The iPhone 5 is now available in Bermuda — less than one week after its release in the US — but even if you’ve got your hands on one, you might not be able to use it as a phone. That’s because retailers say none of Island’s cell phone providers has the nano-SIM cards required to make the phone work.Audio Visual Electronics, the first retailer to start selling the coveted new phones, said it brought in only a few handsets and as of 11am yesterday morning, was completely sold out.“Interest in iPhones has been crazy — the phone has been ringing all day,” said Kevin Davies, owner of Audio Visual.Apple has reportedly sold out of its latest smartphone, selling more than five million iPhone 5s in the three days after it hit stores around the world.Mr Davies says he expects to get another shipment of the phones in soon.“We have a couple dozen handsets in transit however, given the shortage of iPhone 5s with both Apple as well as AT&T and BestBuy, we should have them by Friday.”The 16GB version of the phone will be available in both black and white for $1,399 at Audio Visual.“That includes a 90-day local warranty as well as the Apple factory warranty,” Mr Davies said.The 16GB, unlocked iPhone 5 is now selling on Apple’s website for $699. Plus the 25 percent duty you’d have to pay to bring or ship it in to Bermuda, the price would be just under $874 — a $525 difference. And that, too, comes with a one-year limited hardware warranty as well as 90 days’ complimentary telephone support.Mr Davies says the greater issue is getting the phones to work with the cell phone carriers here.“None of the carriers have stock of the nano-SIM,” he said. “I have been told that the local carriers are trying to get them but there is a huge worldwide demand at this point.”It is possible to make the iPhone 5s work by cutting a standard SIM card down to the size of the smaller nano-SIM, but it takes painstaking precision to do so without ruining the card.Mr Davies said one of his staff members did manage to successfully cut a SIM to size and it seems to be working just fine.“The thickness doesn’t seem to be an issue.”There is however, a tool called the Noosy that can do the cutting for you. Mr Davies says they’ve ordered a couple of them and hopes to also have those in the next few days.“The nano-SIM tools are hard to get too,” he said. “We have two separate orders in transit. We expect them any day now.”The Royal Gazette also checked in with other retailers to see when they might start selling the iPhone 5. Computer City told us they hope to have them available in a range of colours and models (16GB, 32GB and 64GB) in October. Unlike Audio Visual, who has purchased the handset through US retailers to resell here, Computer City and other Island retailers are having to wait on their Apple suppliers.“Right now, we don’t have any type of pricing because our supplier doesn’t have the stock on hand,” a spokesperson for Computer City told us. “Being part of the Latin American/Caribbean region hurts us immensely because product is delayed for release due to being in this region.“We always try to keep up with the technology in the States but we do encounter challenges that usually cause delays beyond our control.”The spokesperson for Computer City also indicated that the Island’s cell phone providers are encountering similar delays.“When we spoke to the cellular companies, they stated that they are waiting on their SIM supplier who doesn’t have them on hand,” the spokesperson said. “They are estimating arrival in October as well.”AF Smith told this newspaper they plan to have the 16GB iPhone 5 available in about four weeks’ time in both its main store and its AF Smith Express location on Reid Street. The company will also soon offer an iOS6 iLearn course to help users learn more about Apple’s latest operating system.Karl Boissonneault, vice-president of AF Smith said they will sell the 16GB for $999, but don’t intend to bring in the 32GB or 64GB models unless their customers demand it.“Shipping delays are always possible but current lead times indicated to us are three to four weeks,” Mr Boissonneault said. “At that point, we also expect the local carriers to have the nano-SIM cards available.“My contacts at Digicel indicated to me on September 12 that a significant order of nano-SIM cards was being submitted that week.”While all of the retailers we spoke to said the cell phone carriers don’t yet have the required nano-SIMs available for purchase, Digicel Bermuda told The Royal Gazette they’re “happy to facilitate the process” of obtaining a nano-SIM. It’s unclear however, if the company actually has nano-SIMs to sell right now.For its part, CellOne said they hope to have the iPhone 5 for sale in-store next week, but that they too are waiting on a shipment of the nano-SIMs.“We currently have nano-SIM adapters that have been tested and can be used to alter regular and micro SIM’s for use on CellOne’s 4G network,” a CellOne spokesperson said. “These will be used until production is completed on the regular nano-SIMs from our SIM card supplier which should be in the coming weeks.”