Leaked Photos Reveal Apple is Testing an iPhone for T-Mobile USA
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Posted April 23, 2011 at 6:40pm by iClarified
BGR has gotten its hands on photos of a white iPhone 4 prototype with T-Mobile USA 3G Bands. The internal model is N94 (Verizon was N92, GSM was N90) and it runs an internal build of iOS 4. The internal build includes Apple test apps such as Radar and the employee directory app. The front of the iPhone has a different proximity sensor from the recently surfaced white iPhone.
Although it does not make sense to release a white iPhone 4 with T-Mobile at this time, Apple could still be testing the T-Mobile friendly radio with the current iPhone hardware. Maybe T-Mobile USA will finally offer the iPhone with the launch of the iPhone 5. If not, if the AT&T and T-Mobile acquisition gets approved, eventually the iPhone will make its way to to T-Mobile.
at&t + T-Mobile = no need for a T-Mobile iPhone. Last I checked at&t was waiting on clearance to complete the purchase of T-Mobile, so why would apple be testing a T-Mobile version on the iP4?
This is a disturbing behavior from Apple/Steve Jobs. The way they marketed the iPhone in the US jeopardize the consumers by putting them in the lion's den. I recently purchased a iPhone4 from Apple store. I did so mainly because I thought I could force Apple to unlock baseband for me since I paid full price for the phone.
After a brief period, I found out I still had to go with AT&T even without a binding contract. I explained the legal ins and outs with the rep over the counter, but they did not seem to have an answer. They even said I should go overseas and buy the international version. I did. I also wrote to Jobs about this lame practice. Maybe it is some stipulation in the legal agreements between the two companies that I am fully aware of. But regardless, from a legal standpoint, this is outright criminal.
Good for AT7T to swallow up TMobile. Let's see how far from the Federal Courthouse can they way away. Let me share it with all readers here. The prices of the iPhones are, for the fundamental part, are the same through out the world after the exchange rate is calculated. The feature sets may be different depending on a particular carrier (GSM, CDMA).
Apple should have a policy to issue owners of iPhones, when proven legit, codes to unlock iPhones when their contracts expire. They should not leave it the hands of carriers because they never will let go that easily.
I forgot to clarify one important point. The reson to have the baseband unlocked is that consumers can go to a different country and use a local temporary SIM, paying 10 cents per minute instead of $3.49/min to AT&T. This is a very standard practice everywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, Apple should only care about the jailbreak, since it's the iTunes portal that earns them $, not baseband lock. If you, yes Mr. Jobs and your company pursue the monopolistic practice, albeit yours are different from Microsoft, you will hear from consumers very soon. Remember your iTunes DRM purchases?