There are currently at least a million unlocked iPhones on T-Mobile’s network, or at least that’s what the carrier has been telling people at the PepCom conference in New York. T-Mobile claims most of the phones pre-date the iPhone 4, which means those users physically had to trim their T-Mobile SIM card to get them to fit into their device.
A further testament to the fervor of the iPhone faithful is the fact that these “trimmed” iPhones don’t even get 3G or 4G service because they lack some key pieces of hardware and don’t match up with T-Mobile’s radios.
A T-Mobile spokesman also said that microSIMs are in the works, which would mean no more card trimming, but didn’t give a release date.
Of course, there is now an easier way to get an unlocked iPhone for those who have the cash, as Apple has started selling an unlocked version of the iPhone 4 in the United States.
There are few advantages to the unlocked iPhone other than the ability to escape AT&T, which is in the process of swallowing up T-Mobile. It’s nice to be able to avoid those silly two-year service contracts, and great for international travel, but the added expense or potential for degraded service seem like a high price to pay. Then again, can a million unlocked iPhone users be wrong?