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It's a fairly random selection of countries though but a positive move, hopefully it will be extended: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Republic of Ireland and Sweden

Also you can take a faulty iPhone back to Apple regardless of where you buy it from.

Not random; they are countries where Three operate.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned earlier in this thread....
But if you check out 3 they are bringing 4G for FREE with all tariffs from December. Also roaming in certain countries will now be part of your allowance!
I'm
Paying £18 on a 30 day rolling plan... Sell my 5 for £400 and buy a 5S for £709. If you get a low tariff pop a bit of money into a savings account each month, then your not tied into a 24 month contract @ £45 per month!

Also, buying an iPhone from ape is better than getting it from another company, as they just fob you off when you have a problem, apple don't.

If you can get a signal 3 at the moment they seam really good value.

Sim only 12 month "The one plan"
2000 mins
5000 text
unlimited data
£15 per month.

Signal can be an issue but they seam to be better than they used to be.

With regards to roaming charges they might disappear with all networks at least inside the EU from next July. The EU would like to make all calls within the european union domestic.
 
Does anyone know of any upgrade schemes on Orange? I upgraded to iPhone 5 on release day and would love to get the 5S but not sure how I could work it!

They are doing EE Swap (you'll have to google it - not seen it on their page yet). You hand them your old phone back then pay a one off fee and they'll put you on a new EE contract. Not sure of the pricing yet but I think it'll be around £249 for the entry level 5s.

It wouldn't cost you much more to sell the 5 via O2 recycle or eBay then make up the difference and buy sim free - which is what I'm doing.

I find O2 recycle the best place if your phone has minor dings and scuffs. You don't have any fees to pay like with eBay and PayPal so all the money is yours. For next year, register to sell your iPhone a few days before the next iPhone is announced - that way you get the best price (I got £285). If you don't like the new iPhone you just keep your old one. If you do like it you send it back in a prepaid envelope (although I pay for special delivery.

Just sent mine off and trying to get by on a cute but achingly cr4p Nokia Asha 501. Come on the 20th!
 
Three's pre order has gone live for 5C. Handset £49 across the board but tariffs are high:
http://ow.ly/oPKQu

Not a good sign for those of us looking for a 5S!
 
I can't wait to get off O2 and away from their data rates. With 3 around, how can they justify £6 for 1GB? :rolleyes:
Not sure the best way to get the 5S at the moment, considering I want to use it on 3, but with a month left on O2.

Cant you wait a month? If not, it's going to cost you for a month.
Buy the phone from apple and sell what you got, get a sim only deal from three and port your number over.
 
Ore ordered a white 5c. First the I get anything in white but it's the best option IMHO. Those plae colours aren't 50s enough to make it work!
 
Just saw three pricing. £41 ppm + £49 for the handset. Ouch, I don't want to know how much they're releasing the 5s at! (However this will include 4G services, as apparently its a "free" upgrade for three customers. Along with unlimited data)

Vodafone £37ppm + £19 for handset or £41ppm and free handset, not as bad! + free £20 credit!

o2 again not as bad £37ppm + either £29.99 for a reasonable allowance or free with a low allowance.

Orange £37/£42ppm and + £29.99 for handset.


Think i'll be sticking with Vodafone on this one. Will see when they eventually release the 5s prices.

Anybody thought that the reason they've not put the 5s up for pre-order could be because people will skip the 5c and wait for the 5s and then will have no choice but to buy the 5s on release day even if carriers have stupid prices on contract because the 5c will be backlogged for potentially months?
 
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Just saw three pricing. £41 ppm + £49 for the handset. Ouch, I don't want to know how much they're releasing the 5s at! (However this will include 4G services, as apparently its a "free" upgrade for three customers.

Vodafone £37ppm + £19 for handset or £41ppm and free handset, not as bad!

o2 again not ad bad £37ppm + either £29.99 for a reasonable allowance or free with a low allowance.

Orange £37/£42ppm and + £29.99 for handset.


Think i'll be sticking with Vodafone on this one. Will see when they eventually release the 5s prices.

Anybody thought that the reason they've not put the 5s up for pre-order could be because people will skip the 5c and wait for the 5s and then will have no choice but to buy the 5s on release day even if carriers have stupid prices on them because the 5c will be backlogged for potentially months?

Don't Vodafone, Orange and O2 all limit your data usage? With three you can get unlimited data inc tethering.
 
Don't Vodafone, Orange and O2 all limit your data usage? With three you can get unlimited data inc tethering.

Yeah this is also true, three is all you can eat where as the others are capped at around the 2GB limit (ranging from 1-3GB), which for a lot of people is plentiful, but others may want to pay the extra for unlimited! Edited original post to reflect this.
 
Three's pre order has gone live for 5C. Handset £49 across the board but tariffs are high:
http://ow.ly/oPKQu

Not a good sign for those of us looking for a 5S!

Exactly my thinking! I'm on the one plan at the moment (the unlimited data and tethering one) and pay £35 a month, which compared to the sim only at £15 a month for a 12 month sign up means your'e paying £480 over the 2 year £35 contract for the phone. I'd been looking to get a 64gb 5S which at £709 sim free would mean that if it cost £229 for the handset upfront and then still £35 a month, it would work out the same as getting it through Apple and having a sim only plan.

However now the cost looks likely to be £46 a month thats £31 more than the current sim only deal and so £744 extra for the phone over the 2 year contract. So even if they offer the 64gb for free thats £35 more over the life of the contract. But I'm guessing they'll stick on a, what, £200 ish upfront cost with it?

hmmmm decisions! :confused:
 
Also just seen on Vodafone website they are giving £20 credit with the 5C as well, effectively making the £37ppm tariff a free handset also! or other tariffs just £20 off. Not looking as bad for the 5s for those on a budget.
 
Went on at 8 and store was still down so went for a shower. Checked again at 8:45 and ordered a yellow 5c straight away. Hope I didn't leave it too late. The delivery does say 20/9 though so that's promising.
 
Obviously we have to wait to see what 5S contracts look like, but the evidence from the 4S, the 5 and the 5C suggests that regardless of carrier, the cheapest option over 12 months, and in most cases 24 months, is to buy the iphone sim-free from Apple, and take out a SIM-only contract with the carrier that gives you the best signal at home/work.

I may have to create a big spreadsheet with all the tariffs, and total costs to be sure, but it's certainly looking that way to me...



Exactly my thinking! I'm on the one plan at the moment (the unlimited data and tethering one) and pay £35 a month, which compared to the sim only at £15 a month for a 12 month sign up means your'e paying £480 over the 2 year £35 contract for the phone. I'd been looking to get a 64gb 5S which at £709 sim free would mean that if it cost £229 for the handset upfront and then still £35 a month, it would work out the same as getting it through Apple and having a sim only plan.

However now the cost looks likely to be £46 a month thats £31 more than the current sim only deal and so £744 extra for the phone over the 2 year contract. So even if they offer the 64gb for free thats £35 more over the life of the contract. But I'm guessing they'll stick on a, what, £200 ish upfront cost with it?

hmmmm decisions! :confused:
 
Its a shame Three have stopped doing cashback. I follow tariffs etc quite a bit (mainly through the website hotukdeals) and I agree with the above that buying the phone outright and then taking out Three's One Plan for £15 is the best option (if you are fine to stump up the costs up front for the handset itself).

Up till about a week ago Three had a cashback deal on (with TopCashBack and Quidco) which brought that £15 per month figure down to more like £10 per month, however they've stopped doing this now.

I do still think the One Plan with Three is the best value for money option (if obviously you can get good signal), particularly with an increasing emphasis and importance of having lots of data, rather than minutes/texts - the free 4G upgrade is a bonus but most of us will likely not see this until next year.

I plan to go with it as soon as my EE sim only contract runs out at the end of the year anyway.

I'm buying the 5S from Apple next week - which again represents better value than the 5C (IMO!)..
 
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