Unlocked iphone question

[Zeonmx]

Will Apple stores sell unlocked Iphone 5 on release date or do we have to wait months for the unlocked phone?

 

[PsstGreek]

Will Apple stores sell unlocked Iphone 5 on release date or do we have to wait months for the unlocked phone?

I'm sure that question will be answered on October 4th

 

[Agent-P]

We don't know for sure. In the US, Apple only recently started giving the option to buy a factory unlocked iPhone from them. We have no precedent to go by. It is being assumed they will also offer unlocked units the same day as the carrier locked ones. But as stated above, we won't know for sure until the announcement.

 

[gtgrad95]

It really makes no sense to sell them locked anymore. In fact, they shouldn't have been sold locked to AT&T in the first place (even the subsidized ones). Because anybody who receives a subsidized phone from them is locked into a 2 year deal anyway and would have to pay a ETF to get out of it. AT&T still gets their money.

Also, I thought it was beyond ridiculous when Apple was selling unsubsidized phones for $599 that were still locked to AT&T. I'm thinking this may have been a side effect of the 'exclusivity' agreement. But now that that has run out, it doesn't make any sense to lock them.

With that said, I think they will offer a factory unlocked option from day 1. I'd be really shocked if they didn't.

 

[thewitt]

Apple locked phones to the AT&T network because AT&T not only committed to quadrupling their network capacity to handle the new iPhone Data model, they agreed to sell a minimum number of phones that was seen as a significant risk at the time. This allowed Apple to commit a volume to the factory to get the pricing model they needed.

Small price to pay in hindsight.

-t