From DailyTech: Released in Sept. 2014, the 4.7-in. Apple, Inc. (AAPL) iPhone 6 and its bigger, faster 5.5-inch counterpart, the iPhone 6 Plus, have long been available in Europe and other regions SIM-free. But in the U.S. many of the iPhones 6/6+ units sold have been locked to the networks of AT&T, Inc. (T), or Sprint Corp. (S).
That meant you couldn't simply swap out SIM cards as there was often programmatic restrictions in place, requiring you to either resort to hacking your device or going to your carrier at the end of your contract and asking for an unlock.
Well, that's finally over. You can now buy SIM-free iPhones, unsubsidized direct from Apple via its retail stores or its website. Shipping on the SIM-free models is a bit slower (3-5 days) than on the carrier models (1-day shipping), given that no carrier is subsidizing expedited shipping.
Of course, Verizon Communication Inc. (VZ) Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile U.S., Inc. (TMUS) already were shipping iPhones without factory unlocks, and in T-Mobile's case it was already offering the unsubsidized models for free. So this is sort of old news, if you were following the issue carefully. For the layman, on the other hand, this is an interesting new option -- picking your phone, then picking your carrier.
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