The U.K. iPhone 4 Thread

[gonesuper]

Here's my situation:

Bought iPhone 3G on launch day on 18 month contract.

Bought 3gs payg and put my original iPhone 3G sim in it.

When original 3G contract ran out I changed over to iphone simplicity. Because I am on friends and family with o2 I get 600 minutes/ 1200 texts for £15 a month. Cracking deal.

I have just requested envelope from o2 recycle to sell them my current 3GS for £282 ( I think!) used more4u code.

I'm left with two options as I see it.

Upgrade, e.g, start a new full fat iPhone contract and buy like a new customer. This will drop price of handset but will mean i will get paying more than double my curent line rental. Second option is buy PAYG and cut my existing sim card to fit the microsim tray meaning i get to keep my cheap line rental but pay more for handset.

Can anyone do the maths? Lol

Assuming you want the 32gb iphone4 and the prices are the same as last year(like AT&T)

£35 * 18 months = £620
IPhone 4 = £249
Total = £869

or

£15 * 12 months = £180
PAYG iPhone 4 = £549
Total = £729

The main benefit is that u get far more mins and your setup to upgrade next year instead of december 2011 tho when comparing the 2 prices u get 6 more months line rental included. Prices are based on last year

 

[zunairryk]

Legally, no. We can only import, at high price.

PAYG iPhones start from £449.

hmm that's about $680 CDN, that's including tax right? If so, that's not that bad. In Canada its, $699 + tax (which is 13% here in Ontario), so like 790. Plus, if i can get one from UK it will be unlocked. Here we have like 5 carriers that carry iphone lol, so if i can get a factory unlocked iphone, it will have a high resale value.

So if i got it right, O2 is the only carrier that sells unlocked iphones?

Only if i knew someone in UK lol

 

[MacScoob]

Im on o2 simplicity without data included. If i transfer my number to the iPhones PAYG microsim will i then be able to use the 12months free internet on my simplicity contract?

Thanks

 

[Josh.C.123]

for you guys going down the contract route wether it be vodafone, o2, orange, tmobile are you guys opting for the 18 or 24 month contracts? and why?

im veering towards the 24 month one as after 2 years when its upgrade time you will immediately have the best of the best with the release of the iphone 6 if apple continue releasing iphones in june. any thoughts?

 

[Turbunator92]

I rang up customer services at O2, Orange and Vodafone today and all three said they are allowing current customers to request a microsim from them, free of charge, if they want to keep their contract and use their sim in the iPhone.

Looks like we can rest easy about cutting those sim cards up

 

[daleski75]

for you guys going down the contract route wether it be vodafone, o2, orange, tmobile are you guys opting for the 18 or 24 month contracts? and why?

im veering towards the 24 month one as after 2 years when its upgrade time you will immediately have the best of the best with the release of the iphone 6 if apple continue releasing iphones in june. any thoughts?

That is true but you would have to resist the temptation to upgrade only after 12 months and 2 years is an awful long time to be committed to one network.

 

[Flumps]

I rang up customer services at O2, Orange and Vodafone today and all three said they are allowing current customers to request a microsim from them, free of charge, if they want to keep their contract and use their sim in the iPhone.

Looks like we can rest easy about cutting those sim cards up

Just need the prices and pre order dates now

 

[daleski75]

I rang up customer services at O2, Orange and Vodafone today and all three said they are allowing current customers to request a microsim from them, free of charge, if they want to keep their contract and use their sim in the iPhone.

Looks like we can rest easy about cutting those sim cards up

That is good news the only down side is then you cannot use that sim card in any other phone as it's a different size (not that you would want to) but nonetheless.

 

[Cockroach]

I'm in a similar boat sold my 3gs 16 gig this morning for £300. Now using nokia n73 but getting most of my 'i' fix from my iPad. I'm also a Tmobile uk customer and have been using my iPhones with them on the solo 30 plan £30 for 1400 mins unlimited texts and Internet.

Was well chuffed when I heard Tmobile would be selling the iPhone 4. Original plan was to buy payg model from 02 then unlock and chop down the Tmobile sim. Might just end up getting the iPhone 4 from Tmobile if they offer it on payg and ask if they can send me a micro sim solo 30 card. Time will tell.

Any which way I'm not signing up for any contracts. I personally feel it's better to buy the phone altright and be done with it instead of being tied into a 24 month contract.

If you buy a PAYG phone, it will most likely come with a SIM and you can probably port your number to it, and then 'upgrade' to the monthly contract.

Here's my situation:

Bought iPhone 3G on launch day on 18 month contract.

Bought 3gs payg and put my original iPhone 3G sim in it.

When original 3G contract ran out I changed over to iphone simplicity. Because I am on friends and family with o2 I get 600 minutes/ 1200 texts for £15 a month. Cracking deal.

I have just requested envelope from o2 recycle to sell them my current 3GS for £282 ( I think!) used more4u code.

I'm left with two options as I see it.

Upgrade, e.g, start a new full fat iPhone contract and buy like a new customer. This will drop price of handset but will mean i will get paying more than double my curent line rental. Second option is buy PAYG and cut my existing sim card to fit the microsim tray meaning i get to keep my cheap line rental but pay more for handset.

Can anyone do the maths? Lol

Dunno how it works for you, but I get half price T-Mobile for life, so the cheapest thing to do is get a normal contract (Flext) with an expensive phone (HTC Desire), sell that and pay the difference for an iPhone on PAYG.

If I buy iPhone 4 or preorder or whatever, could I pick it up in Apple store on Friday 25th ?

I doubt it. If you pre-order (quick enough) it will probably be delivered on launch day. If there's plenty of stock (which I don't expect), just go and buy one from wherever without pre-ordering.

Can you guys in UK get factory unlocked iphones? And what is the pay as you go price for the phone?

The unlock is stored in a database on Apple's servers, not in the phone, so when O2 unlock them, it's the same as factory unlocked. T-Mobile unlock the phones they give out now for £15, so may do it with iPhones, too.

Im on o2 simplicity without data included. If i transfer my number to the iPhones PAYG microsim will i then be able to use the 12months free internet on my simplicity contract?

I believe that's how it worked last time.

 

[Jr1985]

Any news on what this "limited time special upgrade offer" is?

 

[drpellypo]

Assuming you want the 32gb iphone4 and the prices are the same as last year(like AT&T)

£35 * 18 months = £620
IPhone 4 = £249
Total = £869

or

£15 * 12 months = £180
PAYG iPhone 4 = £549
Total = £729

The main benefit is that u get far more mins and your setup to upgrade next year instead of december 2011 tho when comparing the 2 prices u get 6 more months line rental included. Prices are based on last year

Thanks! I very rarely use inclusive minutes and max out at about 400 texts so not an issues.

 

[Jr1985]

That is good news the only down side is then you cannot use that sim card in any other phone as it's a different size (not that you would want to) but nonetheless.

You can buy an adapter can't you?

 

[Cockroach]

That is true but you would have to resist the temptation to upgrade only after 12 months and 2 years is an awful long time to be committed to one network.

Having half priced T-Mobile for life means I can't ever see myself leaving them. And with the merger with Orange, I truly think it will be the most superior network for the foreseeable future.

That is good news the only down side is then you cannot use that sim card in any other phone as it's a different size (not that you would want to) but nonetheless.

You can get adaptors to make it work. If you ever needed to send your phone in for repair, you'd want to do this.

 

[ct2k7]

hmm that's about $680 CDN, that's including tax right? If so, that's not that bad. In Canada its, $699 + tax (which is 13% here in Ontario), so like 790. Plus, if i can get one from UK it will be unlocked. Here we have like 5 carriers that carry iphone lol, so if i can get a factory unlocked iphone, it will have a high resale value.

So if i got it right, O2 is the only carrier that sells unlocked iphones?

Only if i knew someone in UK lol

Yes.

I've forgotten the exact things for O2 to provide unlocking for the phone, but Orange have specifics, I think you need to have been with them for around 3 months before they'll let you unlock.

 

[mikey2004]

for you guys going down the contract route wether it be vodafone, o2, orange, tmobile are you guys opting for the 18 or 24 month contracts? and why?

im veering towards the 24 month one as after 2 years when its upgrade time you will immediately have the best of the best with the release of the iphone 6 if apple continue releasing iphones in june. any thoughts?

im on 18m at the moment, ends next month, i'll check the prices before i decide wether to get 18 or 24m

 

[Cockroach]

Yes.

I've forgotten the exact things for O2 to provide unlocking for the phone, but Orange have specifics, I think you need to have been with them for around 3 months before they'll let you unlock.

O2 is just £15 (taken from your PAYG credit) and up to 30 days to do it. Orange is 3 months after purchase, but I think you still have to pay a fee.

 

[Boblister]

O2 is just £15 (taken from your PAYG credit) and up to 30 days to do it. Orange is 3 months after purchase, but I think you still have to pay a fee.

Mine took three days, I did it last week. However soon as I filled the form in they removed my free internet later that day. I found out when my £19.80 credit went to zero in a flash. So for anyone going that route, remove or change your APN settings as soon as you apply so that it wont access the internet.

 

[nwlondonlad]

If you buy a PAYG phone, it will most likely come with a SIM and you can probably port your number to it, and then 'upgrade' to the monthly contract.

Can't afford to do that as Tmobile don't offer the solo 30 anymore due to people clocking onto the advantages of a sim only rolling contract.

I'll either have to trim down the sim or ask Tmobile if they can just send me a micro sim version of my existing plan.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

for you guys going down the contract route wether it be vodafone, o2, orange, tmobile are you guys opting for the 18 or 24 month contracts? and why?

Simply put you have to look at 2 things:
1) Cost over life
2) Length of commitment

For 1), it makes sense to go for 18 months, if you can exit out of the contract quicker, get a SIM only and pay significantly less money. You are also out of a contract faster so you can go with pretty much any provider and get a new phone whenever you like.

For example for two years O2 offer for the 16GB 3GS:

• On an 18 month contract - £179 upfront + £30 * 18 = £719
  
  [*]6 months SIM only - £719 + £20 * 6 for a total of £839​
• On a 24 month contract - £249 upfront + £25 * 24 = £849 for the same mins/texts

So in this case, it's better to go for an 18 month contract. We'll really have to wait for iPhone 4 prices to compare. 2) is to look at whether or not you'll want a new phone after 18 months. While this means you'll miss out on getting the iPhone 6 on launch, it means you should in theory be lined up for the iPhone 7 at launch! Now that's a long long way away but shows you're not completely missing out on launch cycles with the 18 month contract.

 

[ct2k7]

O2 is just £15 (taken from your PAYG credit) and up to 30 days to do it. Orange is 3 months after purchase, but I think you still have to pay a fee.

Ah, well, original and 3G get theirs for free

 

[Cockroach]

Can't afford to do that as Tmobile don't offer the solo 30 anymore due to people clocking onto the advantages of a sim only rolling contract.

I'll either have to trim down the sim or ask Tmobile if they can just send me a micro sim version of my existing plan.

I think they do, you just get less minutes vs the 12 month version:
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/sim-card/pay-monthly/

Use the Flexible Booster for Internet and you're set for £20/m.

I think signing up to a contract to get a £300 phone which you can then sell is better value.

 

[nwlondonlad]

I think they do, you just get less minutes vs the 12 month version:
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/sim-card/pay-monthly/

Use the Flexible Booster for Internet and you're set for £20/m.

I think signing up to a contract to get a £300 phone which you can then sell is better value.

That's the thing none of those tariffs offer you 1400 mins on a monthly basis and it's limited to 500 texts pm. I get 1400 mins, Internet and unlimited texts for £30 pm and that's on a 30 day tariff not 12 months. They took it off their site ages ago.

 

[madmads]

Do you think pricing could be announced tomorrow?? I'm getting impatient!! lol

 

[Stiss]

I think they will announce before Friday.

 

[madmads]

I do hope they do it sooner rather than later as I want to have time to make sure I make the right choice about which route to take rather than an impulsive decision.

And I want to make sure I get one on launch!!