Cheapest iPhone discussion

smiffy121_2

Am I missing something here?

Why not buy an iPhone from the Apple store 16gb £510 with free delivery and add a sim only deal (some with good cash back). I got O2 iPhone simplicity 12 months @ £15 and just received £100 cash back.
You then have a phone which isn't tied into a lengthy contract, is unlocked and which you could sale whenever you please and upgrade to the iPhone 5 when it arrives.

IMHO 24 month contracts are far too long. No matter how well you look after your phone the battery will be shot to pieces and the phone its self will be quite tatty side by that time.

eternalvictor

smiffy121 wrote: »

Am I missing something here?

Why not buy an iPhone from the Apple store 16gb £510 with free delivery and add a sim only deal (some with good cash back). I got O2 iPhone simplicity 12 months @ £15 and just received £100 cash back.
You then have a phone which isn't tied into a lengthy contract, is unlocked and which you could sale whenever you please and upgrade to the iPhone 5 when it arrives.

IMHO 24 month contracts are far too long. No matter how well you look after your phone the battery will be shot to pieces and the phone its self will be quite tatty side by that time.

It's all well and good to suggest that the best bet would be to buy the phone outright and get a cheap sim only deal but most people won't want to do that due to having to pay the initial large outlay.
I would be more than happy to buy the phone outright and try the GiffGaff simcard as that's currently about £10 a month with unlimited internet, texts and a few hundred minutes.
My only problem is that I cannot justify paying £4-500 for the phone just to get the sim only deals on offer.
This is why most people are looking for the best monthly deal that means they pay the least possible amount for the phone.
And at the end of the day it may be a two year contract but there is nothing stopping anyone selling the iPhone 4 in a years time and paying a bit extra to get an iPhone 5 or 6 unlocked depending on the prices. At least this way if you sold the iPhone 4 for £400 online then you would only need another £100 or so to upgrade to a different iPhone. That's my plan anyway once I've upgraded from my HTC Hero to the iPhone 4 in a few months.

smiffy121_2

From what i've seen there are 2 types of iphone tariff one requires you to pay a large upfront fee, which gives limited if not inadequate minutes and text, while the other has a low upfront cost, but you pay way too much per month for thousands of minutes and texts that most people will never use.

Yes to buy the phone outright is expensive but a lot cheaper than what your going to pay in the long run and you also have the flexibility to change networks when better deals come available. If you compare the sim only deals it is quite apparent you get the same minutes and text for half the price.

This is why the site is called money saving expert... £250 upfront followed by £35-£40 per month on a quantity of minutes and text that your never use for the next 2 years. Doesn't that seem madness and not very good financial sense?

kittykitten

I'm deliberating which iPhone deal to go for and could do with some help from some of you wonderful MSE people who know more about iPhone and cotracts than I do. Please treat me as a complete novice!:D

I'm a light user of minutes and texts, never had an android phone before but can't anticipate I'll be using that much data - I spend far too many hours at work (where I can't use my phone as there's something in the roof of the building that seems to mean no-one, no matter what network, can get a mobile signal without hanging halfway out of the window! :eek:) so don't have enough free time to use a high amount of data!

The dilemma I have is mainly contract vs sim-only. It's not just the upfront phone cost that's bothering me, although I've only ever had 30 day rolling sim only contracts before coupled with fairly cheap phones, but having seen my brother drop his iPhone and crack the screen (yes, he is accident prone) I feel insurance is an issue, which obviously you don't get with sim-only contracts.

Also it's it's my intention to buy my own house within the next year to 18 months, so don't want to commit myself to something really expensive that goes on and on for ever as money may become an issue for me, although I earn a decent wage so won't overstretch myself with a mobile contract.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. Also how negotiable are contracts? I've only ever done mobile contracts online, so don't know if it's worth going anywhere on the high street to try and negotiate a good iPhone deal.

Thanks loads to anyone who's made it this far through my ramblings! :beer:

gemlcoleman

Just thought I would mention the best deal I have seen for a while for iphones - on Three (which I am already on and have no problem with signal).

2 year contracts on £30 month, but for that you get:

£99 iphone4, 300mins,5000 texts, 500mb data
or £149, 500 mins, 5000 texts, 1GB data

Reckon thats the best deal out there at the minute for people who can't afford to pay much upfront.

Hope this helps someone

SaveMeTheMoney

Is it true that on 3 you cannot use the wifi capabilites on the iphone and only use the 3g network?

d123

SaveMeTheMoney wrote: »

Is it true that on 3 you cannot use the wifi capabilites on the iphone and only use the 3g network?

No, definitely not.

Jo_2k

Hi Everyone - Just looking for a bit of advice please. (I know the answer to my question is probably in this forum somewhere but don't have time to trawl through 100 pages so forgive me if I'm repeating something which has already been asked).

I currently have an IPhone 3g and my contract expires next week. I would like to go on a rolling month contract so that I can hang on until the Iphone 5 comes out. I am a bit miffed at the fact that I am with O2 and they do a simplicitory tariff (300 mins ultd texts etc) for £15 but for an Iphone it is just over £20!?! They told me that it's something to do with the fact that I will be using the internet on my IPhone so would have to have the specific IPhone tarriff - GRRR. Anyway, am I right in thinking that I could just go with 3g and pay £15 for sim only or do they also have a different one for iphones that cost more?

Basically, I want no less than 300 mins and 500 texts for the cheapest poss on a rolling month deal so if anyone has any advice / ideas it would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Jo

PS. Will my phone be locked to O2? If so, do I just call them to get it unlocked if I end up changing providers?

KeyJ

Hi all,

Does anyone know where I could find the best cashback for buying an iphone sim free?

Thanks.

Ponchos

Hey everyone.

I have not long got back to England after spending the last 10 months travelling around the world. On my trip I took a very old Nokia 6300 with an international SIM card, which i was not at all fussed about if it got lost, broken, or, in the unlikely event, stolen. Now I'm back, I need a new phone and SIM. I've always been with O2 for the last 10 years, and before I left, when i cancelled my SIMplicity contract, they said i could get an upgrade, which I have asked about since I have been back, but I need to call them to find out more. I am seriously considering an iPhone, and I've had a brief look at some of my mates' iPhones and they do seem very good. Firstly, are they worth the money you pay for them? Is it worth getting one NOW, or getting a cheap PAYG SIM card for my current Nokia and wait until the summer for new (and most likely more expensive to start up) iPhone 5? And is the 12 months Tesco Mobile still the best deal, or is it better to buy the phone outright and unlocked and then get a SIM only deal from somewhere?

Cheers guys