt make any sense...

[bugmat @ Oct 28th 2007 10:52AM]

Add to that a THREE year contract and it's downright ridiculous. Poor canucks..just hop on a bus Gus, have a little plan Stan, go unlock the phone Joan and set yourself free!

[Dahk @ Oct 28th 2007 4:47PM]

Pacific Mall here in Toronto has 'em without the contracts =).

I think about 5 out of like 10 of the cellphone stores have them posted up on their walls.

[icepop4who @ Oct 28th 2007 10:38AM]

3 year contract and $499? expecially considering the canadian dollars beat the USD, this doesn't sound like a good deal. Preorder on Rogers.com? err... nope. not even a fragment of ipone is there. Although i doubt the credibility of this ad, the iphone should come to Canada before the holidays. Good luck Canada.

[Oshawapilot @ Oct 28th 2007 10:43AM]

Meh, Photoshopped.

The word "Rogers" isn't even capitalized at one point in the Fine print, and the rest of it smells of being made up at several points.

Rogers might be a screwed up company, but if there's one thing they never forgot it's something so trivial as making sure that Uncle Ted's last name is used properly everywhere.

[Mike @ Oct 28th 2007 12:44PM]

The only place that Rogers isn't capitalized is when it's used in the rogers.com address. I agree that the ad looks suspect, but at least the photochopper wasn't *that* sloppy.

[c4 @ Oct 28th 2007 2:45PM]

Shopped, and by a moron. It says Apple(C) iPhone(TM) which is completely wrong: the copyright symbol is never used after a name. It should be a (R) registered trademark.

[Calvin @ Oct 28th 2007 10:47AM]

Looks very Photoshopped. I've been seeing Rogers ads for most of my life and I know that even Rogers has better style than that.

[Wilky @ Oct 28th 2007 10:59AM]

Who actually cares really. Its just another phone in a market sopping full of them. We should stop being such a disposable society.

[DT @ Oct 28th 2007 1:08PM]

Hi, you must be new here!

[XGM @ Oct 28th 2007 11:00AM]

Agreed, its a fake, Rogers dosn't do ads like this. And is it me or does it say November 20th under preorder. Also i find the sentence styling is quite off, as in its not something id see in a Ad, unless its fake.

[XGM @ Oct 28th 2007 11:00AM]

The side view of hte iPhone is also on a angle...

[Nomi @ Oct 28th 2007 11:05AM]

Is it just me, or does the ad seem cut off from the left?

[maciej @ Oct 28th 2007 11:06AM]

I would bet anybody all the treasure in the world that if and when the iPhone comes to Rogers in Canada, Rogers will have the Wifi removed straight up and charge data fees. And even though the flyer looks fake...there's every reason to suspect Rogers WOULD charge 499...why? They're the single GSM provider in the entire country. (Fido doesn't count its owned by Rogers) Its very pathetic, that such a rich country like Canada is stuck wiht so little choice in respects to cell phones...the Eastern Europeans have it better, isin't that a sign?

[jodeltje @ Oct 28th 2007 11:13AM]

do realize that eastern european countries are getting a zillion bucks a days for good infrastructure and shit from western europe...so on all that stuff there pretty hi-tech (roads/internet/phone/tv/airports).

and in 10 years...poland will be as rich as canada is now :)

[Nomi @ Oct 28th 2007 11:17AM]

No choice? Canada has 3 major telecoms, Rogers, Telus and Bell which pretty much split the market evenly. You should be happy that Rogers subsidizes cell phone for customers, or would you rather pay $500+ for a blackberry...

[stephan habicht @ Oct 28th 2007 11:30AM]

@ NOMI he was pretty clear in saying the only GSM provider! there is no CDMA iphone therefore bell and telus could never carry it. if apple wants to release the iphone to the canadian market it has to be on Rogers' terms, that is the big problem.

[maciej @ Oct 28th 2007 1:33PM]

@ jodeltje

I'm Polish, and in 10 years time maybe we'll have a highway going from Belarus to Germany if we're lucky. First we need our politics cleaned up just look at what the Kaczynski brothers did in a matter of 2 years... they almost succeded in isolating Poland from the rest of the EU. I wish very much that Poland could one day become as rich as Canada or even more..but that will take a long, long time.

@ Nomi

Please do your homework before posting, I clearly said GSM provider. I'm well aware of Telus and Bell. As for subsidizing phones, please explain the financial sense in buying ANY phone from rogers @ say even a petty $100 but being forced and locked into a 3 year contract paying around 40 dollars a month (and 40 is bloody conserative). Doing the math after 3 years you spend 1440 in bills. So all in all your phone cost you 1540. And for 1540 you can buy 2 Nokia n95's or 2 SE K850's even. So to answer your question yes I would rather jump on eBay buy myself a quand band unlocked cell and pay $500 ($500 for a cell is a lot, unless your an early adopter, a much more sound price is around $300-$400) for it because it will be cheaper than going to Rogers in the first place should I want another phone or even drop the plan after a years time. I'd still be carrying my k750 around if I locked myself into a 3 year plan and that phone never reached the stores here.

@ stephan habicht

thanks :)

[Nomi @ Oct 28th 2007 3:52PM]

Goodluck using your two n95s without a cellphone plan to go with it. Why do people add the $40 or so per month (I'm paying $30 after tax/fees for unlimited calling after 6pm and weekends with another 250 anytime minutes and rogers to rogers calling) to the cost of the phone when they are obviously getting a service for that price. You'll still end up spending money on bills regardless of the cost of your phone. So at least with this, I can get a new phone for $150 or so every year when my HUP renews.

@stephan

I was commenting on "Canada is stuck wiht so little choice in respects to cell phones" and not the iPhone being stuck with Rogers, so sorry if thats what it ended up looking like.

[maciejt @ Oct 28th 2007 4:16PM]

To each his own then. But if I must be stubborn... Canada is vastly behind the world in cell phone choice, and that can't be disputed.

[Dahk @ Oct 28th 2007 4:52PM]

Actually, Rogers, Telus, and frickin Teacher's Pension Plan! LOL since they recently acquired Bell Canada. Though I don't think any relabelling is going to happen heh.
Those crazy folks own everything up here.

[EMaster @ Oct 28th 2007 11:12AM]

ROFL 499 + 3 years???? Yeahhh ok. At most Canadian Buy/sell websites you can get an 8 GB unlocked version WITHOUT the rediculous contracts for $30 more and that's an 1.1.1 version of the phone. This will fail so ridiculously bad it's not even funny.

[KC @ Oct 28th 2007 11:16AM]

If you think that price is far fetched, remember here in the UK its going to be £269, with a £35 per month tariff, that works out to $550 for the phone and $71 a month for the tariff....

[Jonhimslf @ Oct 28th 2007 11:21AM]

Still happy to have picked up an unlocked phone. The *only* thing that will make me regret my decision is if somehow Rogers offers an incredible data plan to go with it. If that is the case, I would gladly have paid the 499 price tag and sign any contract. Another non-issue is the contract. There is no other GSM company in Canada and I enjoy the flexibility that SIM cards provide too much to ever switch to Bell or Telus. Even with the contract you can change your plan anyways if you need to

[OnZeFly @ Oct 28th 2007 11:21AM]

That's funny, I was in a Rogers Store two days ago and I asked when the iPhone will be release here. The girl at the desk told me in a discrete way that they expecting it for Xmas Holidays but then her manager appeared and denied this information. He told me that it will probably be release in the first Q or half 2008, *IF* it is release by Rogers.

Suspense...

[JustinAndrew @ Oct 28th 2007 11:36AM]

Fact: Rogers is the GSM bully in Canada. So they'll be the ones dishing the jesus phone. Fido at the moment is in absolutely no financial shape to get that kind of exclusivity deal with Apple.

Marketing companies make shitty moch-ups all the time for clients. I really wouldn't be surprised if it was made start some hype train and viral notoriety or it was a sample for a promotion that will start within the next few weeks.

The phone is coming, it will be on Rogers, the 3 year contract is really NOT out of the ordinary and Rogers will always gouge the crap out of it's customers, new or old.

[Iain @ Oct 28th 2007 12:41PM]

What are you talking about? Fido is Rogers... no thanks in part to the CRTC letting Rogers buy them.

[skhawaja @ Oct 29th 2007 1:36AM]

it's JUDAS PHONE okay! NOT jesus phone - JUDAS!

[john @ Oct 28th 2007 12:10PM]

Regardless if Rogers comes out with the iphone, it will be cheaper to buy one without a contract and unlock it. If a reasonable data plan comes out with the iphone then it will be worth it.

[DjFIL @ Oct 28th 2007 12:11PM]

we're always getting the shaft here in canada. things better start to change soon. our dollar is now above the US dollar value, there's no reason we shouldn't be paying on par (before PST/GST) for identical products.

[randy @ Oct 28th 2007 2:33PM]

LOL, I've got some bad news for you. Our low dollar just makes your HIGH DOLLAR even worse.

Listen, all you canadians keep complaining about prices in your country. Prices are high because your GOVERNMENT taxes and regulates your markets to DEATH.

You can't have it both ways -- you can't elect representatives to your Government who spend billions of dollars on social programs and welfare and healthcare and then expect to get an iPhone and cell data plan for the same price as an American. We buy our own healthcare! American companies [most, anyway] live and die by themselves! They don't get a check from the Federal Government for FAILING!

[Cameron @ Oct 29th 2007 6:56AM]

Poor randy should have been told "Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt" before that comment.

[Chete @ Oct 29th 2007 11:53AM]

@ Randy

Seriously, open mouth, insert foot !
Do you realize what GST and PST are ? Does are the taxes... We are arguing that with a strong dollar we should be paying very similar prices as the US does, plus possibly a small tariff considering this is an import for us. As you may or may not know, although taxes are high, most Canadians are comfortable with the governement spending billions on social programs, you know the free healthcare and all...

[TopCat @ Oct 29th 2007 7:32PM]

Yeah, randy's argument is clearly ignorant. The Canadian government applies tax in the form of GST and PST, not in the retail price. And there's no reason the iPhone wouldn't be at parity with the US price: it's not made in America, it's made in Taiwan. If anything, it would be cheaper to bring it to Canada. Many electronics products are lowering in price in Canada as new versions/skus are released. For example, the PS3 went down in price with the 40GB unit (the 80GB dropped as well) to be at par with the US.

The real barrier to the iPhone in Canada is the insane mobile data rates.

[Fred @ Oct 28th 2007 12:45PM]

"...a date which will live in infamy." Geez, I'm surprised I was the first one on that.

[tehpyro @ Oct 28th 2007 12:52PM]

as far as the rogers logo on the phone... it's actually a rare thing for rogers up here to brand the phone... as far as the price... that's absolute BS. Our dollar is better than the US dollar. It's about time american vendors get used to that fact and stop screwing us over!!

[Derek @ Oct 28th 2007 12:53PM]

Hahaha, it's a fake. It's not even the right logo for rogers wireless.

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 28th 2007 1:00PM]

700mb of data costs $1600cdn ($1640us?) on rogers.

keep the phone. bring us an american cell company instead.

[ramin @ Oct 28th 2007 2:06PM]

wtf no it doesnt
it costs 80 bucks CAD

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 28th 2007 2:22PM]

what are you smoking? cuz i'd love to try some!