Unlocked iPhone 4 Units Coming to Canada

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The iPhone 4 is finally heading to Canada this week, and I was personally surprised that Canada wasn’t included in the initial launch to begin with. Why? Well for one reason, the top three carriers in Canada, Bell, Telus and Rogers (in no particular order) are all selling current iPhone models and will probably offer the iPhone 4 too in the following weeks.

That also means that since there’s no exclusive carrier in Canada anymore, just like in France and UK, the iPhone 4 will be available for an unsubsidized price, straight from Apple stores. That will be a great alternative for those customers not willing to tie themselves to another lengthy 3-year contract to one of the carriers above or for those subscribers that are already on such a contract and want the new iPhone 4.

But this unsubsidized, unlocked and contract-free iPhone will cost more than subsidized versions. The 16GB iPhone 4 will be available starting at $659 while the 32GB iPhone 4 will cost its future owners $779. That’s a very high price for a cellphone, at least to some, but it’s definitely a cheaper alternative to paying those mandatory contracts for three years in a row.

Paying $659 or $779 is, however, not an alternative for many smartphone users, and that’s why carriers subsidize hot new handsets thus making them more affordable on the long run even if the long run will generally be a more expensive choice when you think about the grand total one ends up paying in two or three years under contract.

On comparison, for the same amount of money you can either go for a 32GB iPad Wi-Fi, that’s priced at $649 or for a 32GB iPad Wi-Fi + 3G that costs $779 in Canada.

For those of you that are going to bundle their iPhone 4 with a more expensive voice and data plan and also happen to sit on a pile of cash right now, the better choice would be getting the subsidized iPhone 4 with a new agreement and get an 16GB iPad version too while you’re buying mobile devices from Apple.

But what am I saying here!? It’s not like I want to tell you how to spend your money and I’m not interested in promoting Apple products to Canadian customers either. There are plenty of reasons not to choose the iPhone 4 or the iPad, so make sure you’re going to make an informed decision when buying any of them. Either way Apple will probably sell the iPhone 4 like hot cakes in Canada too.

So, what are you going to do? Are you going to buy an iPhone 4 in Canada?