Man demands iPhone 6 as dowry, report says

In Saudi Arabia, the brother of a bride-to-be is reportedly insisting that her fiance provide him with an iPhone 6 for her hand.

Is the iPhone 6 the price of creating a happy couple in Saudi Arabia? It's a high price.

The Apple brand is all about love and heart and warm, beautiful feelings.

I feel no surprise, therefore, that it's now being placed at the very core of a glorious betrothal.

You see, a man in Saudi Arabia has decided to test just how much his sister is loved by her suitor. He has agreed to her getting married on one condition: that the suitor delivers a brand, spanking new iPhone 6 as a dowry.

It's not recorded whether he insists on a gold one. However, the marriage will reportedly not take place until that new Apple object is safely in the brother's fair hands.

The Independent, relying on the sturdy and no doubt affectionate reporting of Saudi's Al Anba, says that dowries in the Arab world have become more symbolic than expensive.In this case, however, the symbolism is surely overwhelming.

Here is a man who understands that his sister is no ordinary woman. Here is a man who knows that any dowry offered must express the sheer magnitude and importance of the marriage.

Surely that magnitude and importance is reflected in the magnitude and importance of every single Apple product launch.

Those who look at love, marriage and humanity with a more jaundiced eye might also observe that here is a man who knows that Apple hasn't yet announced when iPhone 6 will be available in Saudi Arabia.

And, well, what fun it would be if the suitor spirited one in so that the lady's kindly brother could one-up the neighbors.