Apple announced the latest iPhone 5 a month ago. The reception was lukewarm despite a relatively new design and upgraded internals. As it is always the case, Apple priced the iPhone 5 at the same level the previous iPhones were at launch. $199 for 16GB version on contract and then going up depending on storage. However there are those who do not like to buy phones on contract. Those who want a factory unlocked iPhone 5.
Fortunately for them the US Apple online store is starting to show signs of a factory unlocked iPhone 5. Currently it’s still showing contract based version. However if you search for ‘iphone 5 factory unlocked’ the Apple Store results pane on the right will show the factory unlocked iPhone 5. The phone itself isn’t actually available on the website, it’s likely that these results are saved in the database and ready for public visibility when the factory unlocked iPhone 5 is available.
The units are priced at $649 for the 16GB version, $749 for the 32GB model, and $849 for the 64GB iteration which is the same as the iPhone 4S at launch. It’s expected that Apple will make the factory unlocked iPhone 5 available for purchase by the end of the year after the roll out in completed in all countries.