Unlocked iPhone 4S Models To Hit In November With A Catch

We’ve been following the iPhone 4S news to emerge both at the Let’s Talk iPhone show and immediately following (not to mention the stuff that arrived well before the actual show date), and one thing that hasn’t had much mention of late is the unlocked iPhone 4S. Well, you won’t have much longer to wait on one of those, as they’re set to hit in November. But as is the case with many good things in life, there will be a catch.

Basically, while you’ll be able to get an unlocked iPhone 4S starting in November, you’ll only be able to use it on GSM networks, not CDMA networks, which means that, basically, your unlocked iPhone 4S won’t work with Verizon and Sprint. Doubly interesting, it seems you’ll also be able to take it to T-Mobile, but you’ll only get EDGE 2G speeds out of it as opposed to the much faster alternatives. And of course, for international travelers, you’ll be able to swap out your SIM cards on the road and use it elsewhere to boot. This is actually something of an interesting step, seeing as, just back in June, our own Chris Smith gave us AT&T’s less than favorable impression of unlocking iPhone 4 models, and now here they are the only ones, aside from T-Mobile after a fashion, that will boast unlocked iPhone 4S models. As for the price, well, you knew this was going to hurt since you’ll be paying for the whole phone without subsidies: the 16 gig iPhone 4S unlocked will sell for $649, the 32 gig version will sell at $749, and those wanting to step up to the 64 gig edition will have to shell out a whopping $849, or enough to just get yourself a very nice quality laptop and use Skype where ever you go. Still though, some would say, for the freedom of an unlocked iPhone it’s a small price to pay indeed. But what about you? Are you one of those people? Or are you more one of those people who’d rather not spend that kind of money on a device that Apple will likely supplant with a whole new version next year?

Posted in: APPLE TECHNOLOGY