iPhone 4 to be sold unlocked from Apple!

In a "duh, well of course they should have" move, Apple has announced on their website that all iPhone 4's (and the cheaper legacy 8GB 3GS model) sold through the Apple UK online store will be sold SIM free and unlocked:

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/hom.../family/iphone

It's about time, makes sense, but was in no way a sure bet until this announcement. They don't specifically say whether the same applies to iPhone's sold in physical Apple UK stores, but one can only assume this is the case.

We don't know yet, but it's a reasonable bet that iPhone's sold via the networks WILL still be locked, although some may continue to offer unlocking. (None have announced their intentions yet though)

I've always been in favour of paying full price for an unlocked phone and either using it on Pay&Go, or a rolling 30 day contract, and it seems to me that now this has been announced unless you want a subsidised phone on a 18/24 month contract, it makes so much more sense to simply buy directly from Apple.

Now that the 5 main networks support the iPhone it will also be very easy to switch an unlocked iPhone from one network to another - no mucking around with installing IPCC's or entering manual settings, they will all just work.

Happy days...