Want An iPhone? You Need AT&T

Less than a month after the U.S. government announced that jailbreaking is allowed on mobile phones, Apple has struck back. As is often the case, it is the consumer that will suffer. When the iPhone 4 was released in June, Apple allowed purchases of the device without a contract from AT&T. These were priced at $599 for the 16GB and $699 for the 32GB models. Now, Apple is no longer offering these options. If you visit the U.S. Apple site, it now clearly says that the iPhone 4 is only available with a contract through AT&T. They state:

Can I buy an iPhone without an AT&T contract? No. iPhone requires a two-year AT&T wireless service contract.

Of course, the jailbreak ruling might have had nothing to do with Apple's decision, but that seems unlikely. After all, one of the main reasons that users jailbreak in the first place, is to get the iPhone without using AT&T as the service provider. Apple's decision not to sell the device without a contract makes this a lot harder. Apple's decision is limited to consumers in the U.S. only. What do our readers think? Please leave your comments below.

Related articles