Apple stores are selling iPhones 3G without contracts, en masse, for $599 for 8GB and $699 for the 16GB. You can activate the phones in the privacy of your own home or, more importantly, you can downgrade the firmware and unlock them.

AppleInsider believes this move is an effort to clear out old inventory before the expected June phone refresh at WWDC, a magical time when we’re all going to have to upgrade this shiny junk one more time just because Apple tells us to.