Reader's question:
I would really like to get Apple's iPhone, but AT&T's network performance in my area makes me reluctant to spend the money just yet. Is an unlocked iPhone operating on T-Mobile's network a viable solution, or will I miss any important firmware upgrades? Ben T.
Editor's answer:
Unlike any other cell phone manufacturer to date, Apple offers an end-user product that is easily improved through firmware upgrades. As such, it's natural for Apple to provide significant firmware upgrades this way. When these upgrades are performed on an unlocked iPhone, the device will most definitely be re-locked to AT&T though, and it could possibly also be bricked.
If you buy an unlocked version with the 1.1.4 firmware upgrade today, you'll for instance not get the benefits of the significant 2.0 firmware upgrade scheduled to be released in a couple of months. In other words, yes, it would only be a matter of time before you missed a firmware upgrade that could be beneficial for your own iPhone experience, as they contain a lot more than bug fixes. Carrier dependent features, like the Visual Voice Mail and other (probably many) upcoming features, would not work with an unlocked version either.
There's also a more general approach to it all. All kinds of cell phones face various issues, but since they are normally covered by a warranty, the "broken device" is easily replaced with a new one. When buying an unlocked iPhone, however, there are no manufacturer warranty, so when damage (regardless of the unlocking part) is done, there's no cheap way out.
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