Apple Produces a Camera-less iPhone 4S for Singapore Soldiers

Smart phones are all about the features, right?  So why would anyone pay more for a phone that offers less?

How about when your boss tells you to.  And particularly when your boss is Singapore’s Ministry of Defense, known to the in crowd as “MINDEF.”  If you’ve been thinking that a career in the Singaporean military could be right up your alley, here’s a bit of information that you might want to factor in to your decision:  Soldiers in Singapore are prohibited from owning camera-equipped cell phones.

This has become more of a problem recently, as even the most basic cell phones come with camera features.  However – trust Apple to ensure that they are optimizing every possible segment of the marketplace – there is now a camera-free iPhone 4S available to those poor, device-deprived soldiers.  Singaporean operator M1 has the phone on offer right now, saying that both the front- and rear-facing cameras are missing from this particular model.  The price?  These special iPhones are about $38 more expensive than the full-featured equivalent.  Perhaps that goes down a little easier if you look at the exclusive MINDEF approval as a pricey-but-necessary feature itself.  That feature is no doubt worth the extra cash to soldiers serving their mandatory two-year tour of duty.

At the moment, M1 is the only operator featuring this special-edition phone.  However, SingTel and StarHub, Singapore’s other cell phone providers, are expected to follow suit soon.