iPhone 4/5/6 tariffs/purchasing (any phone shop assistants here?)

I’m looking to get a smart phone (my first) and it will be an iPhone as I love my MacBook and the software should all sync up easily (so please don’t reply if that’s a problem!). I keep looking around and putting it off and I’m now confused!

I’m sure any of the phones would do the job, but I am struggling with tariffs and purchase prices. I am very happy with Vodafone for the network (reliability and signal), however, I’ve had the same tariff for 4 years now as their new tariffs are rubbish compared to the competition.

The 5s seems too close to the 6s prices (both on contract and buying outright). The 4s seems to have disappeared (I would have been happy with one of those I think). Not keen on second-hand as I can’t afford a dud or for one to break out of warranty. Refurbished seem nearly the same as new, and some places are charging more than Apple!

I have no idea how much data I will use. Maybe not much, as I will use wi-fi mostly? Just want to access my calendar, email, notes, and take pics of reference materials for viewing on my mac later, that sort of thing.

I’m thinking buying a 5s from Apple and a sim-only plan with Vodafone might be my best bet, but open to suggestions? The phone companies don’t seem to want to help, they used to negotiate but not anymore!

Used 5s and sim only. Wouldn’t buy a new 5s with the 6 out.

**** Vodafone if you want a Smartphone, they’re great for phone calls but shit for data.

Don’t know much about the scope of the market or what your needs are but I just picked up a 5c (16GB) with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 10GB data for £32/month on ee. The unlimited minutes and texts can be used within and to Europe too which suits my needs perfectly and saves me a lot of money or the hassle of getting throw away sims for travelling.

they used to negotiate but not anymore!

Not true! You just need to be able to take an already good offer from one place to the second place and say “give me a reason to buy this from you instead of them”

My deal above was (is?) a short term offer ee are running (tarrif normally £45/month) with the iphone 6 coming out, so I took that offer from ee to Carphone Warehouse, they paid the first month, gave me some cashback and threw in some accessories so all in all I left pretty happy.

There’s nothing really special about an iphone IMO. It’s a phone. Most of the android phones are pretty comparable these days. I’d pick the tariff first and see what you can get on it or what phone takes your fancy… but then I am just boring like that 😀

If you have the cash go sim free then chose a nice cheap deal on the SIM – giffgaff or three are probably your best bets, giffgaff is more flexible and cheaper, three better for more data

Not true! You just need to be able to take an already good offer from one place to the second place and say “give me a reason to buy this from you instead of them

I did try that with Vodafone…even after 15 years as a customer they told me there wasn’t anything they could do in terms of price. Might try the carphone warehouse though.

Here’s an example, EE are offering sim only 5s…£519 + £10 top-up. Apple sell the 5s for £459 with a £15 EE top-up 😕

Unless anyone knows of anywhere cheaper for a NEW iPhone 5s I may just stump up for this from Apple and get a sim only plan. Don’t fancy second hand (happy with refurbished from Apple, but that’s all). Which leaves data…do I really need a lot of data? What is a lot? Most places I need the internet I have wifi. I won’t download stuff, just browse the web, and even then, only for directions, emails, etc. Got the MacBook for serious browsing/netflix etc. Is 1GB plenty?

If you have the cash go sim free then chose a nice cheap deal on the SIM – giffgaff or three are probably your best bets, giffgaff is more flexible and cheaper, three better for more data

I do, would rather dip into that than have a huge monthly bill to be honest. £20 a month would be double what I pay now, so don’t want to be paying £40 or £50 a month!

Will shop around for sim-only deals, might make it easier to decide.

I did try that with Vodafone…even after 15 years as a customer they told me there wasn’t anything they could do in terms of price. Might try the carphone warehouse though.

The networks won’t do too much for you, true. Get the best offer and take it to someone like carphone warehouse (it is a shame phones4u closed as they loved doing a deal).

Here’s an example, EE are offering sim only 5s…£519 + £10 top-up. Apple sell the 5s for £459 with a £15 EE top-up

It sounds like you don’t want to pay too much so why are you looking at the 5s? Why not a 5c? Or dare I say it a £100-150 android handset? What is the extra £100-300 getting you? I personally rather have the minutes and data but everyone has different needs.

Most places I need the internet I have wifi. I won’t download stuff, just browse the web, and even then, only for directions, emails, etc. Got the MacBook for serious browsing/netflix etc. Is 1GB plenty?

I survived on 500MB for 2 years although now I am grateful for the extra data. I use the phone to set up a hotspot for the laptop when travelling for work for example which is super helpful when you need to get some information or files but have no wifi. There’s lots of little things like that which having data opens up, but of course you can survive more than fine without too much. Going back to less data is the hard bit!

If you aren’t sure how you’ll use a smartphone then a 5s seems like an expensive introduction 😕

Mostly want to stick with Apple because I am so happy with the MacBook and Apple TV, and also don’t want the hassle of new software/syncing stuff to the Mac. I know the iPhone will just have everything I need on it and sync without me having to anything. I mostly use Apple software on the Mac, so it makes sense for me to stay with Apple.

Not considered the 5c to be honest. Will take a look. And I will pop-in to Carphone warehouse tomorrow and see what I can get out of them!

Thanks.

5c only has 8gb capacity – don’t do it its a toy

Mobile data from giffgaff is very flexible, £7.50 for 250mb; £10 for 1gb and £12 unlimited, you buy by the month so easy to up it if you need more.
Three has free data roaming in France, Italy…. well worth it if you holiday in europe
As for what you need, 1gb should be plenty for your described use

Just add up the overall cost for 2 years of ownership. You will find they are pretty much all the same. Slightly cheaper for the older models, slightly cheaper for low call and data quantities. Only thing I would recommend is going for a low data plan as most places have wifi or the 3G connection is so bad it’s not worth using.

What is scary is how much it does add up to.

was gonna buy a 5s , ended up getting a 6 (64gb) £619 against £550 for the 5s

EE 4g super sim, 12 month contract, £10 month for 6 months, then £20 for last 6 (£15 average)

2000 mins, unlimited texts, 5 gb data

that’ll do me

OP, the 5S is a very good phone. If you can get one for a decent discount to the new 6 then go for it other get a 6. You should check you are ok with the slighly larger size of the 6, I have one on order and am looking forward to larger screen as my 4S is used mainly for email/messaging and web browsing.

I have a 12 month sim only contract from 3-mobile, £15/month unlimited data ample minutes/texts and free 4G when I am in range.

Three’s payg is 3p/min 2p/text 1p/MB

Thanks all,

Had a look at phones today. A quick chat with the assistant and I think the 5c would be a better buy than the 4s now (for the same money)? I liked it as well, felt nice in the hand. The 5s is still a bit too close to the 6 price, which is too expensive and too large for my liking.

The 5c, however, is affordable outright and I could then go for a sim only deal. All those mentioned above look like good deals to me and if the service is rubbish I would be free to swap. Also I’d buy direct from Apple, so know I’ll get good service and warranty with it. £319 isn’t bad for a camera, satnav, and organiser that also makes calls 😛

The only thing that had me a little hesitant was Tims comment about the 8GB memory. This is the same as the 4s that’s available in CPW, and also the Nokia Lumia, Kestrel, and other similar phones. Is this enough for satnav, emailing, reading PDF’s, saving pics until I upload them to my Mac, etc? I’ll not be gaming, producing documents, downloading movies etc.

I’m dusting the cheque book off and planning a drive to the Apple store as we speak 😛

I’d think long and hard before going with only 8GB. You’ll have to be VERY prudent. I’ve just upgraded to the iPhone 6, I’ve got no photos, no music and 2 screen’s worth of apps. Quite a lot of work emails to be fair but it’s already just over 8 gig. With the 16GB 4S I had before I was usually pretty close to running out of space

Just want to access my calendar, email, notes, and take pics of reference materials for viewing on my mac later, that sort of thing.

Conversely I’d argue 8GB is ginormous relative to the OP’s needs. 2 years ago if you had 1GB you were fairly happy so I think some people’s expectations of a phone are a little out of hand. It does depend how you use your phone though and if your expectation is that you carry every music track you’ve every owned with you then yes it is too small (I have 25GB of music for example which is nothing compared to some people). That isn’t my expectation from a phone though and either use Spotify or would have my laptop/ ipod with me if on a longer trip requiring more distractions. I don’t think it is too much of a worry for the OP

Also worth noting that the 5c isn’t just available in 8gb flavour.

4S 16GB supplied by work.
Photo’s and music plus few apps and I’m nearly full. Tried compression on music but lost quality was noticable.
I find Adobe Pdf reader is pants on an Iphone.

I’m not an iPhone user, but a smartphone user, and 8Gb sounds like a lot but it really isn’t that much storage. Actual space will be about 5Gb.

16Gb would be an absolute minimum, 32Gb would be better and you wouldn’t be watching what you install or sync.

Looks like I may have found a deal on a 5s with 32GB. It’s with EE, 2 years, £19.99pm, Plus £249 for the handset. That’s for 1000mins and 1GB of data.

Or I could get the 5c 32GB for £149 on the same deal. Guess it’ll come down to which one I prefer in my hand to be honest. The 5c is tempting though.

Seems pretty good (more than I need for what I can afford). Vodafone may have lost a customer, their tariffs are pants and not prepared to budge!

Thanks for the advice above, I’ll see what CPW can do to beat this deal in store today.

m360 – Member
Vodafone may have lost a customer, their tariffs are pants and not prepared to budge!

The thing is, you mention above paying £10/month for your current Voda contract and in all honesty you probably aren’t worth keeping as a customer to them.
I was in the same boat with T-Mobile and they wouldn’t budge on a decent upgrade deal, so i went with Three through buymobilephones.net
Even when I rang them and said “this is the deal I’m thinking of swapping to”, they couldn’t even get close let alone match it.

They want people who are stumping up £30-40 a month and spanking all the extras.
A mate of mine was telling me what a great upgrade he got on his contract, and that he was now saving £12/month compared to his old tariff and got a new iPhone thrown in. But his new tariff is something like £36/month, so he must have been paying £48/month on his old tariff!
I pay £18/month; got a decent Xperia phone for free, 300 mins, 5000 texts and unlimited data. The thought of paying £35-45/month on a phone is crazy to me.

@m360 – as you have the other Apple kit definitely get the iPhone – it works really well with apple tv, midweek mini movies will never be the same again (either stream to atv or click watch later on vimeo and then access directly, get the remote app and control the atv from your phone). Also get in the habit of connecting to mac/iTunes once a week to back up, I also tend to do app downloads onto the Mac and defintely update the iOS that way (far less issues than the OTA – over the air / wifi updates), get your icloud setup and link to/create youtube/vimeo accounts so you can share content/subscriptions.

Do not get a 4s – too old (I am replacing mine, its been a great phone but not worth getting a new one)
I have found 16gb to be enough (1500 photos, 500 songs, 30 apps lots of emails) but some do not.
My grown up kids have 5c’s – they like them (plastic is nice to hold) and just manage the storage capacity – it does mean iOS updates must be done via comuter but that’s better anyway.

The EE deal with 1GB data IMO is a bit tight, get unlimited data would be my suggestion unless you are going to use mainly wifi (work / home )

Where did you find the deal on EE? My girlfriend is thinking of switching to them and isn’t worried bout having the latest phone.

£35-45/month on a phone

@stumpy it’s not really a phone though is it, it is so much more. Plus the OP has a mac and Apple TV so he’ll get fantastic connectivity and interaction between the devices.

4S 16GB supplied by work.
Photo’s and music plus few apps and I’m nearly full. Tried compression on music but lost quality was noticable.
I find Adobe Pdf reader is pants on an Iphone

@Basil – here is my phone data
16GB phone 3GB unused
Music 3.6gb – about 550 songs, that’s a lot of music and most of it I never listen to
Photos 2.2GB about 1500 photos
Apps about 35 I recall
Other – I have quite a lot of email attachments and lots of documents in iBooks
I don’t keep movies on phone normally but a full length HD fim is about 1gb

I use iBooks to read PDFs, works fine for me.

I’d think long and hard before going with only 8GB.

Plus one. I’m finding it a management exercise on 16Gb, and I don’t have that many apps or much music/photos, basically favourites only. Especially true if you want to do iOS updates over the air, as you seem to need 5x the free space actually required .. but can be done by sync cable instead.

Vodafone always seem to be unpopular here, and they aren’t the cheapest deal you’ll get but there is very little in it for iPhone tariffs. I’ve stuck with them as their data and voice actually is the best bet at home (I’ve tried a few networks.. the mast sharing doesn’t seem to be quite there yet as they are still better for me) PLUS and this is a biggy if you are looking high end contract, if your company use Vodafone you can probably get a 20% discount via VEAP.

FWIW – I worked out a GiffGaff, buy outright iPhone 6 64Gb with a £15 monthly goody bag was £100 cheaper over two years for the closest Vodafone deal, and GiffGaff gave unlimited data for that money. If you can 0% the initial phone cost on a card it seems the best deal, but I wasn’t getting great coverage with them sadly – you can get a free SIM to check.

EDIT: Sorry that’s actually ‘only’ 5Gb data. Still 1gb more than the Vf offer. I included VEAP in my sums too so I maybe be digging the SIM out and retrying GiffGaff if Vf won’t move or offerme something like combining my wofes data allowance with my new one.

@brassneck – I would be interested to see your breakdown (form iTunes with more detail). I have managed fine on 16gb phone. My iPad is 64gb and will all my music, many 1000’s of photos and 7 or 8 full length HD movies plus apps, lots of meails and many pdf files and ebooks I still have spare space and I have never filled it up over the 4 years I have had it.

Roughly (it’s a work phone, can’t go into too much detail)

iPhone 5 – 16Gb total

Music 6.7gb (128kbps my hearing has been ruined by playing in bands)
Video – 82.3 Mb
Largest app Viewranger (don’t tell anyone :-)) – 250Mb, One Note 200 ish.

11.3Gb used, 1.9Gb available. So actually around 13Gb usable on a 16Gb phone.

So yeah, I could drop a bit of music but I’d still say 8Gb is too tight now.
It won’t upgrade over the air without 4.7Gb free, and the larger memory phones seem to hold their resale value better due to ‘size creep’ whether real or imagined.

jambalaya – Member

£35-45/month on a phone

@stumpy it’s not really a phone though is it, it is so much more. Plus the OP has a mac and Apple TV so he’ll get fantastic connectivity and interaction between the devices.

Talk about selective editing….
What I said was:

The thought of paying £35-45/month on a phone is crazy to me

which means exactly that. I wouldn’t want to pay that much on a phone. I don’t have a mac or apple tv to connect to and everything I do want to do, I can do on my phone for a fraction of the cost.
My post got a bit rambling and was perhaps not entirely relevant to the OP’s situation, but stemmed from the fact that he was surprised by Voda not offering him a belting upgrade deal when he is only spending £10/month with them. You have to be spending a lot more to get a decent upgrade.

@stumpy, the point I was trying to make is today’s phones offer so much and going back 10 years we where paying £30+ for a contract. Apologies if you thought it was selective editing. I got my first iPhone (a 3) maybe 5 years ago and tried to go back to Nokia/Blackberry and I hated it.

jambalaya – Member

@stumpy, the point I was trying to make is today’s phones offer so much and going back 10 years we where paying £30+ for a contract. Apologies if you thought it was selective editing. I got my first iPhone (a 3) maybe 5 years ago and tried to go back to Nokia/Blackberry and I hated it.

I must be a right tight arse, then. My current contract is the most expensive I’ve ever had, and like I said above – it’s £18/month for more calls and texts than I need and unlimited data. Plus, the phone was included and does everything I need it to (and probably more) – it was ‘the Bond phone’ doncha know?! 🙂
I can see myself hanging on to this tariff for as long as I can now and just buy myself new phones when needed as it doesn’t look like the companies are doing deals anywhere close these days.

Well phone shopping was a nightmare, spent 20mins plus in each store today, without moving any closer down any queue! That’s why I loved the Apple store so much I guess, I paid over the odds but I enjoyed the complete experience. Shame they don’t do 16GB 5c’s anymore.

Anyway, I’m going to just order one on line, as soon as VF take me off hold and give me my PAC number 🙄 Going for the 5c. I like the feel of it in my hand, and it’s £100 cheaper, so win-win for me.

U Switch was the best place I found for comparison deals though.

Thanks for the above, it helps to listen to different views. I think 16GB would be enough, but I’ll get the 32GB as it’s not much different in price (CPW must have a glut of them as they are offering free upgrade from 16GB to 32GB).

Done it, now the proud owner of a 5c 32GB 8)

Bought the phone outright from Apple Store (they had a few 32GB left in store) for £379. Then went to Vodafone who popped a sim in, gave me unlimited minutes and 1GB of data (with 3 months unlimited data test-drive) for £16.50 pm, for 12 months.

Worked out by far the cheapest way over 24 months, the phone is mine, I stayed with Vodafone, and kept my number 😀

The best part…the whole experience was typically Apple. They set the phone up in store, Vodafone put the sim in, and 15 mins later I had my first phone call on my new phone (kept the same number), my calendar was all there, my contacts, emails, the lot!

Very happy chap, and goes to show, the best deals aren’t always online, for the phone or the tariff.