China Mobile to Launch iPhone Without 3G, Wi-Fi

China Mobile is expected to launch the iPhone soon, but without what is arguably its most useful feature: The internet.

According to the South China Morning Post, the carrier wants Apple to supply a custom version of the iPhone which disables both W-CDMA and Wi-Fi.

What on Earth are they thinking? Well, it comes down to unlocking. China Mobile doesn't yet have a 3G network in place and is afraid that customers will buy the iPhone and unlock it for use on more capable networks. This explains the lock-out for 3G, but killing the Wi-Fi is just spiteful. Users will be left with nothing but a slow 2G data connection.

Given that Apple ships an identical iPhone to every other world market, it's doubtful that China Mobile will get its way. But then, no other world market has a potential customer base of two billion people. If these functions are disabled, it will most likely be done in software. If China Mobile has been paying attention, though, it would know that a simple software lock breaks open like a cheap bike lock when enough hackers hammer on it.