The iPhone 4S
Worse than last year:
Apple doesn't seem to be doing online reservations for collection in-store this year, just SIM free online pre-orders for delivery.
Better than last year:
Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and Three have all actually put price and tariff info on their websites, and started taking pre-orders. [When the 4 was announced last year, it was days *after* Apple's pre-orders and reservations went up before *any* of the networks announced any price or tariff info]
The same as last year:
O2 has done naff all. O2's site does at least mention the 4S, but just says it's out on the 14th, no tariff info or up-front prices are given yet.
LAME
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Looking at the tariffs and prices available so far, Three looks the best to me. e.g. 24 month contract for the 16GB 4S: Three (£35, 2000 mins) gives more minutes than T-Mobile/Orange (£35.75/£36, 600 mins) and Vodafone (£36, 600 mins), and truly unlimited data (rather than 500MB like the other three). T-Mobile/Orange look next best, due to having a lower up-front cost for the phone than Vodafone. OK, Vodafone is currently offering £59 back, which brings it down to £100 upfront compared to £99 upfront with Three or £99.99 upfront with T-Mobile/Orange, but only if you pre-order today...
Of course, although Three has the best tariffs, and the best 3G network, I've only ever heard bad things about its customer service, and I know various people who'd never use Three because of its rep.
---------- Post added at 20:35 ---------- Previous post was at 18:55 ----------
If it wasn't for the bad rep, I'd switch to Three.
As it is, I think I'll switch to Tesco... if it does similar prices/tariffs to last year. Tesco Mobile was very competitive last year for the iPhone 4, and offered 12 month contracts that weren't a joke.
My current 18 month O2 contract costs £35 per month (well, £35.something 'cos of the VAT change). 300 minutes, "unlimited" SMS, and 500MB data. The upfront cost of the 16GB iPhone 4 was £179.
IIRC, the equivalent 18 month Vodafone contract at the time for the 16GB iPhone 4 was pretty much identical... but 1GB of data and an upfront cost of £169.
I stayed with O2 due to inertia and also not being too bothered by the data. Easier to just stay put.
This year, the closest 18month contract with Vodafone, for a 16GB 4S, is £36 per month, with an upfront cost of
£259, 300 minutes, "unlimited" SMS, and 500MB of data. To get a similar upfront cost as to last year, you have to either go up a tier to £41 per month, or sign up for 24 months instead of 18 months.
So, if Vodafone's offerings are worse than last year, I definitely expect O2's to be worse...
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