MSE News: Want an iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C? Here are the cheapest deals

Former_MSE_Darryl

"If you're planning to join the queues for the latest iPhones, which went on sale today, MoneySavingExpert.com has compared prices from all the major mobile providers to make sure you get the cheapest deal..."

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Want an iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C? Here are the cheapest deals



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redux

The mystery of why MSE promotes iPhones so much (is it 4 or 5 new threads this time around?) continues.

If someone is intent on spending £1000 to £1200 on an iPhone and contract, then saving £20 or £30 probably makes no difference to them at all. Which network is likely to be of as much or more interest to them. So do prospective iPhone owners need MSE's help?

grumbler

Mystery? I think it's because Moneysupermarket stands behind MSE and demands some return on their investment.

karlie88

MSE....you've actually forgotten the cheapest method (overall) to buy the iPhone 5S.

Buy it from the Apple Store @ RRP and stick a SIM only deal of your choice into the phone (anything from the Ovivo 'free' SIM to Three's One Plan SIM).

Granted there's a few weeks wait....but if you haven't managed to get one this morning from your 'local' then you're unlikely to get one in the next few weeks.

(Unless you buy it from eBay with a 100% mark up).

CoolHotCold

A Whopping 500GB on EE for £26 is a steal.

That or someone has fat fingers.


Considering EE are not that generous I believe that the MSE team need bigger keyboards.

Treevo

redux wrote: »

The mystery of why MSE promotes iPhones so much (is it 4 or 5 new threads this time around?) continues.

If someone is intent on spending £1000 to £1200 on an iPhone and contract, then saving £20 or £30 probably makes no difference to them at all. Which network is likely to be of as much or more interest to them. So do prospective iPhone owners need MSE's help?

Most popular phone in the world with a very strong following in the demographic that MSE want - ABC1s.

There's no mystery. If Samsung had the kind of cultural impact that Apple have had, then you'd see more posts/pieces about them.

NFH

karlie88 wrote: »

Buy it from the Apple Store @ RRP and stick a SIM only deal of your choice into the phone (anything from the Ovivo 'free' SIM to Three's One Plan SIM).

Exactly. Well said. Why is MSE focussing mainly on the financially unhealthy "buy now pay later" option of a bundled iPhone and service contract? MSE should be focussing on SIM-free prices (which it misleadingly calls PAYG prices) and SIM-only contracts.

If people haven't got hundreds of pounds to spend in one hit, then the iPhone is probably too expensive for them. MSE should be encouraging consumers to save up in advance, not to pay in arrears at a higher total price. The latter is as bad as getting a loan to buy an iPhone.

I like what O2 is doing with its Refresh idea. Although some of its prices for phones are surprising, the principle nevertheless makes the costs more transparent by separating the prices of the goods and service, so that consumers can see that they are effectively getting a loan for the goods.

karlie88

NFH wrote: »

Exactly. Well said. Why is MSE focussing mainly on the financially unhealthy "buy now pay later" option of a bundled iPhone and service contract? MSE should be focussing on SIM-free prices (which it misleadingly calls PAYG prices) and SIM-only contracts.

If people haven't got hundreds of pounds to spend in one hit, then the iPhone is probably too expensive for them. MSE should be encouraging consumers to save up in advance, not to pay in arrears at a higher total price. The latter is as bad as getting a loan to buy an iPhone.

I like what O2 is doing with its Refresh idea. Although some of its prices for phones are surprising, the principle nevertheless makes the costs more transparent by separating the prices of the goods and service, so that consumers can see that they are effectively getting a loan for the goods.

MSE state you can get a 'free' iPhone 5S 16GB on Three's One plan by paying £52 a month for 24 months!

:eek:

A total of £1248 payable!

For those who have the cash, you can buy the same iPhone for £549 and get Three's One Plan on a 12 month contract for £15 a month. So £549 + (£15 x 24 months) = £909.

More than £300 difference for the same thing!

And you could haggle with Three at the end of your 1st 12 month contract and get the price down to £10 a month quite easily; so a further £60 saving on top.

And for those who are going to argue that £549 is a lot upfront and that the £52 a month contract is a better alternative, then I suggest that you shouldn't be buying an iPhone in the first place.

Stick with a £10 phone for a year and put the £52 a month into a regular savings account for a year (FD's 6% regular saver).

Then this time next year, you'll be able to buy the new iPhone 6 outright and use the interest you earned to pay the 1st month of your SIM only contract.

:cool:

marks7389

karlie88 wrote: »

More than £300 difference for the same thing!

Exactly. I can't believe that MSE is perpetuating the myth of 'free' iPhones. There may be no upfront cost, but they are most certainly never free (well, short of fishing an old one out of a skip...)

My wife just invested in a Galaxy S4 to replace her aging Galaxy S for £400 plus £15 on an Ovivo mobile sim. Given that she mostly uses it on WiFi and is a relatively light caller, the 150 mins, 250 texts and 500MB a month free allowance is more than enough and the £18 credit she has after porting in her number will last for ages (or until family insist on phoning her whilst roaming at least....).

I have to say I'm really impressed with Ovivo. Itemised calls, texts and daily data usage available online, and calls are deducted from your minutes balance by the second with no sneaky minimum or rounding up. Even the browser advertising which funds the service is minimally intrusive. And if you go slighly over your allowance the extra charges are reasonable too (e.g. 8p/min).

Not so competitive if you regularly need more than the free allowance though.

NFH

marks7389 wrote: »

Exactly. I can't believe that MSE is perpetuating the myth of 'free' iPhones. There may be no upfront cost, but they are most certainly never free (well, short of fishing an old one out of a skip...)

Indeed. If the networks themselves used the word "free" in this context, they would be in breach of Schedule 1 Regulation 20 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 which states that the following is an unfair commercial practice in all circumstances:

Describing a product as ‘gratis’, ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.

MSE should likewise avoid using this misleading word.

grumbler

karlie88 wrote: »

MSE state you can get a 'free' iPhone 5S 16GB on Three's One plan by paying £52 a month for 24 months!

:eek:

A total of £1248 payable!

For those who have the cash, you can buy the same iPhone for £549 and get Three's One Plan on a 12 month contract for £15 a month. So £549 + (£15 x 24 months) = £909.

More than £300 difference for the same thing!

If this is correct, MSE suggest borrowing £549 for two years at whopping 65%:eek: APR (4.27% monthly).

Shame on you, 'expert'