HDTV/3D TV News
The iPhone 4S is set for release in the UK a week today, so it’s no surprise that pre-orders have now gone live on the Apple online store.
Some UK network operators have also revealed their tariffs for the latest Apple smartphone.
At the Apple website, you can pre-order your iPhone 4S starting at £499 sim-free for the 16GB version, in either black or white (they’ve got the manufacturing process for the white colour down, now, of course).
As expected, the 32GB variant is £599 and the 64GB model is an eye-watering £699, the most expensive mobile phone we’ve ever seen outside of something Stuart Hughes has got hold of and lobbed a load of diamonds and bits of meteor rock at.
Shipping is currently promised in one to two weeks, meaning that some units should be shipped on launch day next Friday, and the rest (should the initial stock not be enough, and it usually isn’t) presumably the following week.
However, if you’re looking for a subsidised contract from a network, thus far Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile have released their 4S tariffs. Unfortunately, they too are looking quite pricey.
On Orange, the cheapest deal you can get the handset for free on is £46 per month for the 16GB model, which gives you 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of data.
For an initial outlay of £30 for the handset, however, you can get a £41 monthly contract, which will save you £120 over two years so might be worth thinking about – though you lose 300 minutes from the above deal, 900 is probably enough for most people.
T-Mobile is offering the same deals, just under-cutting by four pence with a £45.96 per month contract for the free iPhone 4S 16GB. Again that’s for 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB internet.
Or you can dip down to £40.85 per month with an up-front fee of £30 for the phone, with 900 minutes and 500MB (stingier on the data than Orange).
And guess what? Vodafone is offering pretty much the same plans as Orange, too, except its £41 per month contract requires an initial payment of £59 for the phone rather than £30.
However, at the moment Vodafone is offering cash-back of £59 on 4S pre-orders, so in effect you’re getting the handset free at £41 per month. And that seems the best deal at the moment.
With Voda’s cash back, you could actually get yourself a 4S for £36 per month for an initial fee of £100, with 600 minutes and 500MB of data. Although that doesn’t represent much of a saving over the £41 contract (just £20 over the two years).
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