Apple no longer requiring proof of AT&T contract for iPhone purchase

If I'm going to spend over $400 for a phone I'm buying an Android phone. It already has all the things that apple doesn't & can be bought for over $100 less. It's already been proven that Apple spends less than $150 to produce the GS model so the retail price is a total rip-off, especially when it has no external memory slot, camera flash, multitasking, etc - which you'll get in most all android phones. I like apple as much as the next guy but we're not getting the value we should & it's getting old.

For those unaware, an unlocked phone is VERY useful for people who travel out of country (or for countries with multiple wireless carriers that can support the iPhone). This will let you avoid high roaming costs.

Selling the phone without contract but still locked to a service provider is marginally useful. This primarily targets people who don't want to lock into contracts or aren't eligible for contracts (i.e. poor credit ratings). Go month to month or use expensive prepaid services.

Check out the blog www.fairwirelessforcanada.ca for details on the benefits of an unlocked phone.

AT&T has been offering contract-free iphones for some time now. Friend picked one up a few months ago..

The bottom line is you still need an AT&T contract to get it to work. They only offer it in 2 year increments.

So they can do prepaid.

You know, I've been waiting and hoping that Apple would get off the exclusive relationship with AT&T for some time now. I don't have an iPhone, I have an iTouch and would love the chance to have the iPhone with T-Mobile. Teases like this, the rumor of the iPhone going to open up for T-Mobile, all very frustrating. Even a unlocked phone at a high price would be worth it. But what will happen is that with phones like the HTC-HD2 I can see the 'iphone experience' coming to other devices and then pretty soon folks like me will find a substitute that will be more than good enough. I mean, you can only keep the teasing up for so long before we lose interest.

This is so not news. Apple did the same thing last year at this time. Its a way to get rid of some stock of 3gs before a refresh in June or July. I guess all the blogs have forgotten Apple did this last year.

iPhone OS 3.2 update:
-Unlock all existing iPhones.

Come on Apple, get with the program. Provider-locked phones make zero sense in the first place.

This is good news. We recently tried to purchase an iPhone for my mother for her birthday, but quickly realized shed have to be present for us to get the phone to begin with. Kind of ruins the element of surprise when you have to take her there to get the phone.

This is old news. You've been able to walk into an Apple retail store since launch of the 3GS and buy it off contract. Prices are non-subsidized so of course they aren't cheap but neither is AT&T's iPhone contract.