iPhone 4 Deals For Suckers like me

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After procrastinating on a phone upgrade for the past few months, I finally took the time to put together a list of all the “deals” out there for the new iPhone 4 and decide if it was worth staying with O2. Part of the reason it took so long was because I was seriously considering moving to Android, due to Apple’s recent issues with the phone, and prices only a mass market of suckers like me would pay.

However, for several reasons I couldn’t give up the iPhone even though its ridiculously expensive. Android, which I’ve played with a lot recently on my girlfriend’s Samsung Galaxy, still needs a bit more development until it improves the UI, fragmented releases across each phone, Skype (which I use all the time on my phone and isn’t supported on some Android phones due to fragmentation of the operating system on phones) and a pretty crap App store. I’m sure Android will get there (I think V3 will begin to nail it), and hence why I only stuck to an 18 month iPhone contract, because once it does there’s no way you’ll catch me paying the sucker fees Jobs demands!

Also, one more, very important reason, is we’re currently developing an iPhone app for SambaJAM, and while we’ll eventually do an Android/Blackberry version, I couldn’t miss that! (Going to be super cool!)

So as I’m an analytical person, and all the different packages out there are difficult to compare with their different lengths, upfront costs and minutes included, I put together a simple spreadsheet to help calculate what the best deal was – hopefully it can help save some time for someone else out there trying to make a decision on where to get their iPhone 4 from.

Operator Tarrif Phone cost Monthly Length (months) Minutes Per Month Total Cost Effective Monthly Cost Cost Per Minute
Three iPhone 4 24mnth £69 £35 24 500 £909 £37.88 £0.08
T-Mobile iPhone 4 24mnth £99 £35 24 600 £939 £39.13 £0.07
Vodafone iPhone 4 24mnth £119 £35 24 600 £959 £39.96 £0.07
Three iPhone 4 24mnth £119 £35 24 900 £959 £39.96 £0.04
Three iPhone 4 24mnth £59 £40 24 2000 £1,019 £42.46 £0.02
T-Mobile iPhone 4 24mnth £89 £40 24 900 £1,049 £43.71 £0.05
Orange iPhone 4 24mnth £89 £40 24 900 £1,049 £43.71 £0.05
Vodafone iPhone 4 24mnth £89 £40 24 900 £1,049 £43.71 £0.05
Tesco iPhone 4 24mnth £19 £45 24 Unlimited £1,099 £45.79 N/A
Orange iPhone 4 24mnth £29 £45 24 1200 £1,109 £46.21 £0.04
Vodafone iPhone 4 24mnth £29 £45 24 1200 £1,109 £46.21 £0.04
Vodafone iPhone 4 18mnth £119 £40 18 600 £839 £46.61 £0.08
O2 O2 45 iPhone 4 £39 £45 24 1200 £1,119 £46.63 £0.04
O2 O2 40 iPhone 4 £139 £40 18 600 £859 £47.72 £0.08
Orange iPhone 4 18mnth £229 £35 18 600 £859 £47.72 £0.08
Orange iPhone 4 18mnth £169 £40 18 900 £889 £49.39 £0.05
Vodafone iPhone 4 18mnth £89 £45 18 900 £899 £49.94 £0.06
O2 O2 45 iPhone 4 £99 £45 18 900 £909 £50.50 £0.06
Orange iPhone 4 18mnth £129 £45 18 1200 £939 £52.17 £0.04
Tesco iPhone 4 12mnth £229 £35 12 750 £649 £54.08 £0.07
O2 O2 60 iPhone 4 £0 £60 24 Unlimited £1,440 £60.00 N/A

Note: Prices accurate on 10th November 2010, ordered by Effective Monthly Cost, and contain only the deals that may have been suitable for my needs. Only iPhone 4 16GB Black phone is considered.

Eventually I stuck with O2 after calling their cancellation department and threatening to leave. That’s usually the best way to get the best deals and I’ve got some good ones in the past, but be warned, due to the immense number of suckers out there prepared to pay high prices for the iPhone 4, the final deal was pretty crap compared to previous ones, 200 more minutes per month, free O2 to O2 calls, and a £3 (yes you read it right) discount on the initial handset :p Go figure, I’m a sucker too…