Cheapest iPhone discussion

sianf_2

I'm nearly ready to click the buy button on 3, but just wanted to run this through with some of you money saving experts....

I've decided I want an iphone, having used some quite basic phones over the past couple of years but paying only £10-£15/month on 30 day contracts, I figured I deserve one now! I don't really want to be paying too much per month, but also can't afford too much in the initial outlay.

So... having read the iphone guide on here I decided to go for the Three deal, it's actually 'The One Plan' which is 2000 mins 5000 txts and All-you-can-eat Data. For the 16gb iphone 4 it's £69 upfront and £35p/m for 24 months... So 35 x 24 + 69 = £909 for the length of contract which on the face of it looks bad compared to the other deals BUT I thought that you can't really compare that to the Tesco 12 month contract as after the 12 months end you still need to pay something for line rental data usage etc. So, I figured the cheapest way of still using your phone after the end of the Tesco contact would be to get a 30 day contact with data included, which at the moment is £20/pm. So 20 x 12 = 240 so add that on to the Tesco cost of £642 you get £882. Now I don't feel so bad about the £909 Three deal, not only that, but I've got more texts, minutes and data than I could ever possibly use and better network coverage in my area.

I was convinced enough to click the buy button, when I thought about cashback. I found on quidco that you get £106 cashback for buying a 'The One Plan' from Three, however the 16gb iphone 4 is not available to buy online. The 32gb IS available to buy online.... this is the same monthly cost but £159 up front. With the cashback it works out as 35 x 24 + 159 -106 = 893 and to make it comparable to the 12 month Tesco deal I took off the cost of a 12 month contract (240) making it the equivilant of £653 in the first year.

Right, (and thank you if you've manage to read through this far) I am getting a 32gb iphone 4 for only £11 more than the cheapst 16gb deal AND with many many more minutes, texts and data.

I am going to bed as my head now hurts, but can someone please tell me if I'm completely wrong about this as I'm going to click the buy button in the morning!!

Cheers

Sian

rose28454

Hi
I posted another thread concerning my IPhone contract but figured I would get more response here. I have been with 3 for 5 years and got an IPhone last April. The signal at home has always been a bit patchy but since January 2011 it is practically non existent. I phoned them and they said they were upgrading the mast but they told me this twice and it just got worse. Finally they told me it would not get better for at least 6 months because apparently the nearest antenna has been removed. After much discussion they said I could end my contract and keep the phone.
So I have looked around and O2 seems best in my area. I am thinking of getting a sim only pay as you go deal and had a couple of queries. Firstly could I keep my number, secondly iphone sims dont seem to be mentioned on their site and lastly where would I get it unlocked.
Thanks

d123

You would need to request the unlock from 3, they might charge you £15 to do so. My suggestion would be to get back in touch with the person who agreed to terminate your contract (if they have that authority, they should be able to waive the unlock charge).

Most networks will supply a microsim on request now. It's also pretty easy to cut a normal sim down in size as well.

NikkyWikky

I'm thinking of purchasing an IPhone 4 and trying to find the cheapest offer. Had my eyes on the tesco offer but that has now increased from £20 to £25.

Been doing some research and wondering if this is possible. Can you purchase the iphone on pay as you go from T-mobile (IPhone 4 16GB) for £500:

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/iphone/buy-now/

Then purchase the sim only http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/sim-only/tariffs/ for £10.21 a month. Thats a total of 122.52 but if you go through topcashback thats £41.72. http://www.topcashback.co.uk/tmobile/


So the total cost is £500 + £41.72 - £541.72 a £100 cheaper then tesco.

Is this correct or i'm I missing something?

salthegal

NikkyWikky wrote: »

I'm thinking of purchasing an IPhone 4 and trying to find the cheapest offer. Had my eyes on the tesco offer but that has now increased from £20 to £25.

Been doing some research and wondering if this is possible. Can you purchase the iphone on pay as you go from T-mobile (IPhone 4 16GB) for £500:

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/iphone/buy-now/

Then purchase the sim only http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/sim-only/tariffs/ for £10.21 a month. Thats a total of 122.52 but if you go through topcashback thats £41.72. http://www.topcashback.co.uk/tmobile/


So the total cost is £500 + £41.72 - £541.72 a £100 cheaper then tesco.

Is this correct or i'm I missing something?

That is a cheap way of doing it if you/re a very light user as that tariff only includes 100mins and 100 texts and I think the fact you have to put £500 up front puts a lot of peeps off. Also I dont know how you go about unlocking the mobile at the end of the term if you havent bought it with a contract? So it might be stuck on tmobile. On my iphone after 18months the network sent me an unlock code.

Ive been monitoring the iphone deals for a while now, not really seeing any reductions in price. As Im a big texter and fairly moderate user Im still tempted by the vodafone 2 yr deals over the rest. http://www.comparemobiledeals.com/mobile-phones/Apple/iPhone-4-16GB?&tab=Pay-Monthly&page=1&sortby=Monthly-Cost&internet=yes £30 a month vodafone deal for 2 years, 300 texts, unlimited texts and internet. With cashback it works out £824 for the phone (unlocked at end) and 2 years of use. :huh:

I still havent decided either especially now Im seeing some really tempting Android deals for a fraction (3rd) of the cost with phones which are supposed to be as good or better than the iphone. Though Im familiar with iphones so dunno if its worth changing. Decisions decisions.:o

d123

NikkyWikky wrote: »

I'm thinking of purchasing an IPhone 4 and trying to find the cheapest offer. Had my eyes on the tesco offer but that has now increased from £20 to £25.

Been doing some research and wondering if this is possible. Can you purchase the iphone on pay as you go from T-mobile (IPhone 4 16GB) for £500:

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/iphone/buy-now/

Then purchase the sim only http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/sim-only/tariffs/ for £10.21 a month. Thats a total of 122.52 but if you go through topcashback thats £41.72. http://www.topcashback.co.uk/tmobile/

So the total cost is £500 + £41.72 - £541.72 a £100 cheaper then tesco.

Is this correct or i'm I missing something?

Rather buy the phone direct from Apple as it will then be factory unlocked and will maintain a higher resale value when you sell on. The sim only deal is a good idea.

swadbus

Hi Folks,

I thought i would share my experience with you. I bought the iphone4 32gb direct from apple at launch last year. I have been on a sim only deal with O2 for £25 a month on rolling monthly contract (went up to nearly £26 in January with VAT increase!). This got me 600mins, unlimited texts, and 500gb data on 30 day rolling contract. I have been with 02 for about 7-8 years.

I found that i kept getting close to my data limit each month, and i was really only using about 45-60 mins of mins a month, but i use the data heavily.

I saw a deal on "three" network (H3G) advertised online on their website for 300mins, 3000 texts and 1GB data a month, on 12 month sim only contract for iphone for £10 a month. Which seemed to good to be true, so thought i'd investigate a bit further.

I went to my local "three" shop to ask about this deal. The nice chap in the shop said they weren't able to offer this deal to me as it was online, i said ok and was about to leave the shop when he said he would make a phone call and double check for me to see if he was able to offer this.

After the phone call he was able to off me the above deal at £10 a month (300mins, 3000 text, and 1GB data!), and on top of that he said if i signed there and then i would get £15 credited to my account too. so in effect it was now £8.75p a month over the term of the 12 month contract!

8.75 x 12 = £105 for 12 months mobile usage! :rotfl::T

The phone was £650 and came unlocked too as it was sim free from the apple shop which i bought outright during the first dew weeks of release.

I'm loads better off, as now i'm paying almost a third of what i was paying for with O2, (albeit only 300 mins which i hardly use, and double the data allowance!).

I've heard a lot of people aren't happy with "three" but i can honestly say my experience with them has been 100% positive up to now. Signal is excellent. Data speed much better than O2 as well. Got my PAC code from O2 and transferred the number within 72 hours of giving it to "three". Sorted.

Stuart.

AAB

I have upgraded iPhone with 3 about a month ago and am very impressed with their 3G coverage and speed.

billykeats

swadbus wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I thought i would share my experience with you. I bought the iphone4 32gb direct from apple at launch last year. I have been on a sim only deal with O2 for £25 a month on rolling monthly contract (went up to nearly £26 in January with VAT increase!). This got me 600mins, unlimited texts, and 500gb data on 30 day rolling contract. I have been with 02 for about 7-8 years.

I found that i kept getting close to my data limit each month, and i was really only using about 45-60 mins of mins a month, but i use the data heavily.

I saw a deal on "three" network (H3G) advertised online on their website for 300mins, 3000 texts and 1GB data a month, on 12 month sim only contract for iphone for £10 a month. Which seemed to good to be true, so thought i'd investigate a bit further.

I went to my local "three" shop to ask about this deal. The nice chap in the shop said they weren't able to offer this deal to me as it was online, i said ok and was about to leave the shop when he said he would make a phone call and double check for me to see if he was able to offer this.

After the phone call he was able to off me the above deal at £10 a month (300mins, 3000 text, and 1GB data!), and on top of that he said if i signed there and then i would get £15 credited to my account too. so in effect it was now £8.75p a month over the term of the 12 month contract!

8.75 x 12 = £105 for 12 months mobile usage! :rotfl::T

The phone was £650 and came unlocked too as it was sim free from the apple shop which i bought outright during the first dew weeks of release.

I'm loads better off, as now i'm paying almost a third of what i was paying for with O2, (albeit only 300 mins which i hardly use, and double the data allowance!).

I've heard a lot of people aren't happy with "three" but i can honestly say my experience with them has been 100% positive up to now. Signal is excellent. Data speed much better than O2 as well. Got my PAC code from O2 and transferred the number within 72 hours of giving it to "three". Sorted.

Stuart.

Where is this offer as I can only see the £15 a month micro-SIM for the iphone 4? There is a SIM 300 - 12 month on their website but is seems to be a normal SIM card and not the micro SIM

graystar

Stuart if you are interested in a microsim deal and cant find one (you mentioned that you could only see normal sim deal on the site in your reply) then all you have to do is visit Amazon or Ebay and you can buy a microsim cutter (a bit like a stapler but with a special cutter for your standard sim) and you can buy one for around £5/6. All you do then is place your standard sim into the end of the cutter and press down and bingo you have a micro sim ready to put straight into your iphone. Its a simple procedure and takes less than 30 seconds. I have one and it works instantly no problem. No need to cut down with scissors its purpose made to cut the card to the exact dimensions of a micro sim slot. You can also buy the sim adapter there too to put your micro sim into to make it normal size again for standard sim phones. Hope this helps. Gray:)