Is it worth a sim and phone package?

scoobydoo789

Can I either save money on an £1100 iPhone 16 512gb – or a £13 sim only deal – by combining them onto a single contract? 

Here’s the context – I have an EE sim only deal today which for £13 gives me 25gb, 5G, and unlimited calls and texts. I bought an iPhone 14 512gb outright when they first came out. 

I now want an iPhone 16 512 gb and in thinking about how to buy it, realised I’ve never bought a phone and Sim package together, as I assumed it would be more expensive but want a make sure I’m not missing something.

Can I save money on either the £1100 iPhone 16 512gb – or £13 sim only deal – by combining them onto a single contract?  If not, why do people do it? Is there some other advantage I am missing?

molerat

Likely won't save much but you won't have to come up with £1100 up front, that is the reason most get the package - £1100 over 2 years is under £50 per month - the easy way of getting a phone you can't really afford.  You need to look at what's on offer and work out the actual costs over the expected ownership period yourself.

cymruchris

I know it's free choice in terms of what you spend your money on - and sometimes only the latest gadget will do - but what does the Iphone 16 realistically do that you can't live without that your Iphone 14 can't? I could understand if you were upgrading from an Iphone X - but the 14 is still quite recent. Wouldn't it be better putting a sum of money each month into a savings account so that when the Iphone 17/18 comes out you'll have some extra money ready to pay for it outright? Is anyone going to notice you've changed your phone, and will they care? Are you going to notice any actual difference that makes owning the 14 untenable?

Mark_d

When buying an expensive phone it's often cheaper to buy it on contract.  Prices look good on idmobile.

To get a reasonable phone at a low cost, I choose to buy a mid-range handset for around £300.  Then I get a SIM deal with no contract - I currently pay Lebara £4.50 per month.

oldernonethewiser

Your EE deal is quite expensive for what you get.

You will be able to sell or trade in your current phone so that will reduce the costs.

A package reduces the upfront cost which is the attraction for many people.

Neil49

If you want to stay with EE then that will limit the number and cost of available deals.

Many of the cheaper deals use ID Mobile (who run on the Three network). 

scoobydoo789

Unfortunately ID no good as 3 has no reception where I am. How is my EE deal bad? 

I want the quick camera feature on the iPhone 16 so I can take great photos of my kids as they grow up - that’s priceless to me. (Couldn’t give a rats what anyone else thinks about my phone).  

As I’m happy to buy phone outright am
thinking that a package isn’t the way to go from a cost perspective…? 

jbrassy

It's cheaper to buy on contract than buying the phone outright with a separate sim. If you buy the phone outright with your EE sim, this works out at £1412 over 24 months. You can get the iphone 16 512gb for £29.99 per month and pay £479 per month with ID Mobile. This works out at £1198 over 24 months. If you don't like ID, there's a contract with Vodafone for £19 a month and £799 upfront. You get more data with both contracts than you currently get (your EE deal is pretty poor value).

The Vodafone deal is through Carphone Warehouse. If you buy through Top Cashback, you'll get £40 cashback bringing the overall cost down to £1158 over 24 months. 

Just use the MSE mobile contract finder: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/contracts/apple/iphone-16/

Kim_13

Another factor to consider is the price increases - EE look to be increasing on both Sim Only and plans with a handset by £1.50 each April, so it’s a better deal if your contract is say £60 (2.5%) than £13 (11.5%!) It really was scandalous where providers hiked the handset by inflation+ too. 

At £1.50 increase each April it should be easy to total up the total payable (remember to include any upfront fee) and compare that to £1100 + whatever you’d pay for a sim plan over the same term. 

Your current deal isn’t the worst - and EE are currently offering it to new customers for £16 - but it isn’t the best either. For instance Spusu are one of the MVNO’s using EE’s signal and offer 40GB for £7.90 for a month for the first year and £11.90 a month after that - and you’re not locked in to a contract. EU roaming is included. This is on USwitch.

MSE also have a cheap mobile finder: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/

The iPhone 16 finder doesn’t seem fully populated yet though - nothing from EE and all for the 128GB model so far as far as I could see.

oldernonethewiser

EE are definitely not the cheapest but if they are the best for you then fair enough.

Kim_13 has given examples of better options.

I have been with the 4 major providers and some of their MNVOs at various times and have no loyalty to any of them and tend to switch every year.

Currently paying less than £9 per month for 40GB on O2 and the deal finishes in a couple of months.  Their best "upgrade" option for me is 30GB for £23.99 per month.

I think I'll decline.

Murmansk

I've always wondered why people pay many thousands for a BMW when they could get a decent car for far less. The same applies to iPhones. 

My £300 Samsung A54 takes great photos - I suspect you'd not be able to tell the difference between the photos it produces and those produced by an iPhone.

You've been seduced by whatever mysterious method Apple use to get people to love their stuff. It might be better than other stuff but only by a very small margin and the extra money you pay is far out of proportion to the amount by which it's better.