Where To Get The Best iPhone 4 Deal
Published: 25 February 2011
By MoneyHighStreet Staff 1 Comment
Updated: 26 May 2011
With the ever popular iPhone 4 the desire to buy one is enormous but where can you get the best iPhone 4 deal? We take a look.
Firstly when buying an iPhone 4 there are a number of factors to consider, including
- Length of contract
- Cost of phone – 16GB or 32GB
- Monthly Cost
- Number of minutes
- Number of Texts
- Data Allowance
The various cost elements need to be added up to give you the total cost of your contract over its term.
To get the best iPhone 4 deal you’ll obviously need to consider your particular needs, for example how much time do you spend talking vs sending texts?
Critically also consider your data allowance. Until recently on the 3G network data was generally unlimited but most providers have now capped their data allowance.
With O2, Tesco, 3 and Vodafone capping their data between 500MB and 1GB per month, you might be wondering is this enough? The answer is that for most people it will be – you’ll be able to surf the web for a few hours, send and receive a number of emails with attachements, download a small number of music tracks and watch a small amount of video.
Clearly you need to think carefully about your monthly data requirements – and what’s been found so far is that iPhone users tend to use more data than originally anticipated.
At the time of writing, Orange, O2, Vodafone, 3 and Tesco all have a range of iPhone 4 tariffs.
Based on a black 16GB phone, some of the best iPhone 4 deals we could find as at 26 May 2011 include
| Network | Contract Length | Phone Cost | Monthly Cost | No of Minutes | No of Texts | Data Allowance | Total Cost | |
| Tesco | 12 | £342.00 | £25 | 250 | 5000 | 1Gb | £642.00 |  |
| Tesco | 12 | £235.00 | £40 | 750 | 5000 | 1Gb | £715.00 | |
| Vodafone | 12 | £239.00 | £40 | 600 | Unlimited | 500MB | £719.00 | |
| O2 | 18 | £140.99 | £36 | 600 | Unlimited | 500MB | £788.99 | |
| Vodafone | 18 | £199.00 | £35 | 300 | Unlimited | 500MB | £829.00 | |
| Orange | 18 | £229.99 | £35 | 600 | 500 | 500MB | £859.99 | |
| O2 | 18 | Free | £62.00 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1Gb | £1,116.00 | |
| Vodafone | 18 | Free | £45 | 900 | Unlimited | 1Gb | £810.00 | |
| 3 | 24 | £69 | £35 | 2000 (5000 3-to-3) | 5000 | All-you-can-eat Data | £909.00 | |
| O2 | 24 | 100.99 | £36 | 900 | Unlimited | 500MB | £964.99 | |
| Vodafone | 24 | £139 | £35 | 600 | Unlimited | 500MB | £979.00 | |
| Orange | 24 | £119.99 | £35 | 600 | Unlimited | 500MB | £959.99 | |
| Vodafone | 24 | Free | £40 | 900 | Unlimited | 750MB | £960.00 | |
| 3 | 24 | Free | £43 | 900 | 5000 | 1GB | £1032.00 | |
| Tesco | 24 | £19 | £45 | 3000 | 5000 | 1GB | £1,099.00 | |
| Orange | 24 | Free | £50 | 1200 | Unlimited | 1GB | £1,200.00 | |
As you can see there are limited deals available on a 12 month contract but if you’re prepared to opt for a 24 month contract there are plenty of options.
We’ve highlighted the different plans at the £35 a month level and as you can see a differentiator is the minutes allowance, although with Vodafone offering a deal to check.
On a 24 month contract, if you’re looking for an iPhone without an upfront cost then the iPhone £40 per month plan from Vodafone looks good.
Clearly you have to select the best iPhone 4 deal to suit your needs.
And don’t forget
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Tesco are also doing a 12m Iphone4 contract, phone costing £350 though at £20 per month!