Welcome to the final instalment of our series covering the best deals available for the new iPhone 4S. This time we’re taking a look at the high-end 64GB model. Once again, we’ve analysed more than 100 tariff options and rounded up the very best deals currently available.
The iPhone 4S hit the shops a couple of months ago and it’s the ultimate smartphone with its a new dual-core 1GHz A5 processor, Siri and the massively upgraded camera.
Total cost of ownership
As we explained the previous two times, the best way to compare prices across networks and between contracts and PAYG is by calculating the Total cost of ownership. This is simply the overall amount you’ll have to pay for your new iPhone 4S and can be found by adding the initial cost of the handset to the monthly price of the plan multiplied by the length of the contract (in months). Or, if you prefer to see the forumla:
Total cost of ownership = costhandset + costmonthly tariff × tcontract length
Going SIM-free involves a large upfront payment followed by a far cheaper PAYG tariff while, conversely, contracts usually have subsidised (or even free) handsets with pricier charges over the following months. Because it accounts for both factors, looking at total cost of ownership is the best way to compare the available options.
For example, imagine you want to buy a 64GB iPhone 4S with a plan that includes 400 minutes or more and you’ve narrowed your choice of network down to just Orange, 3 and Giffgaff (for coverage reasons or whatever). The cheapest deals available from each are as follows:
Orange – £270 upfront then £36/month for 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB data.
Three – £229 upfront then £35/month for 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data.
giffgaff – £699 upfront then £15/month for 400 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data.
If we compare these from a total cost of ownership point of view, it’s immediately obvious which choice is best.
The Orange plan will set you back £270 for the phone and then you must pay an additional £36/month for a 24 month contract which adds up to another £864. This makes the total you have to pay over two years a pricey £1,134. Although you do get a lot more than 400 minutes for this price, over a grand is a lot of money to pay for a smartphone especially with such a small data allowance.
3‘s deal turns out to a lot better value already. The iPhone 4S 64GB handset will only set you back £229 and the monthly cost is slightly less at £35/month. Your total over the two years is just £1,069. This is still over a grand but you do get 1GB of data. Maybe more tempting would be to pay £50 extra upfront which will upgrade you to the amazing One Plan. This is still only £35/month but you get 2000 any-network minutes, 5000 3-to-3 minutes and, best of all, unlimited data. For a top-end phone like the iPhone 4S, why not go for a top-end contract?
However, if you’re just looking to get the phone for the lowest price possible, the tariff on Giffgaff is a decent improvement. Although you must splash out a huge £699 for the phone, you only pay £360 over the 24 month contract making a total of £1,059. And for your money you get unlimited data and unlimited texts.
iPhone 4S 64GB price comparison
In this comparison we’ve looked at all the deals available for the iPhone 4S 64GB version from the major UK networks (O2, 3, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone) as well as the cheapest PAYG alternative from Giffgaff using their incredible value goodybags. We’ve also broken it down into separate sections for inclusive minutes, texts and data so you can see which deal is best for you. Don’t forget to also keep in mind the coverage in your area for the network you want to go with – our network coverage maps will let you know how good the signal strength is.
Best iPhone 4S 64GB deal by minutes
At least 200 minutes
If, however, you only need as little as 200 minutes a month, Giffgaff is the obvious winner being much much cheaper than the alternatives with a total cost of ownership of just £939 over two years.
You just need to order your £699 iPhone 4S 64GB then request a Giffgaff micro-SIM with £5 free credit. Next, log in to your account and buy the £10/month goodybag. This gives you 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data every month.
At least 300 minutes
If however you need 300 minutes a month, 3‘s offering is the best. The total is only £1,029 for a 24 month contract.
The offer is for a 64GB iPhone 4S with 300 minutes, 5000 texts and 500MB data for an initial cost of only £309 then £30/month. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
At least 400 minutes
For 400 minutes a month, Giffgaff charges back into the lead with a price of only £1,059 in total.
Again, you have to buy your £699 iPhone 4S 64GB then order a Giffgaff micro-SIM with £5 free credit. Next, simply get the £15/month goodybag for 400 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data every month.
However, 3 is still not far behind with an offer that costs just £10 more with a total of £1,069. This gives you a 64GB iPhone 4S with 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data for an initial cost of only £229 then £35/month. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
At least 500 minutes
3 has the easily best offer for a 500 minute contract with a total cost of ownership of £1,069.
It’s the same deal as for at least 400 minutes. Not only do you get the iPhone 4S 64GB but you also get 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data. The one-off cost is £229 for the phone and the monthly fee is £35/month. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
At least 600 minutes
Finally, if you’re more talkative and you want to have 600 minutes every month, O2 is the best choice for you with a total cost over 24 months of £1086.
The phone will cost you £270 then you have to pay £34/month for 600 minutes, 100MB data and unlimited texts. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
3‘s tariff follows closely behind with a total of just £1,119 (less than £1.40 more each month in total). Arguably, it’s actually a much better deal due to the huge monthly allowances you get.
The price of the 64GB iPhone 4S handset is £279 but for your £35/month you get the incredible One Plan. This affords you a huge 2000 any-network minutes, 5000 3-to-3 minutes, 5000 texts and completely unlimited all-you-can-eat data. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
Summary
To make this all a bit clearer, check out the raw data we used to make the graphs and work out which deals are best:
Clearly for anything between 100 and 300 minutes, Giffgaff is extremely competitive with their goodybags deal if you buy an iPhone upfront then order a micro-SIM. However, they cannot compete with the contracts at the 500-600 minutes level.
O2 make a very strong showing for any amount of minutes offering a very cheap option for customers. However, the one disadvantage is that their data allowance at this price point is rather low.
There is very little to be said for the options from Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone which is a big shame from these major players. No matter how many minutes you want, they can only provide very uncompetitive prices especially if you don’t need a huge monthly bundle of included minutes.
Along with O2 and Giffgaff one of the best networks if you are concerned about a cheap price for a set number of minutes is 3. They are competitive at all price points and offer fantastic value from 300 minutes to 500 minutes per month.
Best iPhone 4S 64GB deal by texts
100-5000 texts
No matter whether you need only 100 texts, 5000 texts or even unlimited texts, the graph clearly shows that Giffgaff is your best bet with a total cost of ownership of just £939 over two years.
First just buy your 64GB iPhone 4S for an initial cost of £699 then order a free Giffgaff micro-SIM with £5 free credit. You can then get the £10/month goodybag that will give you 250 any-network minutes every month as well as unlimited texts and unlimited data.
You can even save price we’ve quoted above by going for the £5/month texts-only goodybag but this wouldn’t give you any included minutes or data. This would make your total cost tumble down to just £819 over 24 months.
An alternative for 100-500 texts
For 500 texts a month or less, O2 also offer some very competitive deals. For example, if you want a 500 text allowance you can get an iPhone 4S 64GB for a total cost of ownership of just £964.
O2 will give you your iPhone with 100 minutes, 500 texts and 100MB data. This will cost £520 for the top-model handset followed by a low-priced £18.50 monthly tariff. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
Summary
Again, to make this as clear as possible, have a look at the raw data we used in all our calculations:
Clearly for any amount of texts, Giffgaff is easily the best deal as they offer unlimited texts for just £10/month. You’ll save tons if you just buy an iPhone upfront then order a micro-SIM. Best of all you get completely unlimited texts with their amazing goodbags and unlimited data thrown in too. You can even save £120 on the price we’ve quoted above by going for the £5/month texts-only goodybag but this wouldn’t give you any included minutes or data.
At anything between 100 and 500 texts, O2 comes in very close behind. However, if you look at the details their offer pales in comparison to Giffgaff’s as they only have 100 minutes and 100MB of data not to mention no unlimited texts.
There is very little to be said for the options from Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone which is a big shame from these major players. No matter how many minutes you want, they can only provide very uncompetitive prices especially if you don’t need a huge monthly bundle of included minutes.
The next best option is 3. However, they are so far behind Giffgaff and O2 it’s not really worth considering them. Unfortunately, the same goes for Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone again. If you’re just looking for a deal with texts only they offer a very poor choice.
Best iPhone 4S 64GB deal by data
100MB-unlimited data
Again, no matter how much mobile internet you use, Giffgaff are clearly the cheapest deal for an iPhone 4S 64GB at only £939 for 24 months. This is far and away the best deal for data-hungry users.
Simply order your £699 iPhone 4S 64GB then request a Giffgaff micro-SIM with £5 free credit. Once it’s activated you just need to buy the £10/month goodybag that will give you unlimited data every month. You also get 250 minutes every month and unlimited texts.
An alternative for 100MB data
If you only need as little as 100MB data, O2 also have a decent offer with an iPhone 4S for a total cost of only £964 which is only £25 more than Giffgaff’s deal.
You get the phone as well as 100 minutes, 500 texts and 100MB data for a pretty-hefty one-off cost of £520 followed by £18.50/month. ⇒ Get this deal now ⇐.
Summary
Here’s the raw data we used in working out which deals are best:
Clearly for any amount of data, Giffgaff is easily the best deal as they offer unlimited texts for just £10/month. You’ll save tons if you just buy an iPhone upfront then order a micro-SIM. Best of all, with their goodybags you get completely unlimited texts thrown in too.
Frankly, there’s no real alternative that’s worth looking at. However, if you only need a small amount of data, you could try out O2. However, once again, if you look at the details their offer pales in comparison to Giffgaff’s as they only have 100 minutes and 100MB of mobile internet.
3 deals can be worth a punt as their contracts have decent included allowances. Just make sure you avoid T-Mobile and Vodafone if you need large amounts of data as their prices are through the roof.
Final conclusion
Once again, we’ve been disappointed by big networks such as Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone. In almost every test, they’ve been beaten by their PAYG rival Giffgaff. In fact, Giffgaff have come out as easily the best deal for buying the newest iPhone with some massive savings compared to other networks when you look at total cost of ownership. That is as long as you can find an unlocked SIM-free iPhone 4S 64GB in stock, of course!
O2‘s iPhone 4S packages are a great budget option. While they aren’t quite as cheap as Giffgaff’s and the monthly allowances are much lower, they are often much more competitive than the high-street competition. However, do be aware of their high price for anything more than 100MB data and check their coverage in your area before buying though.
Finally, an honourable mention must go to 3’s iPhone 4S on the fantastic One Plan . This is an amazing offer for mobile-addicts with 7000 minutes to 3 mobiles and other networks, 5000 texts and truly unlimited data. 3 is also a great choice as they have easily the best 3G network in the country so you can always stay connected to a mobile internet connection. Check out their UK coverage maps to see for yourself.
Phew! Hopefully this has helped you identify the best iPhone 4S deals available. Don’t forget to check out our other guides for the 16GB and 32GB versions and let us know how you get on if you decide to buy a new iPhone 4S.
Giffgaff, one of our favourite networks, have launched yet another marketing campaign this time with London radio station KISS FM. This time, instead of just unlocking chickens, they want to unlock your life.
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