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iPhone 5 Pre-Order UK

M

Muse84

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 7, 2012
34
0
Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you lovely people would be able to help me out with regards to the pre order process for a new iphone.

I have a 3GS which is in desperate need of replacement (really its just not working :mad:) and i am currently on a rolling 1 monthly contract with Orange.

I want the new iPhone 5, preferably on launch day but i have never pre ordered before so i dont know the process. :confused:

Can i pre order direct with Apple and get a phone on release day with a barnd new 24 month contract on Orange or do i have to pre order from my carrier (online or phone)

Also if i do pre order through Orange do they ship phones for delivery on release day?

it says on teh site apple can check your upgrade eligability and upgrade you on a contract but im not sure how this would work if im pre ordering on the website.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, im not great at this stuff.:rolleyes: Any answers would be greatly apreciated! :D
 
I'm in pretty much the same situation as the OP, I have an iPhone 4 on its last legs (home button doesn't work half the time, only one charge cable works with it :S).

What I'm planning to do is pre-order the 5 from Apple Sim-free (hoping to buy a 64GB version for around £700) and then go on an o2 simplicity deal for 12 months.

This way, if Apple do release a 5S this time next year I have an option to buy it (at a cost obviously). As in i'm not tied into a contract with a network.

I've never pre-ordered an iPhone directly with a carrier before so I don't know what their launch stock/delivery services are like, but i'd imagine if you pre-order asap when pre-orders go live you should have it pretty much at launch.

Just depends on how much £££ you're willing to part with, and what cost plan you want to go with. I'm paying a lot up front but less every month (for hopefully around 2 years), but with a contract you don't pay up front but pay bigger money PM.

Hope this helps OP.
 
Last year the preorder system went live at around 9am the day after the keynote. I found it pretty easy to get what I wanted but they sold out of launch day delivery iPhones not long after.

That would be my way forward if I wanted the iPhone so that I wasn't tied down to an 18 month (or even worse 24!) contract. But I'm going to hold fire and see if it's got any killer feature because as it is the 5 doesn't attract me too much.
 
Thanks for the replays guys, appreciate it!

Seems the best option for me would be to pre order through orange and hope they have plenty of release day stock. The kid in me wants to play with it straight away lol

Would love to buy it unlocked but don't have that sort of cash spare unfortunatly! Damn recession!

I quite like the like the look of the leaks but I suppose going from a 3GS to a 5 is a bit of a bigger jump, I'll always stick with Apple as I like that everything just works. My current phone has put in quite an admirable shift!
 
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Muse84 said:
Thanks for the replays guys, appreciate it!

Seems the best option for me would be to pre order through orange and hope they have plenty of release day stock. The kid in me wants to play with it straight away lol

Would love to buy it unlocked but don't have that sort of cash spare unfortunatly! Damn recession!

I quite like the like the look of the leaks but I suppose going from a 3GS to a 5 is a bit of a bigger jump, I'll always stick with Apple as I like that everything just works. My current phone has put in quite an admirable shift!
Click to expand...

I've managed to pick phones up in store on launch day (3GS/4) before now, depends where you are. Luckily I live in a city where there are plenty of mobile retailers.....
 
daveishere said:
I'm in pretty much the same situation as the OP, I have an iPhone 4 on its last legs (home button doesn't work half the Time
Click to expand...

Have you tried this ? I thought it sounded unlikely, but worked with my iPhone 4, when I had an iPhone, before I left it in a taxi....
 
limesmoothie said:
I've managed to pick phones up in store on launch day (3GS/4) before now, depends where you are. Luckily I live in a city where there are plenty of mobile retailers.....
Click to expand...

I have thought about going to the Orange store launch day morning but don't really fancy queuing up. Would perhaps go if I could preorder one into the store so I know I'm garunteed one. Don't know if they do this tho..
 
Muse84 said:
I have thought about going to the Orange store launch day morning but don't really fancy queuing up. Would perhaps go if I could preorder one into the store so I know I'm garunteed one. Don't know if they do this tho..
Click to expand...

I'm just going to (try to) pre-order mine/buy it on launch day straight from Apple and use it with my sim only contract from 3. It works out cheaper than that for me.

I have two stories for you regarding your question:

1) On iPhone 4S launch day, a friend of mine lined up outside Orange at 8am. He said the line wasn't long and moved quickly when they opened for business at 9am. He was walking out of the store with his shiny new 4S and a brand new 24 month orange contract by 9:30am.

2) Another friend of mine decided he really wanted his first iPhone and also wanted to switch networks to Three but had missed the iPhone 4S launch on Friday. All the apple stores in the area were sold out.

He simply walked into a Three store, two days after launch on sunday, and was walking out with a shiny new 4S and a brand new 24 month contract from Three within about 15 minutes.

I think if you want to buy unlocked, off-contract from Apple on launch day, you're gonna have to be quick with your pre-order or be prepared to queue up for a good couple of hours.

If you're willing to sign a new contract with a carrier like Orange then you should have no problems picking one up on launch day.

daveishere said:
Just depends on how much £££ you're willing to part with, and what cost plan you want to go with. I'm paying a lot up front but less every month (for hopefully around 2 years), but with a contract you don't pay up front but pay bigger money PM.
Click to expand...

Same!
£500 iPhone
£10 month with Three + £3 all you can eat data add on = 300 mins/unlimited texts/unlimited data
Cost over 24 months/month: £812

Not too shabby imo. As you said, you pay more upfront but end up paying alot less in the long run. I've got the £££ available right now so I won't have any problems paying the hefty upfront fee.
 
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The problem with getting the phone directly from Apple on this occasion will be the SIM.
If the rumours are correct, the new iPhones will use a nano SIM instead of the current Micro SIM's and I think they'll be very difficult to get hold of initially.
Buying an unlocked SIM free iPhone and then getting a SIM only contract is definitely the cheapest way of owning an iPhone in the long term.
However in this instance it might be a pain in the arse to get a SIM, so I might end up purchasing one direct from O2 this time around one one of their shortest contracts.
I'd love a higher capacity than 64GB too, but I don't think that's realistic - still...you never know! :)
 
I've had 3 iPhones - the original one, the 3Gs and the 4. The original I got by queuing up at the Apple store on launch day. The 3G I tried pre ordering online with O2 but seem to remember O2 made a mess of thatso didn't manage that, then tried O2 shops on launch day but they were all sold out. Eventually got one 2 weeks later from an O2 shop. I got my iPhone by pre ordering from a phone4u shop and got it on launch day.
 
JazzyGB1 said:
The problem with getting the phone directly from Apple on this occasion will be the SIM.
If the rumours are correct, the new iPhones will use a nano SIM instead of the current Micro SIM's and I think they'll be very difficult to get hold of initially.
Buying an unlocked SIM free iPhone and then getting a SIM only contract is definitely the cheapest way of owning an iPhone in the long term.
However in this instance it might be a pain in the arse to get a SIM, so I might end up purchasing one direct from O2 this time around one one of their shortest contracts.
I'd love a higher capacity than 64GB too, but I don't think that's realistic - still...you never know! :)
Click to expand...

Not sure how it worked for the 4S but when reserved the 4 I walked into an 02 store a couple days before launch, asked them from a micro SIM and they handed one over after seeing my confirmation email.

Back then that was the first phone (as far as I'm aware) to use the micro SIM and there was no panic or confusion from the 02 guy. When I picked up my 4, I got home and used an online 02 web form to swap my phone number to the new SIM.

Hopefully they'll be as up to speed with the new nano SIM :)
 
neilmacd said:
Not sure how it worked for the 4S but when reserved the 4 I walked into an 02 store a couple days before launch, asked them from a micro SIM and they handed one over after seeing my confirmation email.

Back then that was the first phone (as far as I'm aware) to use the micro SIM and there was no panic or confusion from the 02 guy. When I picked up my 4, I got home and used an online 02 web form to swap my phone number to the new SIM.

Hopefully they'll be as up to speed with the new nano SIM :)
Click to expand...

Cool!
Well let's hope it's the same with the nano SIM too.:)
The big difference this time is that you won't be able to butcher your own SIM.
I cut my normal SIM down to Micro SIM size last time, but I don't think you can't cut a Micro SIM down to Nano SIM size :(
So if Nano SIM's are used in the new iPhone and are scarce, then making your own isn't going to be an option this time.
 
JazzyGB1 said:
Cool!
Well let's hope it's the same with the nano SIM too.:)
The big difference this time is that you won't be able to butcher your own SIM.
I cut my normal SIM down to Micro SIM size last time, but I don't think you can't cut a Micro SIM down to Nano SIM size :(
So if Nano SIM's are used in the new iPhone and are scarce, then making your own isn't going to be an option this time.
Click to expand...

It could be done, its only smaller and thinner. If you are careful enough, this shouldn't be a problem.
 
Im on a 3 contract with a 4s. When i rang up they said if you buy a sim free iphone 5 from apple they will just send me a new style sim to fit, they have a supply apparently. We will see......
 
Am currently on an annual Simplicity contract with O2 after the contract on my iPhone 4 expired. Will probably try to pre-order with Apple - assuming its a worthy upgrade - so long as I can get a nano sim from O2.

Did wonder whether I should look at EE, given that they're planning an LTE network, however many of the places I go struggle to get a 3G signal and so I doubt they'll have LTE anyway. Also I get £5 off my O2 home broadband as an O2 mobile user.

The difference in cost of a 2 year contract vs buying up-front sim-free is fairly small as I recall, however I like the independence it gives me
 
Anyone know if T-Mobile usually do new customer pre-orders on their website for launch day delivery?

Currently on GiffGaff pay as you go on my 4S but fed up of the O2 network.
 
I have two stories for you regarding your question:

1) On iPhone 4S launch day, a friend of mine lined up outside Orange at 8am. He said the line wasn't long and moved quickly when they opened for business at 9am. He was walking out of the store with his shiny new 4S and a brand new 24 month orange contract by 9:30am.

2) Another friend of mine decided he really wanted his first iPhone and also wanted to switch networks to Three but had missed the iPhone 4S launch on Friday. All the apple stores in the area were sold out.

He simply walked into a Three store, two days after launch on sunday, and was walking out with a shiny new 4S and a brand new 24 month contract from Three within about 15 minutes.


If you're willing to sign a new contract with a carrier like Orange then you should have no problems picking one up on launch day.


I am thinking about just heading up to the Orange store pretty early to buy one there and then.. i doubt my local store will be that busy and ive blagged the day off work :cool: would be annoyed if i miss out tho and i could have just pre ordered! :mad:

dunno how apple do it but they are great at making you want their products! and straight away! its quite a skill they have! :confused:
 
Muse84 said:
I have two stories for you regarding your question:

1) On iPhone 4S launch day, a friend of mine lined up outside Orange at 8am. He said the line wasn't long and moved quickly when they opened for business at 9am. He was walking out of the store with his shiny new 4S and a brand new 24 month orange contract by 9:30am.

2) Another friend of mine decided he really wanted his first iPhone and also wanted to switch networks to Three but had missed the iPhone 4S launch on Friday. All the apple stores in the area were sold out.

He simply walked into a Three store, two days after launch on sunday, and was walking out with a shiny new 4S and a brand new 24 month contract from Three within about 15 minutes.


If you're willing to sign a new contract with a carrier like Orange then you should have no problems picking one up on launch day.


I am thinking about just heading up to the Orange store pretty early to buy one there and then.. i doubt my local store will be that busy and ive blagged the day off work :cool: would be annoyed if i miss out tho and i could have just pre ordered! :mad:

dunno how apple do it but they are great at making you want their products! and straight away! its quite a skill they have! :confused:
Click to expand...

Spot on, the network shops are the way to go if possible. On 3GS and 4 launch day, I just popped into the O2 shop on the way home from work and got the handset, they had plenty of stock, no queues.

For the 3GS, I was buying it PAYG as I was still on contract but the 4 was an upgrade, all done and dusted in 10 mins.
 
limesmoothie said:
Spot on, the network shops are the way to go if possible. On 3GS and 4 launch day, I just popped into the O2 shop on the way home from work and got the handset, they had plenty of stock, no queues.

For the 3GS, I was buying it PAYG as I was still on contract but the 4 was an upgrade, all done and dusted in 10 mins.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the advice guys, never fails to surprise me how helpfull you lot are! :D

Im thinkng now that i will live on the edge for once and chance the store Friday morning. I cant imagine the Oranage store in Milton Keynes (bound to be rainy cold and depressing) will be anywhere near as busy the likes of the apple stores in New York / LA ect.. not quite the same i feel :p
 
alphabetagaga said:
i'm off to my local apple store in cambridge on release day, q for a few hrs and soak up the atmos. did it for ipad2 and was tons of fun :)
Click to expand...

Sounds like fun, what sort of time did you get there for the iPad launch? and were the queues long? i think i might be underestimating how many people will be doing the same thing :confused:
 
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