iPhone 5 UK network contract pricing compared: Vodafone, Orange, Three, T-Mobile, O2

Gerald Lynch Apple, Features, iPhone, iPhone, Mobile phones, Tech Digest news
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iPhone-5-official-12.pngreview-line.JPGWith iPhone 5 pre-order sales now live on the Apple Store website, UK networks are beginning to lift the covers off their contract pricing structures for the iPhone 5. Data, minutes, SMS messages and contract lengths, we’ll be compiling all the plans into this one handy post as each network shows their hand, so be sure to keep checking back to compare which deal works best for you. Note however that if you’re planning on getting a 4G service from EE (formerly Everything Everywhere), your best bet is to get a handset from one of its subsidiary networks, Orange or T-Mobile. They’re best equipped (for the time being at least) to make the upgrade once the service launches, due to signalling band issues. We’ll keep you posted as to how that pans out in the near future.review-line.JPG
Vodafone

Vodafone are the first out of the blocks with their iPhone 5 pricing. Starting with their premium Red Data plan, you can get the 16GB iPhone 5 for free on a £47 per month, 24 month contract that gives unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 2GB of mobile data and 4G of Wi-Fi internet. An upfront cost of £89 is needed for the 32GB iPhone 5 on the same plan, and £169 for the 64GB iPhone 5 on the same plan. The iPhone 4S is now free on this plan too.

Slightly cheaper is their Vodafone Red contract. With a £49 upfront cost for the 16GB iPhone 5, £149 for the 32GB version and £229 for the 64GB edition, it’s a £42 per month, 24 month contract that offers unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of mobile internet data and 3GB of Wi-Fi internet. The iPhone 4S is now also free on this plan.

There’s also another cheaper still Vodafone Red contract. Another 24 month contract at a £37 a month cost, it offers unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of mobile internet data and 2GB of Wi-Fi data. All phones on this plan come with an upfront cost: £99 for the 16GB iPhone 5, £209 for the 32GB iPhone 5, £289 for the 64GB iPhone 5 and just £19 for the older iPhone 4S.

Lastly, Vodafone budget 100 Plan. Again, all iPhone models come with an upfront cost: £249 for the 16GB iPhone 5, £349 for the 32GB iPhone 5, £409 for the 64GB iPhone 5 and £139 for the last-gen iPhone 4S. However, 24 month contracts sit at just £25 a month and offer 100 minutes, unlimited texts, 100MB of mobile internet data and 2GB of Wi-Fi internet.

If you’re after a 12 month contract with Vodafone, they start at £36-a-month (£349 for the phone), and top out at £51-a-month with a £169 phone with only 1GB of data, and everything else unlimited. It’s not been made clear which iPhone 5 model you’re getting on the 12 month contracts, but presumably it’s the entry-level 16GB model.

Orange

All Orange contracts for the iPhone 5 last 24 months, no matter which model you opt for. All plans however also offer unlimited texts and unlimited calls, so it’s really mobile internet data that you have to mull over.

To get 1GB of mobile internet data, it’ll cost you £36 a month, with an upfront cost of £109.99 for the 16GB iPhone 5, £219.99 for the 32GB iPhone 5 and £269.99 for the 64GB iPhone 5.

To get 2GB of mobile internet data, it’ll cost you £41 a month, with an upfront cost of just £29.99 for the 16GB iPhone 5, £139.99 for the 32GB iPhone 5 and £209.99 for the 64GB iPhone 5.

To bag 3GB of mobile internet data with Orange, it’ll cost you £46 a month, with the 16GB iPhone 5 coming absolutely free, a cost of £89.99 for the 32GB iPhone 5 and £179.99 for the 64GB iPhone 5.

If you’re after unlimited mobile internet data, it’ll cost you £51 a month, but again you’ll get the 16GB iPhone 5 for free on that plan. With unlimited data, the 32GB iPhone 5 will cost £39.99, ad the 64GB iPhone 5 sits at £129.99.

Three

There are no free iPhone 5 handsets through the Three network, but all plans offer unlimited mobile internet data, which is obviously excellent for a web-friendly phone like the iPhone 5. Here then, plans come down to how many minutes and texts you’re after. Again, all contracts are two years long.

The One Plan is Three’s premium offering. With an upfront cost of £79 for the 16GB iPhone 5 and £36 monthly fee, it gets you unlimited mobile internet data, 2000 any network minutes, 5000 texts and 5000 Three-to-Three minutes. To bag the 32GB iPhone 5 the upfront fee rises to £89 and the monthly fee goes up to £39, and for the 64GB iPhone 5 the upfront fee is set at £109 and the monthly fee £42.

Slightly cheaper is Three’s Ultimate Internet 500 contracts. It offers all-you-can-eat data, 500 any network minutes and 5000 texts. For the 16GB iPhone 5 it’ll cost £79 upfront with a £34 monthly fee. For the 32GB version, the upfront fee jumps to £89 and the monthly fee rises to £37. For the daddy 64GB iPhone 5, the upfront fee is set at £109 and the monthly fee £40.

If you grab an unlocked iPhone 5, Three also offer rolling, one-month SIM-only deals. Our pick is the SIM-Only The One Plan. For £25 a month you get 2,000 minutes, 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5,000 texts and unlimited mobile internet data.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile offer the iPhone 5 on The Full Monty Plan. Again lasting for 24 months, all contracts offer unlimited mobile internet access and unlimited text messages. Minutes and upfront costs are your main concern here.

For £36 a month you get 2000 any-network minutes, and unlimited T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile calls. Upfront handset costs are set at £109 for the 16GB iPhone 5, £219 for the 32GB iPhone 5 and £269 for the 64GB iPhone 5.

After that, it’s unlimited minutes, texts and internet across the board, with monthly costs rising as upfront costs fall.

A £41 a month contract sees the 16GB iPhone 5 drop to £49, the 32GB iPhone 5 hit £149 and the 64GB iPhone 5 go to £219.

A £46 contract puts the 16GB iPhone 5 at £29, the 32GB version at £99 and the 64GB version at £189.

The top-tier £61 contract puts the 16GB iPhone 5 at £19, the 32GB version at £29 and the 64GB model at £139.

O2

O2 have yet to reveal pricing for individual iPhone 5 handsets on the tariffs yet, but have revealed their monthly price plans. Expect similar pricing for the handsets as seen above, with more expensive monthly costs driving the upfront handset cost down. Again, all contracts are 24 months long. We’ll update this with handset costs once O2 announce them.

For £26 a month on O2, you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of mobile internet data.

For £31 a month you’ll get also get you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of mobile internet data, but no doubt with cheaper upfront iPhone 5 handset costs.

For £36 a month you’ll still also get you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of mobile internet data, but with likely even cheaper upfront iPhone 5 handset costs.

For £41 a month you’ll still also get you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of mobile internet data, but with likely even cheaper upfront iPhone 5 handset costs than the previous deals.

For £46 a month you’ll still also get all of the above, but with even cheaper upfront iPhone 5 handset costs.

The premium £63 a month deal gets unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of mobile internet data, but adds a 6-month early upgrade option.

Apple: SIM-free, unlocked

The new iPhone 5, SIM-free unlocked and straight from Apple and in either black of white, will set you back £529 for the 16GB version, £599 for the 32GB, £699 for 64GB.

Stock is expected to shift very quickly, so get in early to avoid disappointment. Either that or be prepared to queue up outside an Apple store on September 21st, when the handset is finally released.

MORE NETWORK CONTRACT PRICES TO FOLLOW

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Gerald Lynch
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24 comments

  • Note: Three has the worst network coverage in the UK, millions of minutes and data but no reception!! See? I’ve been with Three for 4 years (iPhone) but leaving them for good next month.

  • Note: Three has the worst network coverage in the UK, millions of minutes and data but no reception!! See? I've been with Three for 4 years (iPhone) but leaving them for good next month.

  • The important thing to think about with Three is that the One Plan also includes unlimited Internet thetering so say bye bye to those dongle costs!

  • The important thing to think about with Three is that the One Plan also includes unlimited Internet thetering so say bye bye to those dongle costs!

  • Three are actually offering free phone on both plans I’ve just ordered one it cost £5 more a month to pay no upfront costs.

  • Three’s Sim only on The One Plan has all you can eat data not 1GB as this article says. It also includes tethering.

    • Hey Ollie, thanks for this. As a The One Plan subscriber I thought so too, but initially their website listed it as just 1GB for the iPhone 5. It must have been a mistake, which has since been changed on their website. We’ve now updated this article to reflect the change.

  • Three are actually offering free phone on both plans I've just ordered one it cost £5 more a month to pay no upfront costs.

  • The key thing this isnt telling you is that the physical phone is a different version with different chips in it… a sim free phone from apple is unlikely to be able to access the ee LTE network due to this fact – also because of the Ofcom licensing if you want the super fast LTE (4G) service on networks other than EE (Orange and T-Mobile) you are going to have about an 18 month wait.. (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstakeholders.ofcom.org.uk%2Fbinaries%2Fconsultations%2Fvariation-900-1800mhz-lte-wimax%2Fsummary%2Fcondoc.pdf&ei=Kg1TUIvjKKXP0QXDoYGQCQ&usg=AFQjCNG-_v5p6Jegpgxd6FhAGVh5_Mg2Tw)

    If you want LTE soon then the EE networks and capable handsets will be required

  • Three's Sim only on The One Plan has all you can eat data not 1GB as this article says. It also includes tethering.

    • Hey Ollie, thanks for this. As a The One Plan subscriber I thought so too, but initially their website listed it as just 1GB for the iPhone 5. It must have been a mistake, which has sense been change on their website. We've now updated this article to reflect the change.

  • Do you know if these Vodafone prices are the same for every customer, or do they take into account your previous status with them to offer better deals, as they do with “normal” phones?

    • Not sure of that yet Robin. These fine details are still getting updated as the networks try to out-do each other. But in my personal experience, if you’re a long standing customer, and threaten to jump to another network unless you get a better deal, you can normally wrangle a bargain. As you say though, the iPhone 5 is a “special” phone, so they may be less keen to do so.

      • When I phoned them today for a PAC, they asked for the details of why I was leaving. When I gave them the O2 details, the response was – that’s a good offer, can’t match that. 9 years I’ve been with them and there wasn’t even an attempt to keep me…

  • The key thing this isnt telling you is that the physical phone is a different version with different chips in it… a sim free phone from apple is unlikely to be able to access the ee LTE network due to this fact – also because of the Ofcom licensing if you want the super fast LTE (4G) service on networks other than EE (Orange and T-Mobile) you are going to have about an 18 month wait.. (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa…

    If you want LTE soon then the EE networks and capable handsets will be required

  • Do you know if these Vodafone prices are the same for every customer, or do they take into account your previous status with them to offer better deals, as they do with “normal” phones?

    • Not sure of that yet Robin. These fine details are still getting updated as the networks try to out-do each other. But in my personal experience, if you're a long standing customer, and threaten to jump to another network unless you get a better deal, you can normally wrangle a bargain. As you say though, the iPhone 5 is a “special” phone, so they may be less keen to do so.

      • When I phoned them today for a PAC, they asked for the details of why I was leaving. When I gave them the O2 details, the response was – that's a good offer, can't match that. 9 years I've been with them and there wasn't even an attempt to keep me…

Comments are closed.