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Apple iPhone 3GsThe iPhone 3G S was hailed a storming success when it was unveiled last night, but a backlash is brewing: UK iPhone fans have pored through the fineprint, only to find that prices are far more than last year. Read on for the furor.


Those who bought an iPhone 3G on release day last year will have to pay to get out of their contract early, depending on how many months are left and the tariff they’re on, as well as the upfront price for the new iPhone 3G S. That’s not gone down at all well with iPhone owners, with the O2 trending on Twitter right now, and petitions popping up for a “reasonable way to upgrade to the iPhone 3GS.”

iPhone 3G S: all the official photos

Of course, paying to upgrade like this is perfectly normal practice – you agree to a contract and are expected to honour it. It’s how networks subsidise expensive smartphones. The difference here is that O2 didn’t ask for an upgrade charge last year for those wanting to make the jump from iPhone to iPhone 3G, in order to keep iPhone fans happy (The original iPhone wasn’t subsidised, so it didn’t need to charge: the iPhone 3G however is). When you combine that with eye-watering prices for the new iPhone 3G S models (£274.23 and £184.98 for the 32GB and 16GB models on the cheapest 18 month contracts), you’ve got a potential full scale revolt incoming.

You can see how charges will work out with the iPhone 3G S here, but if you ask us, the real fails today are O2′s unattractive tethering charges that work out the same as a dongle, and no equivalent price cut for the iPhone 3G 8GB that Americans get. We’ll keep you informed with O2′s response.

Out 19 June | £varies | O2 (Via The Next Web)

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  • http://twitter.com/c_davies Chris Davies

    Thing is, unless I’m not remembering correctly, there wasn’t really a hit for the iPhone/iPhone 3G switch. The original wasn’t carrier-subsidised in the same way the 3G was, so it was in O2′s best interest to offer existing users a good deal for the 3G and lock them into an extended contract.

    This time around, O2 (and all the other iPhone 3G carriers) don’t have the same motivation – they still want to recoup their 3G subsidy from the full contract length. People will just have to get over it, I fear, as if carriers start making exceptions for one device than why shouldn’t every subscriber get an early deal when a new model takes their fancy?

  • Ben Sillis

    Quite Chris, and you’re right about the lack of subsidy on the original model setting customer expectations too high.

  • http://www.gravatar.com James Holland

    Thing is, if you opt for a two year contract on an iPhone 3G S you can be sure there’ll be a new one in June 2010… at which point this row will erupt again. You can’t win! Such is the life of a gadget fan…

  • Adam Kaye

    The problem for Apple is that if the earliest adopters have an 18 month contract and are therefore tied in until January 2010, surely if you’ve managed to go without the 3G S until then, you’d wait for few (ok – five) months for the next Gen iphone to come along? Won’t this have a big impact on Apple’s (hardware) revenues? Equally, being tied in to the iPhone can’t be a bad thing given the increasing competition in the market place? I get the feeling that, whilst possibly understandable, this situation isn’t going to necessarily benefit anyone?

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