Exactly how did they make more by partnering only with AT&T? Did AT&T pay them lots of money for this? Would have been nice to be able to use it with whoever you want out of the box. 
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Why didn't Apple just sell the phone unlocked in the first place?
- Thread starter Van Wildonher
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First off, visual voicemail. That's not just something on the phone, the provider has to support that. AT&T spent a lot of money setting up back-end support for it throughout their entire network. Second, AT&T gave them a deal unlike any deal ever made by a cell provider - they weren't allowed to subsidize the iPhone, it was for sale at stores outside of AT&T, it had online activation in the user's homes, some of the monthly plan fees were split with Apple... and they did all this based entirely on trust - nobody at AT&T saw even a prototype iPhone until two months before the announcement.
For all that, Apple signed a deal to make AT&T the exclusive US provider for 5 years.
For all that, Apple signed a deal to make AT&T the exclusive US provider for 5 years.