There were quite a few rumors surrounding the arrival of the carrier unlocked iPhone in the US in the past few weeks. Well that rumor has now been proved with Apple just announcing that it would sell both Black and White versions of the iPhone 4 in the US starting today. Apple has priced the 16 GB and 32 GB versions at $649 and $749, respectively. As of now, only black versions of the iPhone 4 are available and can be shipped within 1-3 business days.
People longing for the unlocked white version would need to wait for 3-5 days for shipping to commence. It would also be important that the carrier of your choice would need to issue micro SIM cards that are compatible with the iPhone 4. The standard sized, larger SIM card, as you now, is incompatible with the iPhone 4.
The launch of the unlocked iPhone 4 will mark a second major blow to AT&T who first lost the exclusivity to Verizon when the CDMA iPhone arrived a few months ago. However, AT&T did enjoy almost a complete monopoly for the initial three years since the launch of the iPhone.With the unlocked iPhone available, people can simply walk in to any Apple Store, purchase an iPhone and use the phone on any GSM carrier of their choice.
There are some things to be noted though. Apple has said that the 3G micro SIM designed for the 3G iPad would not work with the iPhone 4. Also, for people expecting to use the iPhone 4 on T-Mobile, be warned that the device would only get EDGE speeds on that network since T-Mobile 3G network uses a band that is unsupported on the iPhone 4.
Now that you do not need to be tied to AT&T or Verizon to get yourselves an iPhone, are you planning to get one for yourselves?