upgrading to the next iPhone - O2

[ajo]

Are you allowed like on all other mobile contracts, to when your contract is up upgrade to a new phone.

iPhones im guessing are going to continue to get better and better, in the long run if you can upgrade, surley this is the better option if you are looking at the iPod end of it, rather than having to buy a new iPod when it dies after a while.

Saying that, im still iPhoneless and still using my 3rd gen iPod which is still working well for me!

As soon as that goes am gona have to get somthing to replace it.

 

[smr]

Since the 3G iPhone was launched, O2 has allowed 1st generation iPhone owners to upgrade to the 3G model for the same cost and on the same terms as new subscribers i.e. £99 for the 8Gb iPhone on the £30/35 tariff and signing up for another 18 months.

However, this offer ends on 11 October 2008. What isn't clear (to me at least) is what happens after this. Does anyone know?

The usual phone-upgrade arrangement is that you can upgrade in the last month of your contract. So I assume this will happen after 11 October. Whilst I'm interested in upgrading to 3G, I'm inclined to hold out for the 32Gb iPhone (assuming it will arrive either just before or after Xmas). Hopefully, when the 32Gb is launched O2 will offer the same upgrade option as when the 3G launched (i.e. being able to upgrade on the same terms as new customers), or this might have been a one off...

 

[smr]

However, this offer ends on 11 October 2008. What isn't clear (to me at least) is what happens after this. Does anyone know?

To get an answer to my own question I first sent an email to O2 customer services. They replied that I should phone the upgrade helpline, which I did.

I was told that the 3G upgrade offer for 1st gen iPhone owners will end on 11 October, and that after this date I will have to wait until the last month of my contract to upgrade! (Unless of course I pay off my remaining contract.) I asked about whether O2 might offer upgrades before this should new models (e.g. 32Gb) come out and she didn't know.

This leaves me with a dilemma... Do I simply wait until the 32Gb model comes out to see what, if any, upgrade options I'm offered? If they don't offer any upgrade options, I will have to wait until next April (i.e. month 17 of my contract) to upgrade.

Or do I upgrade to a 16Gb model now, although I won't then be eligible for an upgrade for another 17 months (Feb 2010!)?

I'm inclined to wait, as I'm quite happy with my 1st gen phone running 2.1, and getting a big lump of extra memory is more important to me than 3G or GPS.

It will be interesting to see what upgrade options O2 offer to iPhone owners in the future given that the contract 3G model is now subsidized. The original iPhone was unsubsidized, making it easier for O2 to offer the current upgrade deal, and perhaps unsubsidized iPhone owners will still be offered early upgrade deals in the future as a result??