Each year when a New iPhone rolls out, I have upgraded. Of course that means signing on for another 2 year contract and I agree to the terms and all is good. However, one thing that has always bugged me is what if you don't upgrade? Shouldn't you then be able to head into an AT&T store and have your iPhone "officially" unlocked after the 2 year commitment has been satisfied. This is certainly not uncommon for users to want the flexibility of using different SIM cards when they travel abroad or use pre-paid SIM cards when it makes sense to do so. Also you can do it with other AT&T phones. Alas, the iPhone is different. We agreed to this when we signed on. Your iPhone is forever (at least for 5 years) locked to AT&T even after you've paid for it. This is the case even if you walk in to an AT&T/Apple store and drop $500-$600 for a contract free version! While you're under no obligation to have a contract and can cancel your service whenever you like, your device is still locked to AT&T! Yet this is not the case in many other countries. For example, in both Canada and the UK, you can pay full price for an iPhone 4 and it will be UNLOCKED out of the box. Drop in any carriers MicroSIM card and away you go. It will be great when the day comes that the iPhone is on more than one carrier here in the US. Hopefully we'll see the end to this monopolistic practice. At least the good news is we're nearing the end of this 5 Year Deal. Right? Please say "yes". 
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