Update: Apple Store UK now giving iPhone 4 delivery status as "shipped by July 4" at checkout. Looks like bumper sales!
Apple has taken the mobile industry by surprise by launching the iPhone 4 for sale unlocked and SIM-free in the UK, France and Canada.
Its store in the UK is offering the phone for £499/16GB and £599/32GB - both only in black at the moment - with the promise of delivery on June 24 launch day.
It means punters can stick any SIM in the phone and not be stuck with a (fairly) expensive iPhone contract for 18 or 24 months.
And it's easy to cut down a conventional SIM to fit the iPhone 4's miro-SIM slot.
This offer is bound to attract people who are not nearing the end of their contracts and is a first for Apple.
In the past iPhones have been offered on pay-as-you-go by the company in the UK, but only locked to a network.
I'm sure there will soon be a jailbreak and probably an unofficial unlock for the iPhone 4, but at least with an officially unlocked phone you won't have to wait after each phone software update.
The sooner locked phones are a thing of the past, the better.
Here's the link to the UK iPhone 4 Apple Store
Apple Store
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