Comments on: Would an unlocked iPhone change your buying habits?

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 07:19:26 +0000

I have seen people with unlocked Iphone 4′s. I am currently in Afghanistan and need to unlock my phone. What is the best way to do it?
Thanks

By: Rahul Aggarwal

Rahul Aggarwal — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 05:00:11 +0000

A different business strategy of Apple here is my opinion. The iphone 4s being made available on the AT and T / Verizon carriers will market the iphone 4s well since it is a GSM and not CDMA that only demands a fixed carrier in a life time. This part is not preferred by the people who travel across borders!

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:47:15 +0000

I’d wait for the next phone if it was released unlocked. If the next phone is truly going to have a hybrid chipset and antenna, then I could pretty much choose any network I want.

By: Dameon Welch-Abernathy

Dameon Welch-Abernathy — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:17:22 +0000

That “software SIM” would have to be supported by every carrier for it to be useful, otherwise it’s not really a “global” GSM device.

Meanwhile, I like the ability to change phones from time to time, so for me, a standard hardware SIM is much more ideal.

By: Levi

Levi — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:51:19 +0000

Everything depends on the price but I thinkI would buy. I travel a lot. I was considering an unlocked iPhone in Europe but it was too expensive and it did not have a world warranty. So I got a Nexus One. It was much cheaper (though still no world warranty).

In the US, if they could keep the price near the old 1st generation unsubsidized prices (or at least keep the most up to date lower SSD model bellow $599) I would consider it. What would seal the deal are two things. 1, is a good implementation of the software sim (change carriers the moment I set foot in a country – use and change my existing post-paid accounts, I have two in two different countries, at will) and 2, world warranty. I had two iPhones die on me already (close to the end of warranty). Had I been in the wrong country, I would have been screwed.

I am curious of the timing of this (if it is true). Is it connected to the back to school? We hear rumors of new stuff being included with the back to school promo (like iPad this year) and the iPhone comes up in discussion but it is discarded as it requires a contract and credit check and etc. This would change that. (Just speculating here. No need to take this for anything more than what it is worth.)

By: PD

PD — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:08:14 +0000

I don’t live in the US and all cellular phones in this country have always been unlocked. Change the SIM, change the carrier. You can get the phone cheaper by entering into a contract with the carrier, but that doesn’t prevent changing the phone or the carrier at any time. It’s called freedom. The carriers don’t care what phone is being used as long as the contract is completed, if there is one.

By: Eytan

Eytan — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:45:53 +0000

I would not buy an iPhone 4 unlocked. I would wait for the (rumored) iPhone 5 World phone, so as I could use it on any carrier in the US and Europe (I am assuming in addition to supporting CDMA on both Sprint and VZ it will also support T-Mobile’s 3g and not just AT&T’s, now that the two are merging). An unlocked AT&T iPhone 4 in the US has limited use, working only with AT&Ts 3g and no other carrier’s 3g service.
What I would do, however, is demand that now that Apple is offering unlocked iPhones (if they do), that AT&T unlock my 2 year old 3gs which is out of contract, just like they will do for every other model and brand phone OTHER than Apple.

By: Ted T.

Ted T. — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:16:48 +0000

Should read: “However, what I want is the NEW iPhone 5 when it comes out in September factory unlocked — *not the iPhone 4*”

By: Ted T.

Ted T. — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:00:13 +0000

+100

It is a scandal that Apple/AT&T won’t unlock your 2+ year old out of contract iPhone. I still have my original iPhone at home and would love to have it unlocked, not to mention my current 3GS, whose contract expires in under 30 days.

By: Ted T.

Ted T. — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:57:12 +0000

Why do you think the carriers are fighting the SIM elimination tough and nail? The SIM locks benefit the carriers, not Apple. The purpose of the no-SIM iPhone isn’t to prevent you from changing carriers — quite the opposite, it is there to allow you to change carriers at will, without even having to visit one of their stores.

Apple wants to sell more iPhones. Buyers prefer unlocked phones. Ergo, Apple prefers unlocked phone. The carriers detest unlocked phones because that forces them to compete rather than just having a captive customer base.