“The quiet release of an unlocked iPhone by Apple yesterday marked an important chapter in the history of a device that’s gone on to become an enormous part of the company’s business,” Josh Lowensohn reports for CNET. “Yes, the $649 and $749 price tags are a complete deal breaker for most people, but with what monthly service and a data plan costs–and more importantly, international data packages–that’s just a chunk of what you end up paying over two years if you’re someone who genuinely needs an international phone.”
Here are five big reasons the unlocked iPhone is a big deal:
1. No contracts
2. No more hacks
3. Makes the iPhone a juicier target for traveling business users
4. Puts the iPhone on unsupported carriers
5. Gives the iPhone 4 a shot in the arm as next-gen iPhone rumors swirl
Read more in the full article here.
Does that mean that when my two year contract is up I can take my iPhone to any carrier that supports that network/hardware without jailbreaking the software?
This would only work if you had previously bought an unlocked phone.
The other bonus would be that you would not need to sign a contract.
I believe that in some countries the company is required to unlock the phone after you have completed your contract.
The main question that I have is “how do you avoid paying the built-in subsidy?” It should be a separate line item that you can remove from a contract or month-to-month service if you buy an unlocked phone. I am tired of being reamed.
Yes! And increase the resale market.
Not your current iPhone. (I don’t think)
I think it’s still locked to AT&T. Apple would have to update all iOS devices to be unlocked.
What other carriers are there in the states for 3g gsm? AT&T has full compatibility, t mobile runs on the wrong band, so it stays edge I think.
Prepaid cards for AT&T I guess.
In Germany, if you had a two year contract with t-mobile (up until last year the sole carrier of the iPhone in Germany), at the end of the contract period they would unlock the phone for you, in store. That’s one of the main reasons Vodafone and other carriers sweetened their voice+data plans when the iPhone 3G and 3GS came out, to get all of those iPhone customers with newly unlocked hand-me-down iPhones.
FTB, why do you limit your question to the US? America is only 4% of the world. Don’t you think there might be a few people besides Americans who will be damned grateful for the change in policy?
I’ve read some good things about an outfit called H20 wireless that sells GSM voice and data on a pay as you go basis.
Good summary here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/06/14/unlocked-iphone-faq/
So far apple has not released software to unlock previous models or even the currently locked iPhone 4. I wish they would. I have no desire to jailbreak but I do need to use t-mobile.
yep.
I’m tempted to upgrade my 3GS to an unlocked 4, but think it’s about to become the new base model about back to school time.
If that is the case, iPhone 4 prices should see a drop in price.
Unlocked phones are important, but there has been a better way for some time now. Buy the phone of your choice off eBay or elsewhere. Then jailbreak it and unlock it. You’ll save about 400 bucks off what Apple is asking and have the same utility. I unlocked my previous iPhone and used it with a purchased sim card overseas and it worked like a charm.
only problem with jail breaking is that it is no longer warren teed and no longer eligible for software updates. I never have needed to jailbreak anyway. What for? For cheap Cydia apps? No thanks.
Wrong on both counts. Assuming there’s still a warranty on the used phone when you buy it, the warranty still holds after jailbreaking since you can restore iOS after just fine.
You also still get SW updates–they just wipe the jailbreak anyway.
The iPhone’s original 1-year warranty is only valid for the original purchaser.
I’d hardly call My3g & MiFi cheap apps.
I bought my first iPhone (3G) on a contract with O2 in Ireland. When my contract was up (18months) I asked them to unlock it, it took a few phone calls and a visit to one of their stores. Eventually I got a phone call from O2 telling me to connect it to iTunes. Within 5 minutes up came an Apple logo saying congratulations your iPhone is now unlocked. I still use that 3G iPhone when I go abroad and as an iPod.
PS My 3G is not jailbroken, it was unlocked by O2 and Apple and works on other networks.
Wonder how long before CDMA iPhones are unlocked.
Just takes to a Cellular South rep who says they are working with Apple to get in on the iPhone. Currently other Verizon CDMA phones that are not locked can be flipped to their service. BTW- they do not charge for tethering and have no data cap.
T-Mobile sent me unlocking instructions after 1 year of a 2 year contract in the Netherlands. I did immediately but have not yet changed. Still on the contract anyway so why pay double but at least now when I’m on holiday I can use any SIM that’ll give me local internet charges i.s.o. data roaming.
Wouldn’t the unlocked iPhones be a boon to developers who don’t want to use their main phone as a testbed?
And why does an unlocked iPhone cost $20 more than the equivalent iPad 3G and $350 more than the equivalent iPod touch? The major component differences are a GSM and GPS chip and somewhat better screen?
I’m hoping the move to unlocked phones (other makes included) will drive bloated cell charges down. Eventually, if enough unlocked users go to a competitor and say
“I’ll switch if you can beat my current charges”, we might see a significant drop. (Especially insane IM charges).
I’m glad the Apple had finally listen to users’ comment who is demanding for the unlock iPhone. The 2-Year contract with AT&T and Verizon are both fine but Apple should give international travelers an option to get the unlock iPhones for their convenience to use from overseas as this type of customers will not use international data/phone roaming anyway. Hope that this unlock iPhones will continue carrying on with iPhone 5 and all future iPhone new models
In Australia we’ve had unlocked iPhones available direct from Apple stores ever since its introduction way back whenever. However, if you buy a subsidised iPhone on a plan from any one of the many networks that carry it, then you’ll be locked to that network. At the end of your contract you pay extra (price varies by network), to get it officially unlocked.
Our competition laws demanded that the phone couldn’t be tied to one network only and eventually Apple (rightly) saw that this was a better model than the US situation with AT&T. USA iPhone customers – welcome to the world of free enterprise and genuine competition!
In Canada you can pay $50 to have your phone hardware unlocked from the original carrier.
If Apple won’t just do the right thing and start unlocking US iPhones like they do in Europe I hope our government will force them to. It seems ridiculous having my out-of-contract phone still locked.