Edit: Picking the financing option forces you to pick a carrier but buying it lets you get the phone without locking a carrier in
I despise being on a contract. I heard that the new iPhones are all going to have eSims so it should be easy to hang them unlocked but when I looked at the preorder it made me choose a carrier.
I’d like to have Google Fi, does picking one of the carriers lock me into a contract?
Thank you! This will be the first Apple product I’ve bought and I’ve never gone to an Apple store, I wasn’t sure if they’d have the same policy in store.
FYI if you don’t activate the phone immediately at the store (or online) they charge an extra $30 fee.
That’s scummy. I appreciate the heads up, I hadn’t read that anywhere!
Yeah they call it a “carrier discount” but it’s really just a fee:
I had an iPhone 3, then went android until I got an iPhone 14 two years ago. I drove the 85 miles to one so I could hold it in my hand and see which version I wanted. For me the drive was well worth IT and keeps e from thinking what if that other model would have fit better.
You just can’t beat shop experience. You go there, all excited, look around the store, look at the phones, choose yours, discuss with the experts there, get it in a back, go home all excited. It’s just better than online
Having been an Android guy for so long I was worried about going into the shop and being surrounded by smug Apple users, but it really was pleasant.
So a bad time to start chanting “One Of Us! One Of Us”, eh? ;)
All of the Android koolaid is out of my system now, I am fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem.
Apple hasn’t required carrier contract in a long time.
You can buy an unlocked phone online or in the store. Just buy directly from Apple. Some third party retailers only sell carrier locked phones.
You’re right, I checked again and it was the financing option that forces me to lock in a carrier. Thanks!