New iPhone releases are usually offered to customers in the United States as being activated to work on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon’s networks, with the carrier selectable during the ordering process. A separate option to “Buy without a carrier” provides customers with a SIM-free device, which can be activated with any carrier at a later time.
For the release of the iPhone XR in the United States, the SIM-free option was notably missing, with customers forced to select a carrier if they were ordering through the online Apple Store.