Apple to start offering unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 6 and 6 Plus from today – report

By Trevor Mogg January 6, 2015

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. — Digital Trends

Apple will reportedly begin selling fully unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets in the U.S. from today, according to sources that spoke to 9to5Mac. The expected move comes nearly four months after the phones hit the market.

At the moment, Apple sells the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in the U.S. through either a carrier contract or unlocked with T-Mobile.

The introduction of the unlocked, SIM-free models will allow users to operate their Apple handset across the globe on any supported carrier through the use of their own SIM card.

No official announcement has come from Apple at the time of writing, though pricing of the phones is expected to be the same as T-Mobile’s, ie. from $649 to $849 for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, and from $749 to $949 for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.

Prices vary according to the amount of internal storage, which for this latest model includes 16, 64, or 128GB options, with Apple this time refraining from offering a 32GB version. Interested consumers should be able to pick up the handset at Apple’s brick-and-mortar stores as well as from its online store.

9to5Mac points out in its report that the tech giant began offering unlocked iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s models around two months after their respective launches in 2012 and 2013, indicating the company is “running a little behind the pattern” with the latest iteration of its handset.

An unlocked, SIM-free version of the two iPhone 6 models is already available to Apple customers in a number of other countries, with the U.S. looking like it’s going to join the club today.

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