Apple announced late last week that the company no longer accepts cash for its cell phone / media player / status-symbol gizmo. Furthermore, Apple is limiting customers to two iPhones per person.

Restricting one of the most popular electronic gadgets of the year to credit card and debit card sales may sound ludicrous, but Apple says it is trying to stop iPhone secondary sales where unauthorized resellers are hawking the devices. What’s more, many secondary sales involve hacked iPhones enabling the devices to work with carriers other than AT&T, the only official wireless provider for the iPhone.

Along with trying to limit sales to authorized sellers, Apple is also trying to appear consumer-friendly by saying the two-phone limit is to help guarantee everyone has a chance to own an iPhone.

“Customer response to the iPhone has been off the charts, and limiting iPhone sales to two per customer helps us ensure that there are enough iPhones for people who are shopping for themselves or buying a gift,” Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris said. “We’re requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers.”

Apple has sold more than 1.4 million units since iPhone’s June 29th debut and estimates that 250,000 of the units sold went to people planning to unlock the devices to use carriers other than AT&T.

So far, Apple has tried different methods including software updates to prevent people from unlocking iPhones. However, some of these attempts have merely frustrated users and have led to two lawsuits against the company.