Business

Many US stores sold out of iPhone 5s, Verizon version ‘unlocked’

It was possible to walk into a store Saturday and buy an iPhone 5. But it took some hunting.

Some stores reported having Apple’s newest phone available for walk-up customers. But a random check of about a dozen stores indicated that most were sold out.

A Verizon store in New York City said the phone was available. A Sprint store in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., said all but the most expensive 64 gigabyte iPhone 5s were sold out.

The iPhone 5 went on sale Friday. Apple’s website said phones bought online would ship in three to four weeks. Verizon’s website said they would ship by Oct. 19.

Apple and the phone companies haven’t provided sales figures from the first day. Apple is expected to announce early results Monday.

Meanwhile, The Verizon version of the iPhone 5, which went on sale Friday, comes with a secret and unexpected feature: it works on AT&T’s network as well.

Confirming blog reports, The Associated Press found that the Verizon iPhone 5 accepts an AT&T “SIM card” — a little chip that identifies a phone to a wireless network. The phone can then be active on AT&T’s network.

It’s the first time Verizon iPhones have been able to access AT&T’s network without complicated hacking procedures. The feature may mean little to most buyers, since they’re signing up for two years of Verizon service. But it does give them the option of switching carriers.

It’s unclear whether the feature is intended and whether the phones will work with other carriers, such as T-Mobile USA.

Verizon Wireless referred questions about the feature to Apple, which did not respond. Last year, the first shipments of the Sprint iPhone 4S were “unlocked” and worked on AT&T, but Sprint later issued software updates that turned off that capability.