Best Buy Now Offers Unlocked iPhones, but iPhone 14 is Not Available for This

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 06 April 2023, 10:04 pm

Best Buy is now offering the public a chance to nab iPhone devices without the carrier lock or subscribing to certain services from the different telcos with ties to what it sells. This expands more of what Best Buy has to offer for the public, centering on the smartphones from Apple which have been previously exclusively available to purchase with a certain carrier deal.

However, this latest offer from Best Buy only featured the iPhone 13 and older releases from the company, with the iPhone 14 lineup nowhere to be seen in the unlocked offers.

Best Buy Now Offers Unlocked iPhones in its Stores

(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The famous retail company, Best Buy, is now offering unlocked iPhones on its online platform and physical retail stores, moving on from its exclusive carrier-locked offers from before. Now, users may buy a new Apple smartphone without the need to worry about what SIM card they will use for it, as it can read and connect to cellular networks of any brand.

Before this, Best Buy only allows iPhone purchases via telecommunication companies' plans, which means that shoppers would have to subscribe to a certain service that would lock their SIM to one network only.

Usually, most of these carrier plans last a full two years, before their contract elapses and the telco removes the lock on their network.

iPhone 14 Lineup Not Unlocked on Best Buy?

However, there is a catch on this availability, as only up until the iPhone 13 series and older are available with unlocked carrier offers from Best Buy.

This is not to mistake that the iPhone 14 is unavailable over at the retail company's platform, only that the iPhone 14 lineup remains exclusive to purchase with a bundled carrier plan with one's chosen telco.

Best Buy and its Retail Offers

One of the most famous retailers in the country for different technologies and lifestyle needs is Best Buy, joining the likes of Walmart, Target, and Costco for the famed shopping experiences with physical stores. Best Buy is known for its many deals and discounts as well, including its partnership with Apple with the Upgrade+ program that allows installation payments for its computers.

With the many tech releases from different companies, Best Buy prides itself as among the first retailers to offer these devices to the public. In 2022, Best Buy issued a warning that supplies for the latest iPhone 14 would be limited, but it still offered the current smartphone from Apple to the public, despite the supply issues from the company.

For the longest time, the public was only allowed to buy a new Apple smartphone from Best Buy with the carrier plan that locks their devices to a certain telco, which does not work for some who already have an existing one. Now, people may buy iPhones over at Best Buy, but the catch is that the unlocked versions are up until the iPhone 13 series only, and not yet for the iPhone 14.