Apple is finally providing the world with an officially unlocked iPhone 4S. The GSM version of the 4S is now available online from Apple"s website starting at $649 for the 16GB version. The price then increases to $749 for the 32GB and $849 for the 64GB version. These prices are without the taxes added on but the upside to this is that Apple will cover the costs for standard shipping.
While Apple may be giving you the best the iPhone food chain has to offer, the question is how many people will actually purchase the phone through them? The two cost effective methods are still available if you would ever have the need to unlock your phone. The first option is contacting your service provider to request the unlock code which is usually given to you after a certain timeframe is passed since acquiring your phone.
The other option as you may have guessed is unlocking the iPhone through ultrasn0w. While this method does work, you will have to void your warranty in order for ultrasn0w to work its magic. On top of that, ultrasn0w is not instantaneously updated when a new firmware is released by Apple, especially when it includes a baseband upgrade.
The timing of all of this somewhat comes in handy as Sprint began locking iPhones that are on activated from this day forward.