The iPhone thread

This is a joke considering the iPhone audience will contain many hardcore gadget fans who want the new techonology...

[Russ]

The $99 price, is that PAYG?

Doubt it...Since the PAYG price is over £300 here..

[Russ]

If they substancially dropped the PAYG price then I might be tempted to see what the fuss is about.

Prices from O2:

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html

Stupidly expensive if you commit to 18 months, better if you commit to 24. Obviously a rip off you cannot upgrade early..

---------- Post added at 21:44 ---------- Previous post was at 21:41 ----------

I just checked my contract with O2 and online it's says it expires in October 2010!!! I got this one last July, making it over 24 months..Seems like somone's added an extra year..Technical weirdness.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Damien

Prices from O2:

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html

Stupidly expensive if you commit to 18 months, better if you commit to 24. Obviously a rip off you cannot upgrade early..

That's around £900 in total!!

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Damien

It seems like O2 won't even allow upgrades unless your in the last month of your contract. Otherwise you will have to pay to terminate the contract.

But, from O2's point of view (and the point of view of any other mobile provider), that is perfectly normal...

They let people upgrade early from the original iPhone because they did not subsidise it - people paid for it outright (plus IIRC it was out in the UK less than a year before the 3G then came out, so it would have been a case of urine extraction to not allow it really).

The 3G, however, is heavily subsidised. And, like any other subsidised mobile phone, the operator recoups that subsidy by locking the customer into a long & more expensive than normal contract.

Why should O2 let people upgrade early, when they are still effectively paying O2 back for the 3G subsidy via their contract?


However, from my own point of view... I agree with you, I want to upgrade!

But not at the cost of buying out the remaining 12 months of my contract...

If I could sell my 16GB 3G (& my N95), I could put that towards a 3GS... but only if O2 let the contract renew ridiculously early for me, rather than make me buy it out... and I find that highly unlikely.

So I'll probably just have to wait until my contract expires next Summer, by which time, Apple will in all likelihood release the fourth version of the iPhone...

Originally Posted by Damien

This is a joke considering the iPhone audience will contain many hardcore gadget fans who want the new techonology...

And O2 & Apple will doubtless know that, as hardcore gadget fans and/or hardcore Apple fans, many will still shell out for it regardless...

---------- Post added at 21:56 ---------- Previous post was at 21:49 ----------

Anyway.

It's only the gadget freak in me that really wants a 3GS now... I don't actually need a better camera, or video recording, or a compass, etc. Faster processor plus better graphics... yeah, good, but not something I'm desperate for either.

I'll make do with the OS 3.0 update, which I think is going to be a major improvement itself, even for the lowly 3G.

Originally Posted by Matt D

Anyway.

It's only the gadget freak in me that really wants a 3GS now... I don't actually need a better camera, or video recording, or a compass, etc. Faster processor plus better graphics... yeah, good, but not something I'm desperate for either.

I'll make do with the OS 3.0 update, which I think is going to be a major improvement itself, even for the lowly 3G.

Same here, although I have had the 3.0 software for a while so I get no newness

[Tezcatlipoca]

Ah, you got the Beta 'cos of the Developer Programme didn't you?

Another thing about the 3GS which doesn't really bother me:

7.2Mbps HSDPA.


From my experience, O2's 3G signal in Cambridge is a bit patchy at best, so I doubt I'd benefit much from the 3GS having 7.2Mbps HSDPA... unless O2 finally upgrade their masts or whatever in my area.

Originally Posted by Matt D

Ah, you got the Beta 'cos of the Developer Programme didn't you?

Another thing about the 3GS which doesn't really bother me:

7.2Mbps HSDPA.


From my experience, O2's 3G signal in Cambridge is a bit patchy at best, so I doubt I'd benefit much from the 3GS having 7.2Mbps HSDPA... unless O2 finally upgrade their masts or whatever in my area.

Yeah,

Well the problem with speed was a lot down to the processor, 3G is often faster than handsets can cope with. So I would quite like the new hardware for that season

[punky]

I see we get shafted on the exchange rate again.

I'll probably just wait until the unlocked versions appear for sale on ebay, if the prices are reasonable enough.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Russ B

Just like my N96

And we get a better web browser...

[DocDutch]

why am I sooo drawn towards the iphone ... just a shame about the price of it ...

if I would get it it would just be as a payg phone really ...saves more money.

[haydnwalker]

I still have a non-3G iPhone and apart from the 3.0 software upgrade, the "s" doesn't really seem worth the cash tbh. I am unsure which phone I'll choose when my contract ends in October but unless iPhone prices drop between now and then I doubt it will be one of them. There doesn't seem to be any phones out at the moment that really catch my eye (or the gadget freak in me).

[Ravenheart]

There's a piece on the BBC news site about it and the price differences in the UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8090513.stm

The device goes on sale in the US, parts of Europe and the UK on the 19th of June. In the US it will cost from $199 (£124) for a 16GB version and $299 (£186) for a 32GB version. However, outside the US the iPhone may be more expensive than direct comparisons suggest.

The price cut applies to the 8GB iPhone 3G which will cost $99 from 19 June. However, UK iPhone operator O2 has confirmed that the price cut will not apply in the UK.

02's updated prices

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html