Apple now sells unlocked iPhone 6 models in US, but smaller screen-size rumour is false

6 Jan 2015

Following reports over the weekend that consumer tech giant Apple would be unlocking its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones in the US, the manufacturer has confirmed it.

However, other rumours of a four-inch screen substituting the phone’s 4.7-inch display (the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch display) are wide of the mark.

Unlocked iPhones are available elsewhere in the world but, until now, the newest Apple models were never sold that way in the US – you either bought them with a carrier contract or through T-Mobile. This change will spark fresh interest in the devices, no doubt.

Apple made similar moves two months after the release of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S releases, however this change comes four months after the company’s latest phones were released.

According to 9-to-5 Mac, the pricing will be the same as an unlocked T-Mobile iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, starting at US$649 and going all the way up to US$949 depending on screen size and choice of storage space.

Meanwhile those rumours of reduced-screen size models coming on stream are seemingly wide of the mark. Reports of customers preferring the iPhone 5 and 5S’ four-inch display turned into rumours of an entire shift in design for the newer models.

However MacRumours has poured water on those claims. Quoting reports in Asia, where the phones are manufactured, MacRumours discovered this was all just “hype”.

“Supply chain sources said that Apple has not made ​​any new production tasks iPhone 4 inches to parts of the supply chain, and therefore will be launched on 4-inch screen Apple iPhone 6s argument is not true – at least so far.”

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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