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The U.K. iPhone 4 Thread

StewieEatWorld said:
OOOOOOOOOH. I get it now.
By reading a few posts I see that the Pay&Go prices on Apples site are Sim free. Thank god!
I still don't know what Subsidizing is though.

Anyhow, what sort of price can we expect to see from the carriers for the Pay&Go handsets then? 🙂
Click to expand...
I don't know if there are any insider rumours but, with the "newness" factor of the iPhone 4, I'd be surprised if they priced it below what the 3GS PAYG prices were a month or so ago. I think O2 had it at £549 (and maybe still do as of today).

The £599 Apple SIM-free price seems to put a firm cap on the prices being hiked outrageously but I wouldn't be holding my breath for a 32GB PAYG for £500 or less. My personal guess is somewhere in the range of £549 to £599.

- Julian
 
Just grabbed one too after 56 minutes on the UK Apple Website!

I finally went for the 32GB 'Unlocked' version... took quite a while to get past the 'Oops' pages but finally got it! The confirmation email arrived 33 minutes later.

I land in the UK on 26th June... so, it would have been delivered to my Sister-in-law's home!

I was a bit surprised by 599 GBP price but here in Thailand the official not locked 32GB 3GS iPhone (Official Carrier here is called 'True') works out the roughly the same AND that's WITHOUT the VAT added!!! For me, it is cheaper.

So, for me coming back for a family wedding on 26th and a spanking new unlocked iPhone in my hand is 100% bliss for me! 😀
 
I guess the next bombshell will be that only O2 are offering existing customer's the option to get a MicroSIM for use with the new iPhone WITHOUT having to sign up for a new number or upgrade their account. Doh!

That'll be pretty **** for me :-(
(cause I want Orange one)
 
JulianL said:
I don't know if there are any insider rumours but, with the "newness" factor of the iPhone 4, I'd be surprised if they priced it below what the 3GS PAYG prices were a month or so ago. I think O2 had it at £549 (and maybe still do as of today).

The £599 Apple SIM-free price seems to put a firm cap on the prices being hiked outrageously but I wouldn't be holding my breath for a 32GB PAYG for £500 or less. My personal guess is somewhere in the range of £549 to £599.

- Julian
Click to expand...

If it is sim-locked and is available for £100 cheaper, then I'm sure alot of people will take it. I was thinking of changing to Pay Monthly then changed back to PAYG but seeing the prices now, back to Pay Monthly if the Prices are about £200 or less for the handset.
 
Do you know what - I still haven't seen a proper description of the word 'subsidising' in this thread so I'll do one myself.

Subsidising is when a third party assists you in making a payment. In that case, the cost of the item is said to be 'subsidised.'

Say the iPhone costs £500. You may purchase it for £500, or you may purchase it for £100 with the other £400 being subsidised by the carrier. The carrier agrees to subsidise the cost only if they believe they will eventually make a profit through PAYG top-ups or via the tariff you choose to take out.

I should point out that PAYG phones are not usually subsidised at all and when they are, it's usually not by very much.
 
hate to break it to you guys, but after speaking to a woman at the apple store manchester to confirm my reservation she said that there won't be any difference between the payg and sim free price.

sim free allows you to use any carrier (obviously) so she expects the payg deals to be more competative rather than them subsidise the handset by £50 or so

she did stress that this could change but thats how it stands now 🙁
 
-Garry- said:
Do you know what - I still haven't seen a proper description of the word 'subsidising' in this thread so I'll do one myself.

Subsidising is when a third party assist you in making a payment. In that case, the cost of the item is said to be 'subsidised.'

Say the iPhone costs £500. You may purchase it for £500, or you may purchase it for £100 with the other £400 being subsidised the by the carrier. The reason the carrier agrees to subsidise the cost only if they believe they will eventually make a profit through PAYG top-ups or via the tariff you choose to take out.

I should point out that PAYG phones are not usually subsidised at all and when they are, it's usually not by very much.
Click to expand...
You haven't read my definition at the bottom of the last page, then 🙂
 
ParishYoung said:
I guess the next bombshell will be that only O2 are offering existing customer's the option to get a MicroSIM for use with the new iPhone WITHOUT having to sign up for a new number or upgrade their account. Doh!

That'll be pretty **** for me :-(
(cause I want Orange one)
Click to expand...

I think all the providers will be tripping over themselves to offer free micro sims for people who have opted for the freedom of sim free.
 
speed12 said:
Are you an engineer by chance? We use "fell over" all the time here for when an engine stops randomly during testing, or for any other unexplained failure of something technical. Can't say I'd heard it before I started, but everyone here uses it and so I just sort of picked it up!
Click to expand...

I work backstage in theatre... So we have a lot of sayings that you just pick up! So if any of the control systems fail we usually say they fell over... Lighting desk, sound desks and their playback pcs (now becoming mac mini's these days!), automation control... They all fall over at some point! (But that's why we have backups so we can seamlessly carry on without the audience noticing... Just like Steve Jobs in his Keynote!!)
 
Just reserved a 32 and a 16 for pickup and have received emails for both. Not ideal as I wanted it posted but better than nothing!
 
-Garry- said:
Do you know what - I still haven't seen a proper description of the word 'subsidising' in this thread so I'll do one myself.

Subsidising is when a third party assists you in making a payment. In that case, the cost of the item is said to be 'subsidised.'

Say the iPhone costs £500. You may purchase it for £500, or you may purchase it for £100 with the other £400 being subsidised by the carrier. The carrier agrees to subsidise the cost only if they believe they will eventually make a profit through PAYG top-ups or via the tariff you choose to take out.

I should point out that PAYG phones are not usually subsidised at all and when they are, it's usually not by very much.
Click to expand...

Orange UK have their "PhoneFund" which may help you reduce the cost of your iPhone.
 
-Garry- said:
I should point out that PAYG phones are not usually subsidised at all and when they are, it's usually not by very much.
Click to expand...

True that.

Does anyone know if Three, Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone have any plans for imminent Micro-SIM availability announcements?
 
I'm very hopeful that as an O2 up grader I will have access to a nice site tat let's you upgrade online for delivery on the 24th like previous years.

I have my confirmation email but I'd rather pay for that subsidy and cancel before I have to worry about sending things back and forth and refunds!
 
Boblister said:
Either ring or do another. YOur not committed. But to be fair, those people who are reserving a few because they cant make their mind up are being a bit unfair as I think there will be a shortage soon.
Click to expand...

I rang and apparently they have no list of reservations. I'll try it again later and then if it shows two Ill cancel one.
 
owen-b said:
You haven't read my definition at the bottom of the last page, then 🙂
Click to expand...

Actually I did!

Forgive me because I've been up all night, but the reason I felt the need to provide my own example was that yours didn't make it clear that O2 are not simply 'lowering' the price, because you agreed to take out a contract. Instead, they are making up the shortfall between the full price, and the price they have agreed to let you pay (e.g. actually paying it to Apple on your behalf). It's this second part that is subsidising.
 
bodhi77 said:
hate to break it to you guys, but after speaking to a woman at the apple store manchester to confirm my reservation she said that there won't be any difference between the payg and sim free price.

sim free allows you to use any carrier (obviously) so she expects the payg deals to be more competative rather than them subsidise the handset by £50 or so

she did stress that this could change but thats how it stands now 🙁
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I expect to happen. The PAYG prices will be the same as the SIM-Free. The phones will be locked, and instead you will get a free web bolt-on for 12 months, with a 250-500MB data cap. If they sell locked phones cheaper, it's an invitation to Jailbreak and Unlock,
 
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