iPhone 4 launch day

Just before 8:00 a huge cheer went up round the corner at the front of the store…

We were still around the corner so had no idea what was happening, but shortly after 8 we started moving. There were 2 queues one for reserved devices and one for “pot-luck”. Fortunately we had reserved our devices and our queue was moving a lot faster.

Just after 9:30 we had moved onto Regent St and could see the Apple flag flying above the doors, and yet another queue to get in the store. 9:45 saw us in the door leaving the heat of the street behind, for the air conditioned interior.

Apple are selling both PAYG and contract iPhones as well as upgrades for existing users. Bearing in mind the length of the queues and the fact that they had not turned any of the pot-luck people away the chances are that they have plenty of stock.

This is not the case in other outlets as we are hearing of a lot of disappointed buyers at O2 and other outlets where stock has been as low as 25 iPhones. This was a scenario we were expecting and is why we pre-ordered ours.

We are now snaking around the glass staircase waiting our turn. Looks like we will not get them before midday. Apparently the reason for this is that the POS hand terminals keep crashing. About time they moved from Windows Mobile to iPod Touch devices like the US.

Apple iPhone iOS4 upgrade live

In a slightly unusual move Apple have released the iPhone OS update before the new devices hit the stores. Normally it is the other way round.

iTunes is offering Apple's iOS 4 for upgrade.

iOS 4 contains over 100 improvements, but the headliners are MultiTasking, Application Folders, Improved Mail App, and iBooks. Apps taking advantage of these new features started appearing in the Apple AppStore over the last few days, and now they will be eligible for downloading and installing onto your updated iPhone.

Vodafone iPhone 4 pricing confirmed

The iPhone 4 handset will cost £219 and there will be 18 and 24 month contracts. The 18 month contract will cost £30 per month with 75 minutes of calls, 250 text messages, and 1Gb of data. Although this works out at £10 more than the equivalent O2 contract with less calls and texts it does offer double the data. If you do go over the O2 500Mb limit just once then the Vodafone contract becomes cheaper.

Buying the iPhone on a 24 month contract does not change the handset price, but does drop the monthly charge to £25, making it cheaper than the O2 24 month iPhone 4 contract.

Click here to view the official UK Vodafone iPhone 4 pricing page.

iPhone 4 price comparisons

Each time Apple releases a new iPhone I ask myself is buying it on contract the wise thing to do? If you are in the USA you have no choice it is AT&T signing your life away for 2 years: End Of!

It used to be like that in the UK too, but with the iPhone 3GS PAYG was introduced and that changed the game. Still on O2 and the iPhone was locked to the O2 network. But then O2 lost its monopoly and other carriers got in on the act. The result is that with the launch of the iPhone 4 we will have 4 carriers available and the iPhone will be available both on contract and SIM free.

So with all these options available what is the best way to own an iPhone 4? Read on to find out…

Well firstly you have to make a decision about how long you want to own it! That may sound a bit silly, but if you are like me you will be wanting the iPhone 5 (or whatever) in 12 months time. This means that I will have to suffer a penalty for early upgrade (if they will allow it) or as I did last year take the hit and have another contract until the old one expires.

I have costed out the options below for the full term of the contract on the assumption that you will have to pay them. Ownership for more than one year will change the costings, but even so the SIM free option would still be just £679 with no ties for 18 months.

As you can see it gets complicated and there are quite a few decisions to be made. So lets start looking at a comparison of Contract and PAYG iPhones. I make the assumption that you will select the lowest voice tariff, as nobody buys an iPhone to make voice calls…

The table below is based on the 16Gb iPhone 4:

T-Mobile and 3 are yet to declare, but from the looks of things if you want an iPhone 5 then getting an iPhone 4 SIM FREE is the way to go.

In my case things are slightly more complicated.

I still have 6 months to go on my current O2 contract. I can get an early upgrade, but that will cost me £100 and I will then still have to pay £209 for the new phone on an 18 month contract. Then I have to pay for the airtime £540 total cost for me to upgrade to iPhone 4 is £849.

So what if I let my existing contract continue: SIM Free iPhone 4 £499, £30 a month for 12 months (with unlimited data as I am not changing the contract) Total cost £859 and I get to keep unlimited data and can upgrade to iPhone 5 for no penalty…

Or alternatively I can let my existing contract run out then switch to PAYG. SIM Free iPhone 4 £499, £30 a month for 6 months £180, £10 for 6 months £60 Total cost £739 and no ties.

Conclusion:
If you are looking to get an iPhone 5 next year and you dont talk a lot on the phone then which ever way you look at it PAYG works out best. If you have an existing iPhone 3GS contract with 6 months or more to go then things get more marginal. I suspect that I will be opting for the SIM Free and letting my contract run out.