iPhone - What does it really cost?

The initial purchase price of the iPhone is by far the smallest part of the cost. More pricey, in the long term, is the contract.


First you need to decide which phone you want to buy: the iPhone 3G or the more recent 3GS. The 3G was left in the line-up to give a sub-/,100 entry point for all contracts. If you don't want to buy on a pay as you go basis, you have the option of either 24- or 18-month contracts, defined by the number of bundled call minutes. These range from 600 to unlimited, with two packages offering 500 texts (and a third offering unlimited). 600 minutes cost £34.26 a month; 1200 cost £44.05 a month, and unlimited minutes cost £73.41. If you only want to sign up for 18 months, the number of minutes ranges from 75 to 3000 a month on packages costing between £29.38 and £73.41 a month. The iPhone 3G with 8GB of memory is free on all packages apart from the £29.38 and £34.26 18-month contracts, when it attracts a fee of £96.89.

Things get a little more complicated with the iPhone 3GS, as you can choose between black and white backs, in capacities of 16GB and 32GB. Here, the 16GB phone is free on 24 month contracts costing £44.05 (1200 mins /500 texts) and £73.41 (unlimited calls and texts) a month and the 18 month contract costing £73.41 that offers 3000 calling minutes and 500 texts per month. The 32GB model is free on the £73.41 18-month contract.

Otherwise, the 16GB model costs £87.11 if you sign up for 24 months at £34.26 or 24 months at £44.05, and £184.98 if you sign up for 18 months at £29.38 per month. The 32GB model, on the other hand, has three price points: £96.89 if you sign up for 18 months at £73.41 per month or 24 months at £44.05 a month; £175.19 if you sign up for 18 months at £44.05 or 24 months at £34.26; and £274.23 if you sign up for 18 months at either £29.38 or £34.26.

The cheapest way to buy an iPhone, then, is to opt for the 8GB iPhone 3G on a £29.38 18-month contract (total cost £625.73). The cheapest 16GB iPhone 3GS deal costs £738 over 18 months. For the 32GB model you're looking at a total cost of at least £801.66 over the same period.