I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t sell unlocked iPhones at a premium - like $699 or something in that range. If I’m not mistaken I believe they do that in Europe.
Also if i go to an AT&T store or Apple store now, don’t I have to sign a 2 year contract before I can walk out with the phone? If so, where are all these unlocked iPhones without a contract coming from?
In Germany they are around $1500 in France about $1100 - there is some discussion if the french one is still “country locked” to french carriers only.
I don’t believe you can activate the phones in the stores, you need to activate them and sign up online, otherwise you can’t use ANY of it’s functions ... you just have an expensive ibrick.
No, you can walk out with an iPhone that is contractless. You go home, plug it into your computer and iTunes sets up the account... at which time you sign up for the contract. You can also jailbreak the iPhone and use it with T-Mobile's but no one else because only T-Mobile has the same type of signal.