Can I pre-buy an unlocked phone?

[Trip]

I want to be able to shop between Verizon, T-Mobile, and possibly WalMart's Straight Talk. Can I pre-buy an unlocked 6Plus? If not, can I have someone unlock it without voiding the warranty? Or am I locked into ordering a phone through one of the service providers? I prefer to buy the phone outright.

 

[AQ_OC]

My understanding is that the one coming from Verizon are unlocked....So if you buy a Verizon phone outright it will come unlocked. Apparently, they were granted some extra spectrum and in order to get it they had to agree to sell these unlocked phones. Obviously, they don't want to tell people this.

Research it a little bit:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/21/verizon-iphone-5-unlocked-att-t-mobile-video/

 

[mr.simonski]

Last time when the iPhone 5S was released the ones from Verizon were unlocked.. you might bet on those devices..

 

[Trip]

I went by Verizon yesterday and the employee who has been there a while said she didn't know if it was unlocked or not.