Worth buying iPhone 5 from Apple?

digitaldr

There's much better value to be had wrt to mobile plans than when the last iPhone launched. I'm currently paying €35 a month for basically unlimited calls, texts & mobiles with Tesco mobile. 48 would be even cheaper but small landline call allowance is putting me off.  Given all that I'm wondering if it make more sense to buy an unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple?  Obviously depends on the price but I'd say it would work out cheaper than signing a contract. It would probably be at least 2 years before I'd change phones too as I didn't see the need to go from a 4 to a 4s. 

Doodah7

You need to work out the maths.

If it is assumed that the iPhone 5 will require a two-year contract at, say €45 per month, that is a total of €1080 you will spend over the life of the contract and will obviously be more as you continue to use the phone beyond the two years although you could then change to a lower tariff.

If the phone is going to be €610 (assuming the same price of the 4S), then any tariff less than €19.50 per month will save you money. Are there any such plans and do they equate to the two-year contract tariffs in terms of minutes/texts/data?

Obviously the main advantage to buying direct from Apple is that you get a completely unlocked phone from the start and you can chop and change networks/plans at will, including using foreign sims while on holiday to reduce call costs.

digitaldr

Thanks for doing the maths! I always went with the 18 month contract in the past so not sure how it works with a 2 year one but I had to pay a quite a bit upfront too. Also I don't think €45 a month on contract is going to get you many minutes/text nevermind data which o2 are particularly stingy with these days.

Doodah7

Actually you are right, I forgot that the networks will also require a payment for the handset! Obviously this would make the cost of ownership even more expensive.

From having a quick look, the cheapest sim-free monthly tariffs seem to be from Meteor and Three at €20.33 per month. This is about €488 and adding the price of the phone makes a total of €1100. This equates to the two-year monthly cost without including the handset charge.

Simply Red

Ive been wondering the same myself, I was previously on an 18 month contract with three on an iphone 4. That was up in march this year and I switched to prepay with 3, €20 a month topup gives unlimited data for the month so am happy with that. Planning on selling my 4 soon and have been saving up the balence to buy directly from apple too

digitaldr

Just thought of something that might throw a spanner in the works - nano sims

DubDJ

I done the maths recently on the 64GB iPhone from Meteor. It's a 2 year contract @ €50p/m. And the phone is €99.

Or buy from Apple at €809 and pay Meteor €20.33p/m for 2 years (sim free plan so can be cancelled whenever you like).

Buying from Apple worked out around €20 cheaper overall. The difference is bill pay gives you 5GB of data whereas the sim free plan is 1GB. For me 1GB is plenty.

So buying from Apple directly is a small bit cheaper but you also get a sim free phone and it helps resale value. And no contract. And a much smaller monthly payment.

I'll be buying the next gen iPhone directly from Apple. Better option in my opinion.

digitaldr

O2 will factory unlock iPhones almost immediately and prepay after you spend a certain amount.

kaizersoze

That's based on current tarrifs though. You don't know what kind of pricking around they'll do closer to release time.

guil

kaizersoze wrote: »

That's based on current tarrifs though. You don't know what kind of pricking around they'll do closer to release time.

o2 have always unlocked whenever you want since march/april 10, I bought the iphone 4 on o2 on launch day and had it unlocked 2 weeks later

kaizersoze

guil wrote: »

o2 have always unlocked whenever you want since march/april 10, I bought the iphone 4 on o2 on launch day and had it unlocked 2 weeks later

I'm referring to pricing calculations not O2s unlocking policy.

subway

You can also get the benefits of improved service offerings if you stay off a long contract.
I was paying 55 a month for a year and could have paid a lot less if I was out of contract.
Happened again this year, 35 a month and I've just switched to 20 a month for better benefits. Staying off bill if I can for now

ucd.1985

DubDJ wrote: »

I done the maths recently on the 64GB iPhone from Meteor. It's a 2 year contract @ €50p/m. And the phone is €99.

Or buy from Apple at €809 and pay Meteor €20.33p/m for 2 years (sim free plan so can be cancelled whenever you like).

Buying from Apple worked out around €20 cheaper overall. The difference is bill pay gives you 5GB of data whereas the sim free plan is 1GB. For me 1GB is plenty.

So buying from Apple directly is a small bit cheaper but you also get a sim free phone and it helps resale value. And no contract. And a much smaller monthly payment.

I'll be buying the next gen iPhone directly from Apple. Better option in my opinion.

Youre not factoring in the fact that you have to pay the €809 upfront to apple.

Spreadingnthis cost over 2 years is far more beneficial than €20.

DubDJ

ucd.1985 wrote: »

DubDJ wrote: »

I done the maths recently on the 64GB iPhone from Meteor. It's a 2 year contract @ €50p/m. And the phone is €99.

Or buy from Apple at €809 and pay Meteor €20.33p/m for 2 years (sim free plan so can be cancelled whenever you like).

Buying from Apple worked out around €20 cheaper overall. The difference is bill pay gives you 5GB of data whereas the sim free plan is 1GB. For me 1GB is plenty.

So buying from Apple directly is a small bit cheaper but you also get a sim free phone and it helps resale value. And no contract. And a much smaller monthly payment.

I'll be buying the next gen iPhone directly from Apple. Better option in my opinion.

Youre not factoring in the fact that you have to pay the €809 upfront to apple.

Spreadingnthis cost over 2 years is far more beneficial than €20.

Well I was aiming that specifically at the OP. He asked which was better so I assume paying upfront isn't an issue for him.

subway

if you didnt have the money up front i dont think you would need to ask the question.
a bank loan for 800 is going to cost you the guts of 40 a month for 2 years anyway.

BostonB

Buying on bill pay is like a HP agreement. There doesn't seem to be much difference otherwise.

However having a large data allowance, and calls package might mean you don't go out of you plan much. As if you are constantly out of your plan by 10~20 that tips the balance a lot.

That said if you're happy to spend a 1000 on a mobile phone even over two years, saving 20~100 isn't much of an issue. Personally I spend a fraction of that on my bills. I'm hoping for the price of the 4 to drop to replace the 3GS.

guil

For me it was a no brainer to get the iPhone 4 from eMobile for nothing. None of the other networks offered anything to suit me at the time and I'd easily go through 20 credit a week so I saved 700 on the phone and get unlimited calls, texts and get 15gb data for 75 per month

Solair

If you get a really good deal on calls and data it can work out well.
Remember, you'll be paying for service whether you're in a contract or not.

guil

Solair wrote: »

If you get a really good deal on calls and data it can work out well.
Remember, you'll be paying for service whether you're in a contract or not.

That's true and every time a thread like this pops up that fact always seems to be forgotten

digitaldr

Lots of food for thought there. Wheny contract finished with O2 they didn't seem particularly interested in keeping me as a customer even though I'd been with them for years. What they were offering didn't even come close to 3, Tesco etc.

Nano sims might complicate things though. Will Apple limit them to networks that do the iPhone? I read somewhere on the net that it might be possible to cut down a regular sim but this would involve cutting through the contacts. Also nano sims will be thinner too so some "shaving" might be necessary too:eek:

BostonB

Solair wrote: »

...
Remember, you'll be paying for service whether you're in a contract or not.

Depends my main sim has a free same network calls and texts which is 90% of my bill with a top only every 6 months. I pick up free credit on other sims, which I use for everything else. I've a dual sim phone so use both sims. You'll often find networks give you free credit on old sims, you've stopped using for winbacks etc. Should put them in a phone now and then to see if you get any offers.

But you're very right if your making a lot of calls, txts and data across different networks, (or need mid/high end phone) a bill pay makes much more sense.

DubDJ

digitaldr wrote: »

Nano sims might complicate things though. Will Apple limit them to networks that do the iPhone? I read somewhere on the net that it might be possible to cut down a regular sim but this would involve cutting through the contacts. Also nano sims will be thinner too so some "shaving" might be necessary too:eek:

Nope all networks should have the Nano Sims. When the iPhone 4 came out Meteor didn't sell it and I was able to get a Micro Sim from Meteor. I did cut my original sim down to last for the first few days until Meteor had the new sims.

digitaldr

Tesco mobile don't let you order microsims online you have to call them. Even then they send you out a cut down regular sim. I think it's because they don't carry the iPhone so I'd say the chances of them doing nano sims would be slim.