Sprint to Begin Locking iPhone 4S GSM SIMs Today

Mark Hearn, writing for SprintFeed:

An internal Sprint memo states that starting on 11/11/11 “all iPhone 4S devices will have the SIM locked.” The memo also goes on to state that “the locking occurs during the activation process and is invisible to the customer.” Such statements suggest that Sprint’s iPhone 4S variant does, or should we say did ship with an unlocked SIM. But all is not lost for you early adopters, it is clearly noted that this SIM lock update will not impact any iPhone 4S activated prior to 11/11/11.

I can verify that the Sprint iPhone 4S review unit I tested from Apple was not SIM-locked. When I was in Canada for the Çingleton Symposium conference last month, I popped in a GSM SIM from a native Canadian and it worked just fine. (Popping in an AT&T SIM while in the U.S. had no effect.) Not sure what Sprint’s thinking here, but they’re removing a very useful feature that should be a great selling point for frequent international travelers.

(Via MacRumors.)

★ Friday, 11 November 2011