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Orange undercuts Apple on iPhone prices

By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 16 Jun 2010 at 16:59

Orange will offer the iPhone 4 without a contract even cheaper than Apple, according to its newly released price list.

Orange is the first UK operator to officially announce its prices for the iPhone 4, after Vodafone took down its tariff list earlier this week, saying it was only a test page.

On a pay-as-yo-go SIM, Orange customers can pick up the 16GB iPhone 4 for £480 and the 32GB version for £570. Apple is charging £499 and £599.

iPhone 4 prices

Apple
O2
Vodafone
The full price chart

On a two-year, £35 a month plan, the 16GB version will cost £189 and the 32GB version will cost £269. On an 18-month contract, the 16GB iPhone 4 will start at £229, while the 32GB edition will start from £319.

Business users will get a special tariff, with the iPhone 4 starting at £101 and £186 for each version, and last year's iPhone 3GS available free.

Vodafone's "test page" suggested it would start pricing at £189 and £280, but the contracts differ and the operator stressed the tariffs weren't official.

As iPhone owners tend to access the web on the go more than other smartphone users, one contract point to keep an eye on is the mobile data plans. O2 earlier this week announced it would cap mobile browsing at 500MB a month for its standard contracts, while Orange promises "unlimited" access but actually caps downloads at 750MB a month with its fair usage policy.

Heavy demand

While Orange has announced its prices, it isn't yet taking pre-orders and hasn't made any promises that it will be shipping on the 24 June launch date.

On the Apple store, the white version of the iPhone 4 is still unavailable, while the delivery date for new orders of the black edition has fallen to 2 July.

In the US, mobile operator AT&T suspended orders of the iPhone 4 in order to manage demand, saying online sales were ten times as high as for last year's 3GS.

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User comments

Unlimited?

How can Orange get away with calling it unlimited and then saying 750MB applies in the small print? That 750MB also applies to BT Openzone wifi access.

By stuscott1978 on 16 Jun 2010

I think you are comparing Apples to Oranges with the PAYG prices as the one on the Apple Store is unlocked whereas that Orange one will be locked to their network.

You've also got the 24 month prices wrong - you are quoting the £30 a month not £35

By CSprout on 16 Jun 2010

Apples and Oranges...

CSprout: The fact is though that what use is an unlocked iPhone? If your gonna buy an iPhone PAYG then you will buy it the cheapest way to get it on the network you want-in this case, Orange, and save up to £30. PAYG prices rarely change substantially, so, being locked to a network will make little difference in the long term.

By palorx on 16 Jun 2010

what use is an unlocked iPhone?

Buy unlocked iPhone

Get sim from GiffGaff (owned by O2 and uses their network)

Continue to enjoy the unlimited data tariff that new O2 customers can no longer get.

By Lacrobat on 16 Jun 2010

Palorx:

As Lacrobat says above - plus you can also go for Pay Monthly with 1 month sim only contracts like O2's Simplicity (still has unlimited data for the moment), which do change in price.

For a £19 or £29 difference in price when you are spending around £500 anyway it will give you more options to save money in the longer term.

By CSprout on 16 Jun 2010

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