Okay, we know that Cingular is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone. NO WHERE does it say that phones have a subsidy lock. Dollars to Doughnuts that you can pluck out your cingular sim and put a t-mobile sim in that bad boy. Of course, there will be no way of getting the phone without a 2 year contract from Cingular, but I bet you will be able to swap out the sim. I believe this for two reasons:
1. I find it hard to believe that a phone build on apple OS X would allow programming that would "lock" the phone to a particular carrier. Believe me, when that multiyear (hmmm, is it 2???) exclusive contract is up, you can bet your *** that Apple is going to offer this sucker to anyone willing to pony up the cash
2. While the price is $499/$599 with a two year contract, it NEVER mentions that the is a subsidized price. Apple is notorious for restricting the sale price of their items. This is why you never (on the regular market!) see deeply discounted apple items. Since they are brick and mortar, they won't allow other retailers to directly compete with them with their own products.
Reading between the lines (mulityear exclusive contract, no mention of the word "locked" or "subsidized") it appears that the phone will only be available from Apple (and authorized retailers) and from Cingular retailers. You buy the phone, you get a 2 year deal with Cingular. Also, the idea of "locked" cell phones is quickly vanishing (albeit, not publicly yet).
1. I find it hard to believe that a phone build on apple OS X would allow programming that would "lock" the phone to a particular carrier. Believe me, when that multiyear (hmmm, is it 2???) exclusive contract is up, you can bet your *** that Apple is going to offer this sucker to anyone willing to pony up the cash
2. While the price is $499/$599 with a two year contract, it NEVER mentions that the is a subsidized price. Apple is notorious for restricting the sale price of their items. This is why you never (on the regular market!) see deeply discounted apple items. Since they are brick and mortar, they won't allow other retailers to directly compete with them with their own products.
Reading between the lines (mulityear exclusive contract, no mention of the word "locked" or "subsidized") it appears that the phone will only be available from Apple (and authorized retailers) and from Cingular retailers. You buy the phone, you get a 2 year deal with Cingular. Also, the idea of "locked" cell phones is quickly vanishing (albeit, not publicly yet).