O2 prices up the latest iPhone O2 has confirmed its pricing on the new iPhone, and will give away the 3G version of Apple's baby for £45 a month from the 11th of July. Punters who only want to spend £30 a month will have to shell out £99 on the 8GB model, and £159 for 16GB of storage. Even those prepared to spend £45 a month will have to find £59 for 16GB, …
Wow - O2 as spent so much money in the UK advertising the iPhone and they may no longer have exclusive selling rights!
I suspect existing users will have their 18 month contract extended by another 18 months for a free exhange/upgrade. So actually it is a 24 month contract!
This post has been deleted by its author
Why cant one just buy it off-plan from USA for $199,bring it over, have it unlocked/jailbroken and use it to hearts delight? All this talk abt monthly ripoff plans and onerous conditions make it still an expensive toy and disguting (except fo Jesus fanbois)
Frankly, passing by the O2 shop the other day, no one gave 2 hoots about the iphone corner and were more interested in the new range of Nokias and Samsungs.
I can see a flood on Ebay now !
As I read it somewhere, its not as life changing and momentous event as made out to be.
Paris because even she can see the absurdity of it all.
is suddenly cheaper than I thought.
N95 needs upgraded come october. The N96 looked the safe bet until steve pulled this out of his magic khakis last night.
There was no doubt that iPhone 1 was very beta. Lovely in what it did but sorely lacking in what it didn't.
iPhone 2 looks spot on though. Can't believe I'm saying that.
I was an early adopter of the first generation iPhone and paid £269 for it on the day of release. I've been spending about £50 a month (based on a £35 contract with insurance) since November, so O2 and Apple have had about £600 from me.
A month or two back, O2 slashed the price of the iPhone to £169. Now it's been dropped to £99. Some people on contracts over £35 are getting free upgrades, yet those of us who paid £100 more than everyone else are being asked to pay £99! How annoying... it would be nice if O2 could let us all have a free upgrade too.
The most significant thing to note is that Apple has ditched it's model of allowing consumers to buy the handset and take it home to unlock, now they're not even going to be selling it in Apple stores at all - you'll have to go to O2 or Carphone Warehouse (CPW) and sign the contract instore.
On balance therefore unless you're one of the minority of people who are looking to take out a brand new contract with O2 (and pay at least £35 a month, the £30/pm 75 mins/125 txts contract isn't even worth thinking about) you'll end up paying more for this than the first one.
If you were thinking of buying one to take home and immediately jailbreak/unlock to use on the operators network of your choice are s**t outta luck.
I must say the new £30 a month tariff is rather rubbish. True it includes "unlimited" data transfer and wi-fi. But the bundled minutes and texts are rather low IMO.
75mins, and 125 texts. Where as for £5 more you get 600mins, and 500 texts. I really think o2 could of done better here. 100 mins, and 300 texts would make the deal more attractive. But then I guess o2 really don't want people on the £30pm tariff anyway. Consider it more of a stepping stone to the more expensive ones.
...Apple have developed the most technologically advanced and sexy gadget ever - no doubt. But if you pay attention, dear Reg Reader, you'll notice how clever Apple are - as a business: a) No FM radio, so you cannot listen to one second of free music or talk radio - and perhaps even discover some music to purchase on iTunes. And even if there WAS a radio to discover said music on, b) you cannot as yet purchase music on the iPhone, you still need iTunes on a Mac or PC. c) The lack of a removable battery is a major flaw for mission critical applications, where you may need to swap out on the fly. What if the battery fails altogether? (As happened with two in my MacBook?) I type this listening to the radio on my N95 8G after having used the 5MP auto focus camera to take some nice pics that I can upload to Flickr at the click of a button. I so wanted iPhone 2, but it's simply a shopping machine - not a do it all device. Apple? For iPhone 3, I want a) Home/Today screen, like Windows Mobile and Symbian (all your tasks, apps etc on home screen), b) Stereo Bluetooth c) FM radio d) Dock in the box, not an extra! e) 5MP auto-focus camera with dual LED flash f) VGA res video recording g) Front camera so I can video conf when phone is mounted on the dash in the car (with auto switch off of incoming video to avoid distracting driver.) h) Faster wireless, such as 7.2MB HSDPA so I can download content quickly and enjoy faster SatNav operation. Then, I can shop AND have useful device! (Disclaimer: iPhone is brilliant, but not good enough for us one gadget is enough Europeans.) Good Steve because I feel guilty being negative.
O2 (no matter what else anyone might say) - thankyou.
Apple (ditto) - thankyou.
Thankyou thankyou thankyou.... for actually keeping your word and pricing fairly and to a correct uk/us pricing rate.
To those deeply irritating people who always respond to Brits who complain about the grossly unfair pricing with "don't buy it then", i do believe this is a case of - we didnt - now watch what happens when you actually price properly.
You deserve all the success you will get.
Paris - because even could get that they were ripping us off before.
What about O2's pay as you go prices for the handset and tariff ???
How much data is actually used by the average iphone user a month? 1 Gb, 3 Gb?
So would it be cheaper to buy an iphone handset on Pay & Go and then swap it for, say, a £10/month for 1Gb of 3G with Three ?? As an existing 3 USB modem user I can currently get another SIM with 1Gb of 3G for only £5/month ! I'm not interested in voice!
There is also a "SIM unlocker" device which only costs £15 and supposedly works with the original iphone ... so might work with the new iphone as well ... hmm, many possibilities for cheap iphone service me wonders 8-)
On the basis that O2 were (or were nearly) fined by Ofcom for not rolling out their 3G network quickly enough, one has to wonder just how much of O2's network runs at HSDPA speeds.
Maybe they're just beiong truthful about having by far the worst 3G network in the UK.
Paris, 'cos she's slow too.
I think it's just because different networks have deployed different HSDPA features so while some go to 7.2Mbps (e.g. UK Voda) others will only go to 1.8Mbps. Nowhere have I seen any details on the iPhone capability, so I would assume that it's not particularly quick (1.8 or maybe even 1.2)
The biggest change is that O2 say they will have a pay-as-you-go option, though they haven't said how much it will cost for either the phone or the data. Jobs supposedly said that the worldwide maximum price for the 8GB iPhone will be $199, but I wouldn't be surprised if they weasel out of that.
If you bought your iPhone 1 in the past month, you can get a free (probably with a renewed contract) iPhone 2 replacement. If you've had it longer than that, you might as well get comfortable with it. I'm so glad I went for the n95. So much free software to download and install, accelerometer and gps as standard and a top of the range camera!
"Didnt Jobs say the iPhone 2.0 will be $9.99 for iPod touch owners?"
That's a software upgrade - just gives the touch (or iphone 1.0) the ability to open Works/Office files, improved calculator, better email client etc - it doesn't give you a whole iphone or hardware upgrades for 3G/GPS.
iPhone will be available on P&G... it's on the o2 website.
As an o2 P&G user, this is good news for me. The handset prices are very competitive for P&G customers, who typically have to forget about having the latest and greatest handsets or else pay huge sums of cash to get them... if they are available. I fancied an iPhone Mk.1, but not on the original terms. This will give me the phone I want without paying fortunes to get it.
Why are they doing this? Well, there will be quite a few older iPhones being upgraded, and this gives them a new lease of life. Secondly, the gold rush is over. Most people who were prepared to pay full whack for an iPhone AND sign up to an expensive contract have done so. Think of the teenage market for this. Sign your kid up to a premium contract and pay £269 for a phone? Eh, no! But for £99 and a P&G sim, happy parents and happy kids. Beats an iPod touch!
Roll on July 11th...
I'm taking a road trip across the US this summer, and will be in town on July 11th... of course, you've got to sign a 2 year contract to get your grubby mitts on the new phone, so I think I'll keep an eye on eBay and snap up a mark 1 from an Apple fanboy that's upgrading.
The new model doesn't strike me as that impressive- the GPS isn't really GPS (it's 'assisted'- i.e. using cell towers and the like) and if anything it looks a bit worse than the old model. 3G, sure, but I've only got a limited use for that. EDGE will be enough to download my (text) e-mails and such.
Now, if it had a better camera with video or something like that, I'd be interested.
By all means have strong opinions, but is it too much to ask that you actually have some idea of the facts?
@everyone: isn't it better than a kick in the teeth that the iPhone 2.0 is cheaper here than in the US (£99 inc. VAT = $193 ex. sales tax) and the £35 tariff has remained the same while AT&T increased the US one by $10? I know, I'm not leaping from the rooftops either but it is as I say better than a kick in the teeth. O2? You done alright.
@Andy Kay: it's free for iPhone 1.0 owners. Only iPod Touch users need to pay, if they want it. Why would O2 be bothered?
@Tim Spence: they did, which was in the article and on O2's website hours earlier.
@Jamie: what part of the iPhone SDK and being able to add applications, many of which are free, are you struggling with?
@Matt Clark: you will find that the £100 you're being asked to pay on the £35 tariff works out cheaper than the extra £10 a month you'd need to pay over 18 months to get a "free" phone.
@Peter Batten: so get the £35 contract! The £30 tariff is new and obviously aimed at people who don't chat but want the email.
@Wonderkid: a) iTunes STORE has been available on the iPhone for at least 6 months. No PC needed. b) have you noticed how all the battery bleaters shut up? How you are the only person to bring this up in this thread, when last year at the 1.0 announcement this was the most prominent objection? That is because it turned out to be a non-issue. It also makes for a smaller device. c) clearly you want an N95 or N96. Or a Japanese phone. You like phones that tick all the boxes. Fair enough. iPhone fans like phones that are a pleasure to use. Also fair enough. We're in different markets.
Be a hater if you want but come on, take the 30 seconds to make sure you have your facts straight.
Might be a little clue on the o2 website on PAYG prices. If you look at the business tariffs, there is a Best For Business PAYU, which is a minimum line rental, no minutes type option.
On this, the phones are 85+VAT and 135 plus VAT (i.e. £99 and £159 inclusive). Here's the sucker punch, though.
The iPhone "Bolt-On", the data pack which actually makes the thing useful is £15 plus VAT, or £17.63 on top of that.
I suspect o2 will pull a similar type of stunt on PAYG. I'm guessing £200 or £250 for the phone (the above deal does include 11.91 plus VAT line rental on a 24 month tariff). The killer will be a £15 or £20 pm pack to activate the data, at which point the £35 tariff with 600 mins and 500 texts and a cheaper phone will look quite attractive.
"Apple have developed the most technologically advanced and sexy gadget ever - no doubt."
Err... no. Sexiest maybe- especially compared to anything that Nokia make. But not the most technologically advanced, even for phones. Except in display (and the resultant improvements in UI you couldn't do without multitouch). For introducing multitouch phone displays they should be applauded- but it's not THAT impressive and certainly not a massive leap over similarly sized, similarly specced smartphone PDA things that have been out for a while. Hell, my phone's a little bulkier but it's been out for like 2 years now and it's got everything the iPhone2 has built in*. And I can use it on any network and it's got a built in hardware keyboard!
*Technically. The GPS chips' aerial pins have been inexplicably shorted to a groundplane on the PCB but it IS there so if I could be bothered I'd probably be able to get it working again! Also, no multitouch. Though you don't need it with the power of click-and-hold and context-sensitive buttons!
Mines' the one with "Autostereoscopic mobiles phones with eyetracking FTW!" on it in large, incredibly geekiness-enhancing, script.
#1 - 9.99 is for the software upgrade, not the device!
16gb "more storage that you'll need for music"? The half of my music library on this PC is 54gb, the rest on the server is double that.
And, I shall not be buying an iPhone until I can install apps I have written which did not cost me a Mac, ADC membership and other licensing fees. Eclipse FTW.
Nice to see Apple got off their high-horse and decided to follow the market instead of trying to tell it what was going to happen. Wonder if O2 still have to pay part of the monthly fee to Apple?
at least the Apps are now much more like it. worth another $10 for iTouch users? I think THIS time its worth the $10 for the upgrade. the iPhone 2.0 hardware is much more like it...but as others have said, its still not in the same general gadget league as other devices on the market - it has a big touch screen and thats pretty much it.
also note, they are restricting, still, what Apps can run on what network - and if you get O2, Orange etc they wont let you throw VOIP willy-nilly on the 3G.
unlike eg 3 - who let people use the data network.
I'm getting one as soon as I can, as are many of the guys at work - the pricing is just too good for a device of that quality. Its a great platform to write apps for (already got a touch), hopefully the jailbreak wont be too long away.
As for current iphone owners being shafted, how many low-value N95 contract-holders got free upgrades to the N96? People expect too much, if you didn't want to pay early adopter prices and tie yourself to an 18 month contract, then perhaps you shouldn't have. Moaning at O2/Apple for not prostrating themselves infront of you for having the temerity to make a new device is just pathetic.
£30 a month and £99
in Ireland it;s free and all you have to do is sign up to a €100 (£79) a month 18 month contract.
My next phone is a dial sim Unlocked smart phone with built in qwerty keyboard and analog TV tuner on eBay from Hong Kong
Hand in pocket cos yet again the Mobile companies screw the little guy.
Didnt bother with the first one, as i'm not an apple fan......
... a little more interested in the V2 tho.
Here in the Uk it's due to be released on July 11th. Anyone know the release date in the USA??? (i'm off there in a few weeks, and would give me a chance to at least play with it... :) )
Paul
First O2 adjusted the tariffs and passed on the better deals to people on an existing contract. Now a brand new model phone came out and they are allowing a 'free' upgrade 8 months in on an 18 month contract. And people are still whinging about it!? When has another network provider done anything like that?
It's the most useable phone I've ever had since 1986, if I had to pay I don't think I would have upgraded yet as the current one is just fine but since they are offering I am more than happy restarting an 18 month contract at £45/month.
Paris because she support Holland in Euro 2008
I have one question. Which provider are all you anti-iPhone users signed up to? I want to hear more about this mythical telco that as far as I can gather offers free monthly subscriptions.
I only say this since practicallly every negative comment ever posted regarding the iPhone mentions the subscription. In fact I'm surprised that so far on here no-one seems to have done that marvellous mathematical trick of multiplying it by 18 and pointing out that you could supposedly get an N95 and ... uh.. stare at it sittting there flashing up 'Error contacting Network' for less.
And as for PAYG customers: Fantastic. So your point is - you don't use a phone very often. Thanks for your input. You know the intertubes have other pages and other websites, right? Some of those talk about [insert area of interest here].
I am an early adopter and I will certianly be upgrading to the 3G version, more for the GPS core location services hopefully being exploited by TomTom, and the 3G speed increase although O2 complete and utter lack of coverage is still an issue (it can only get better can't it?)
Like most users, I'd certianly usualy balk at upgradign a phone that is only 8 months old, but I have little or no compunction in this case, I find subjectively that the iPhone is that good and I am more productive with one than with any other phone I've tried. Now to try and get work to allow me to use my phone to get my works mail. :D
Not exactly. There is a PAYG version, so you'll end up paying full whack for the handset like last year but no contract to sign - being PAYG.
Take home, unlock. Also, if the contract phone is a gift - you can still do the process at home. There's an official apple doc over on Macrumours ;)
The reason that iPhone users are being allowed to upgrade early is presumably because their original handset purchase wasn't subsidised, so their current 18 month contract isn't actually offsetting any initial cost for O2; they are able to make this goodwill gesture without having to "write-off" any subsidy.
It was somewhat of an outrageous business model in the first place really - no handset subsidy and yet still an 18 month contract, and I think the shear number of people who jailbroke their iPhone 1.0 (many who were using O2 anyway) without activating an iPhone contract sent Apple/O2 the message that it wasn't an acceptable model to the majority of their potential customers in the UK.
Fortunately they seem to have taken notice as we are now seeing reasonably competitive subsidies, as well as an effective u-turn on the "no subsidy + contract" thinking around iPhone 1.0 (for those choosing to take advantage of the early upgrade offer at least). It remains to be seen whether this change, along with the rest of the improvements coming in the new model will be enough to earn Apple a more significant chunk of the mobile phone pie - the enterprise support at least should make it seriously viable as a Blackberry alternative.
I haven't seen a single iphone in person.
none of my friends have one.
none of my work mates have one.
not even the gadget geek in the corner that spends all his free time with his lcd glasses on watching movies.
I haven't even seen one while I am out on the streets in town.
Paris because you can see her in every town
To be fair, this is the same problem every early adopter ever has, and wasn't exactly hard to predict at the time
re: The Magic Telco: for what it's worth, I'm on Orange, and pay 20 quid a month for substatially more free stuff. Admitedly my phone is only EDGE not 3G... like the old iPhone :P
I still wouldn't buy one, coz I see the point of a multipurpose device I can't install unapproved software from, and I really can't be bothered with iTunes. But that's a question of taste. I'm certainly not holding back because of price, contract price, or phone features, which is a change from version 1.
"the GPS isn't really GPS (it's 'assisted'- i.e. using cell towers and the like)"
Sweet merciful jeebus. Is there some new law that people are only allowed to write stuff on the intertubes if they don't understand what they are wittering on about?
GPS - magic chip that works out where it is from listening to satellites. Can take ages to work out where it is from a cold start in poor signal conditions. In the original versions of the N95 and much better than the mast triangulation of Jesus Phone 1.0
Assisted GPS - aforementioned magic chip, PLUS witchcraft to speed up working out where it is from a cold start (by asking the phone mast 'roughly where am I?'). Much better than plain GPS. In later versions of the N95.
So in the hardware GPS stakes Jesus Phone 2.0 is pretty much the same as the latest N95, and they are both pretty much as good as you will get without buying a dedicated GPS unit.
Please move fanboy squabbles to the topic of mapping software, where there are probably some actual differences to twist knickers over.
"the GPS isn't really GPS (it's 'assisted'- i.e. using cell towers and the like) "
Alastair,
A-GPS is *better* than GPS, as it uses cell towers AS WELL as GPS... so when you are indoors, or surrounded by tall buildings or trees you can still get some kind of a location.
A penguin because Reg won't publish this comment anyway as I'm about 24 hours too late so I can put whatever I want. I'm talking to myself. Baaaaaa.
Steve
"I was an early adopter of the first generation iPhone and paid £269 for it on the day of release. I've been spending about £50 a month (based on a £35 contract with insurance)"
Er, you're giving other iPhone users a bad name.
The deal was that if you break an iPhone 1.0 you buy another one and it goes back on the same contract - it costs £270
If you take the insurance, at £15 a month, for 18 months and then break it - they give you one for free, and the insurance only cost you.. er.. £270.
I did the maths in the CPW shop, didn't seem like a good deal...
Cheers,
Martin.
Just to clarify, this time round, the 3G iPhone release is July 11 in all countries (same in Europe as in the US). Yes the GPS is better than any GPS on any other phone as it hs:
1. latest GPS hardware chip
2. ability to triangulate among WIFI towers
3. ability to triangulate among cell towers
Again, no other phone has all 3 with the smarts to integrate all 3
Firstly can all the folk asking the really flipping blindingly obvious questions do the same as the rest of us and visit www.o2.co.uk or www.apple.com.
Well done to the guy whos never seen an iPhone, congrats. You want a prize? Or are you actually having a dig at a product you've never seen let alone used??? Weird. I've seen plenty, and in the states on holiday they were everywhere. Personally like most folk mines in a cover so you probably wouldn't be able to spot it if you wanted to. Perhaps iPhone users aren't the type to go around shouting down their phone "HELLO, YES.. I'M ON MY IPHONE... ITS GREAT"??
MMS? What for? Its got free email. That'd be FREE. How much does the average MMS message cost to send? My old phone was about 50p a pop.
Anonymous Coward whos so upset that he can't write apps without buying a Mac. Maybe I'm missing the point, does the N95 come with a built in development platform? No, think it needs a PC which last time I checked costs money. If you DID buy a Mac then you would be able to write your wonderful apps and have then distributed, Worldwide, by Apple, for FREE if you choose to. Can't see Nokia, Blackberry or Microsoft doing that for you.
Paris, because shes clueless, like quite a few folk who post on iPhone threads.
First off, thanks Mr Johnson for a polite and structured response to the eager posters whose fingers work faster than their grey matter.
Secondly, as an iPhone user, I have had the time to work around the majority of the issues. Natural exceptions are hardware ones. MMS etc all possible with FREE 3rd party apps. Jailbreak phone, install 'Installer' and download free apps and tweaks to your heart's content. 3G and GPS can't be 'installed', and it took a Belkin adapter to fit non-apple headphones into the silly, recessed jack. The Firmware 2.0 improvements sound great and I have never needed a download so flipping fast that EDGE just wouldn't do.
Personally, 2.0 on my iPhone should do and I would encourage existing users to try this option for a while before shelling out for the new one.
Lastly, iLiberty and Zibri both do an excellent job of activating, unlocking and jailbreaking the iPhone so all the talk of expensive contracts fall flat. It took me 15 mins to download both apps, run the three steps to a free iPhone and stick my SIM card into the phone. I've been using it for months now without any network issues so do stop agonising over the plans.
Unlike many commenters here, I've gone and read the O2 site ...
... yes, if you bought the first generation iPhone then you can get a 2nd generation at the same price as new customers ... sounds terrible until
1) it gets you out of the rest of your initial 18 month contract
2) you *can* choose to go to the £30 tariff (as I understand it)
3) you get to keep your v1 iPhone and stick a PAYG SIM in it
4) you can keep, sell or give your v1 iPhone to a family member, friend or stranger in the street (hint, I would *love* one if you don't have a more worthy recipient!)
So you get the 2nd Gen iPhone and just have to sign up for the new 18 month contract starting straight away (you have until October 11th to take up this offer), and you don't have to pay anything else for your 1st Gen iPhone (contract ended with no penalty and you get to keep the phone and put it on PAYG if you want)
Sounds like a fantastic offer, and yet people still moan ....
To Ofcom:
OK, if O2 has been fined for 3G naughty haughtiness perhaps the next inspection could run on lines of "Ok O2, second strike on poor 3G, a bit of a monopoly on the iPhone therefore give your customers a 75% rebate. As customers paid 100% in currency it will be good for O2 to deliver to 100% in technology"
To O2:
Don't compromise your customers and get on with it (3G and iPhone functionality that is in this case).
To Apple:
If UK based O2 do the dirty take the contract somewhere else (anyone but Orange?)
To me:
Must get iPhone, possibly two. Fearing terrible contracts and constraints from O2 and massive unlocking potential somewhere down the line.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2023
