Unlocked iPhones

I have been giving some thought to the unlocked iPhones we’ have to offer France. In case you were not aware, France has a law which states call phones sold there must have an unlocked version. We made the deal with the cell carrier Orange and we’re really excited about this partnership. I’m a little worried about people trying to purchase unlocked iPhones in France and bringing them back to the United States. Any unlocked iPhones brought back to the United States will only work with the AT&T network.

I’ve been following the hacks posted on the internet to uncouple the iPhone from AT&T, know that any further attempt will render your iPhone useless. We realize you have a choice of carriers, but if you want to use the iPhone you’ll need to use AT&T.

Now I did promise that I would be more informal, and I have been using our marketing statements, this blog is not about marketing, this blog is about letting you know how I really feel and better communicate with the people.

I don’t want to have these restrictions on the iPhone, I see a world where we can use any carrier we want. Apple is bound by contract with AT&T to provide iPhones on their network, and I can’t say we don’t get some commission from AT&T. I want the iPhone to be for everyone, that’s why we released the iPod Touch. Not everybody wants the phone part of the iPhone and Apple understand that.

As I announced recently, Apple will be providing an SDK in February for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I personally recommend you wait for that SDK before trying any other unauthorized hacking. This could leave your iPhone or iPod Touch useless.