Apple uses iTunes to unlock iPhone in Germany

According to early reports out of Germany, those iPhone buyers who spend the $1500 for an unlocked iPhone in Germany have the iPhone unlocked when they sync it up with iTunes. Apple has always used iTunes to activate iPhones, but using (software-based) iTunes instead of a hardware-based solution to unlock the phone has surprised some.

T-Mobile Germany is offering an unlocked iPhone to appease rival Vodafone Germany, which filed a suit against T-Mobile [1] for requiring a two-year contract for iPhone buyers, by offering the handset with no contract: For about $1500. The device will retail for about $590 with a two-year contract.

Vodafone won a temporary injunction against T-Mobile Germany after claiming that the terms of its Apple deal are uncompetitive according to German law. A Hamburg court is set to hear the case in two weeks. Vodafone claimed that its aim is not to halt T-Mobile's iPhone sales, but to allow consumers to have the freedom to select their own network provider.

For more on the unlocking reports:
- read this article [2] from MacRumors