@samhenrigold I remember this for sure. Already got the 2nd gen iPod Touch a year prior, though, syncing apps and updates from the Macbook. I was a university student at the time and used it for music on the go and the apps. I couldn’t afford an iPhone carrier contract and did not want to switch carrier. The iPod was the ticket out I needed.

I can’t remember when carrier-unlocked iPhones started going on sale, but unless national law forbade it, Apple prev. made it carrier-locked.