According to several sources of Apple news website 9to5 Mac, Apple will begin to sell fully unlocked and SIM-free iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units in the United States starting Jan. 6.
The sources also said that the unlocked iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units can be purchased either through the physical retail stores of Apple or through the company's online store.
Apple previously only sold the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the United States either with an accompanying contract with a carrier company or unlocked through T-Mobile.
The change in the sales strategy of Apple means that the company will be selling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units without any partnered SIM card, allowing users to bring the devices to any country in the world as they will now be compatible with SIM cards of any supported carrier.
The prices of the units will be similar to the unlocked iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units that can be purchased from T-Mobile, beginning from $649 and going up as high as $949, depending on the chosen screen size and the amount of storage space.
For the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S smartphones, Apple started to sell the unlocked versions after about two months following their initial release in 2012 and 2013. This places the company's schedule for selling unlocked iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units as a bit delayed, as the smartphones were released on Sept. 9, 2014.
Through the popularity of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple was able to dominate the recently concluded holiday season, despite the fact that all of the smartphone units sold were not yet unlocked.
A Flurry Analytics report revealed that over half of the mobile devices that were activated during the days leading to Christmas were Apple devices, with 51.3 percent of new devices made by Apple. The top new device to be activated was the iPhone 6.
Apple's 2015 plans for the iPhone include the S versions of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Similar to previous S models, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will likely include upgrades to its camera features. There are also rumors that the S versions of Apple's latest smartphones will finally include the much-anticipated, highly scratch-resistant sapphire screens.
Another rumor regarding the iPhone 6 is that Apple is developing an iPhone 6S mini, which will be a smaller version of the smartphone for users that wish to keep the sizes of their devices at a minimum, especially for those that are not yet accustomed to the large-screen smartphone trend.
