Apple - angering the fans?
As ever, there was huge excitement amongst Apple's loyal fanbase (does any other commercial business have fans not consumers?) as news emerged last night of a new iPhone.
But, in the UK at least, the excitement has swiftly turned to anger over the sheer, eye-watering expense of owning the iPhone 3GS. So are O2 and Apple in danger of alienating existing iPhone users while doing nothing to attract new customers?
Contrary to expectations, O2 has retained its exclusivity over the iPhone but it looks as though that was at a price, and one that is now being passed on to consumers.
If you sign up to an 18-month contract for the new phone, at £34.26 a month, you'll still pay £184.98 for the 16gb version or £274.23 for the 32gb handset. Is there another phone that will cost you that much when you sign up to a chunky contract?
It's the early adopters, those who bought the original iPhone and then upgraded to the 3G version, who are really spitting tacks. They somehow thought they were special, and, just as last time, would be offered a deal to make upgrading to the 3GS affordable. But no. The only way they can upgrade is to buy out the remainder of their contracts and start again - which would be massively expensive.
O2 indicated to me that it was slightly unrealistic to expect the firm just to write off the big subsidy they'd already enjoyed on the 3G version - but some dedicated fans are already starting online petitions to complain about the cost of an upgrade.
But if the loyalty of the fanbase is being tested surely there's something to woo new users to the iPhone? Not in the UK. While there is a price cut in the US for the old iPhone 3G, that isn't the case here.
It'll still cost £96.89 on an 18-month contract - and I can't see cash-strapped young phone fans rushing to buy something that can't even claim to be the latest hot phone.
O2 was keen to point out that the 3G iPhone was now free on a 24-month contract - but are many people really willing to tie themselves in for that long?
Now Apple and O2 have never pretended that the iPhone is anything other than a premium product with a premium price and so far that strategy has proved remarkably successful.
One retailer told me this morning that people would still be queuing round the block when the new model goes on sale on 19 June. I'm not so sure. Those queues are usually made up of long-term Apple fanatics - but even they may not be willing to pay the huge price needed to become a 3GS early adopter.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~42~RS~)
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I'm furious with O2. I have to wait 6 months to upgrade (I'm not buying myself out of the contract) and by then another iPhone will probably be 6 months round the corner, so I don't have any intention of upgrading to the 3G-S. The tethering plans are also a joke. Unfortunately we have no choice at the moment, but when the exclusivity ends, iPhone fans will hopefully vote with their feet and ditch O2. If O2 had a reasonable upgrade solution, perhaps they could have locked their iPhone customers into a longer contract and avoided this.
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The issue here isn't just one of cost - when the iPhone came out it was a sensation and revitalised a stagnant market. Ditto the 3G with the launch of the App store. I was critical at the time but fair play to Apple - they got it absolutely right.
However, now the market has moved on and other manufacturers offer handsets which are comparable to the iPhone - and by that I mean that the iPhone no longer has the differentiation it had; it's just one of many good phones out there or coming out. The same applies to App stores - Apple's still leads the way but the pack are catching up rapidly and that lead isn't going to last.
That said, the cost isn't going to help. You would have thought O2 would have learned from the first generation iPhone and its rather poor showing due to the asking price at the time which they quickly had to chop.
There will inevitably be lines to get the new iPhone. I just don't think they'll be as big as they were before and they won't last as long.
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Apple 'fans' already have the iPhone, and if o2 are not going to provide an upgrade path like they did last time, then they may find very few people are in that queue.
Apple or most likely o2 UK are in grave danger of badly misjudging the launch this time around.
Last time o2 went over and above what was expected by offering the upgrade deal they did, but I thought that was the kind of service they had to offer to be associated with Apple, if they are going to stick to their bog standard small print (which they have every right too, after all anyone who owns one agreed to it when they signed up) then it kind of feels less than a perfect experience, and somewhat sours the feeling of owning this premium product.
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I should also point out that I'm unsure why people are angry at O2 - an 18 month contract is for, well, 18 months. This was made clear at the time.
Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice as they say.
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I understand people being angry about the price, it is steep, but the complaints from those already with contracts seem odd. Every single mobile phone company out there does this with every single phone. If you want a new one for free or subsidised then you have to buy out your contract or wait. Why would people expect O2 to do any different here?
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It would cost me about £800 to upgrade to the 3GS from my 3G; or I'd wait 6 months until I was out of contract - but by then another iPhone would be 6 months away.
O2 need to align their upgrade cycle with the iPhone upgrade cycle - surely not too much to ask?
I switched to O2 after 15 years at Vodafone; O2 have just ensured that when exclusivity ends they will lose a lot of customers.
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Should we really blame Apple for the way O2 are alienating their existing customer base?
Do Apple have a say on how O2 package the iphone once Apple has sold the handsets to O2?
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I think the differentiation is that these things aren't phones anymore, they're small computers. Computer users have long upgraded cyclically (moaning about the price, but still doing it) - it seems absurd to charge existing customers more than new ones in the computer world, but phone companies have long done this. The markets are merging and they won't be able to get away with it for much longer.
Honestly, give me an iPhone without the phone bit and I'd have my money out ready.
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@Mark and Dave - I'm pretty sure we all understand that an 18 month contract is an 18 month contract. However at the launch of the 3G model O2 offered an upgrade for v1 customers and have set expectations accordingly.
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Apple is not at fault here at all; Apple have a very aggressive marketing strategy and Apple fans know that, but that doesn't work on a phone contract, and we as customers thought O2 understood that the first time round updating the iPhone to iPhone 3G. I paid my way and extended my contract and happily too. They set a bar that now they don't want to keep.
if they weren't to carry on then they should never of done it in the first place. We are right to expect it, why not? The people are at fault here are O2.
We are in recession and keeping customers is their number 1 priority, but they are going to find a lot of customers leaving them.
With various other phones on the market now competing against the iPhone (Android, Palm Pre, Blackberry Storm) there is more than enough choice
I know if they don't rectify this then I WILL be moving providers.
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OK, the iPhone's quite good. But it is clearly **NOT** the best on the market, so anyone who agrees to pay the massively inflated price is, in my view, a bit dim... You can get much better/more reliable phones for much less, and it's only days now until the N97's UK launch which will be so much better than the iPhone 3GS.... but how funny, O2 have said they're not going to sell it through their direct channels.
Are they scared people will realise how much better it is than the iPhone, and then buy an N97 instead, thus angering Daddy Apple who will take the sweeties off O2 and give them to Orange??
Bang goes my plan of phoning up and saying "I'm leaving, can I have my PAC please? Oh right, well, give me an N97 and I might stay..." oh well, I'll just have to wait until they U-turn like they did on the N96!
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@dave_sparrow : very good point. Anyone who thinks they're "special" just because they bought an iPhone really needs to think again. You bought a phone (actually, substitute that for ANY PRODUCT), and then a newer one came out later. Well, duh!
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I am an iPhone user
I am amazed at the upgrade options published this morning
Great new hardware that I want to use - oh dear, I still have 11 months left on my current deal and I'll have to buy out of that to enter into ANOTHER 18 month contract and probably have this grief in a year.
Ever felt like you have been cheated!
Yes
The mighty Apple publicity machine is going to have a tough job burying this one.
Apple products have always been worth the extra few quid - but this is bleeding us dry...
No thanks.
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The simple option is to get the payg version for £440 and swap the sims between the old 3G and the new 3GS. I get free internet on both and can continue the existing contract until the end and next June (If another new phone is out) get another upgrade for free as the contract will have expired by then. At this stage it is pointless to pay off the contract and start a new 18 month as the same is going to happen next year.
Not a great move by O2 as they gave the original customers the upgrade free last year allowing them to break the contracts.
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It is unrealistic to expect O2 to write off the subsidy on the 3G, but you have to ask why O2 was offering subsidised iPhones to existing contract holders in the first place? To now charge what seems like an unsubsidised handset price, and ask contract holders to buy themselves out is bound to ruffle a few feathers.
And there are some of us who are still on 2G contracts, having paid £330 for our handsets. Last week I could have gotten a subsidised 3G handset and a brand new contract, this week I have to buy myself out and spend £200+ on a new handset.
IMO, O2 should be offering new contracts and phones at the list price to anyone with less than six months to run on an 18 month plus contract. It's good business sense - you're locking in customers for another 18 months and selling them a largely unsubsidised new phone.
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I currently need a new phone and, due to flooding a new ipod, however I'll be better off buying them seperately. I was in waiting for the new iphone, and actually put off my phone purchase from earlier this year. I expected a premium for the new model, the quoted prices are OTT and there's no way I'll be paying them.
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I have absolutely no qualms with O2 having a standard pricing, as many people have said if you buy a phone you're in a contract for 18 months - Fair enough. The lack of an option to upgrade without it costing the earth, especially in a credit crunch, i don't be ANY means believe i would get it for free but for me to upgrade to the 3GS it would cost 6 x £45 + the price for the handset and a new 18 month commitment, or a new 24 month commitment. Its just ridiculous the majority of people who want the 3GS already have the 3G and will be unable to upgrade without a big financial commitment behind it.
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@Mark and Dave and Hedley
The way this should really work is O2 should waiver the remaining 6 months (or at least let us just pay off the subsidies) and let us purchase the new phone at the same price as everyone else who is new to O2 provided we agree to the same contract length as the new customers. That way O2 haven't lost anything, infact they've gained our guaranteed custom for the next 2 years (or however long the contracts are this time), rather than just the next 6 months, seems like a pretty good deal to me!
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the levels of apple-fanboy-ism are too high.
people who have had a phone with all sorts of impressive features are complaining because 6 months into their 18 month contracts, their network will not simply give them the new version of the phone, which finally has the ability to make videos and forward text messages.
what makes apple fanboys think they are more special than normal mobile consumers.
o2 paid a lot of money to get exclusivity of the iphone, so why should their standard revenue streams (normal mobile contracts) be used to subsidise apple fan boys who depite having their phone for a few months want the newest version as it has a couple of added features.
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I understand o2 are a business, but i agree that once the exclucive deal between o2 and Apple ends, o2 could be in trouble.
O2 priced the SIM free version of the 3Gs very cleverly. - 32GB Version is £540 ish. People on iPhone 3G have minimum 7 months left. Which means £245 minimum to buy out of your contract plus £280 for the new phone (on new contract) equals £525.
I dont expect something for nothing, but be reasonable.
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jonbounds, an iPhone without the phone bit already exists- it's called an iPod Touch!
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richard_blog: I suspect that O2 is registering hardware against SIMs, and your plan may not work.
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Why are people so angry?!?! If you buy a Nokia and a new one comes out, you dont suddenly get a new handset.
Its business and some people need to deal with that fact!!
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I was going to upgrade to this new iPhone, but with O2's ridiculous pricing policy I think I will go elsewhere, I hope others do likewise. That way with a bit of luck next time round they wont be so greedy.
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Who cares? It's just a telephone!
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"Honestly, give me an iPhone without the phone bit and I'd have my money out ready."
That's called an iPod Touch. You can already buy them.
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As one of the early adopters of the first generation iPhone, I made a decision to skip the last one and wait for version 3. This has tied in quite well as the 18 months contract finished recently, so I have no problem paying again for the 3GS.
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Why do iPhone users think they are so special that they should get discounted or free upgrades? When you sign an 18 month contract you have to wait until that contract is finished to upgrade, or, pay the remainder of your contract to cancel it. This is the case with every contract currently available in UK so why do they think they are different?
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I would dearly love an iPhone of any description, and I'd be happy to pay a substantial amount as a one-off to own the device (as I have done for a 32GB first-generation iPod touch). But the real killer with the iPhone, which makes it impossible for me to justify one, is the price of the contract.
Apple is keen to encourage more people to get an iPhone, and keeps reducing the price of the device (in the US at least) to achieve that. But that seems to me to be completely missing the point. The problem is not how much it costs to buy the thing itself; it's how much it costs on an ongoing basis to own and use it. The monthly contracts are all unreasonably, unjustifiably expensive for anyone who doesn't spend their lives with a phone glued to their ear or use a mobile phone in business. My own desire for an iPhone is to have it as a PDA with loads of cool features that syncs with my Mac. I'd want to use it as a phone as well, but only very occasionally; so occasionally that buying one is just not an option with the current plans.
What I want is the option to have a pay-as-you-go contract; even one that makes calls relatively expensive. My current (ancient) mobile phone can be topped up with credit at any time, and that credit doesn't expire. That's what I want with an iPhone, pure and simple. O2 does offer a Pay-and-Go option, but that's a con because you're required to spend at least £10 per month on it, and your credit expires if you don't use it up, which is totally unacceptable. Using Pay-and-Go is pretty much like having a half-price monthly contract. There's a very clear lower limit on what you can spend on it (minimum £120 per year), but no upper limit. Well, I'm not willing to pay £120 per year for the privilege of making approximately one mobile phone call every three months (which is about all I manage, given that I work from home with a fixed-line phone on my desk).
If O2 would offer a *genuine* pay-as-you-go service, with credit that doesn't expire (that's the key thing), then I'm sure that it'd suddenly find people queuing up in large numbers to buy an iPhone at a higher price than the top-of-the-range iPod touch. I'd certainly buy one without hesitation under those circumstances.
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I'm with badgercourage: "Who cares? It's just a telephone!"
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I'm not entirely sure I understand the fuss. It's a new product with new features and greater capacity. Of course it's going to cost to upgrade. And why would you want to? I'm more than happy with my 3G - and will be more so when OS3.0 is released, for free.
Existing customers are getting a free upgrade with copy & paste and MMS and other features added when the software is released. What other phone gives us this? When I had a Windows smartphone the upgrades to the OS were few and far between and hard to install. On the iPhone they're regular and simple. Most people on Windows smartphones have to pay to upgrade, but we're gettin OS3.0 for free. Next week I'll plug my phone in to my computer and within minutes I'll have a load of new features I never expected and never paid for. That's pretty good, in my book.
I bought this iPhone on the understanding that it had no MMS and no copy & paste and I was happy with it - and with my 18 month contract. It's still a brilliant phone, I still get very good service from O2, I get better reception than I did my previous provider (and better than my brother's provider). I don't need to upgrade. I'm happy with the camera, which I rarely use, and I don't need a compass. Battery life has been fine for me.
The other thing to bear in mind is that O2 bashing won't help when they're at the whims of Apple to some extent... and we all bought in to the iPhone *knowing* Apple's upgrade policy. Any Apple fan-boy knows that they release new versions or lower prices every six months. Am I alone in buying things when the price and features fit my budget and my needs? If it's too expensive or not yet good enough I just wait six months and Apple drop prices or update things. If your phone does what you need it to and you can afford it then what's the issue?
I just don't understand a) the rush to upgrade and b) people expecting a new phone and - in effect - a new iPod with greater capacity while expecting not to pay anything for it. With every other phone I've ever had I've had to wait until the end of the contract for an upgrade or had to pay more. The difference is, this is the first time I've been happy enough with my phone and the regular free upgrades to the way it works to not want to upgrade.
Oh dear - I do sound a bit irrational in this post. I should remember never to argue on the internet.
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Hold on, something HAS to be wrong here...
O2 has the same (old) iPhone listed at 2 prices...
http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/iphoneindex/Pay_Monthly/3G
Lists the 8GB (3G) as STILL being FREE on £35/mo (16GB for £57)
BUT
http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html
Lists the 8GB (3G) as now costing £96 on £35/mo
So unless I'm missing something really obvious O2, yet again, prove that they haven't a clue by INCREASING the price of the old phone instead of reducing it??? What's that all about?
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Who on Earth is going to sign up to a 24 month, £45 contract to get a 'free' iPhone knowing they will have this problem next year? O2 have killed their own tariff and are encouraging customers to sign up to a shoter 18 month contract at most.
O2 have let their customers down in several ways:
They've silently changed the rules on upgrades causing customers to feel cheated.
They've significantly upset the early adopters who switched to O2 especially for the iPhone. All their loyalty has been wiped out.
Other phones are announced months ahead of launch (e.g. Nokia N97) so potential buyers know to hold out rather than sign up to a new 18 month contract. How many people bought an iPhone 3G in the last 3 months based on O2's store staff advice that no iPhone is coming (I was told this 13 days ago!)
12 month product upgrades, 18-24 month contracts with no fair upgrade path and Apple 'fanatics' is a recipe for disaster.
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I have an iPhone, i really like it. Everyone i know who were not sure of buying one have been converted once they have bought it, and the more apps they discover the more they enjoy it.
Just to remind folks, you took out an 18 month contract! Dont blame O2 or Apple just because you want a shiney new phone but dont want to pay for it! I dont see Nokia or Sony getting this kind of stick when they bring out a new phone.
The cost of the o2 tethering - well that is a rip off. I hope no one subscribes to it and they lower the cost.
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@CompactDistance iPod Touch has no camera, and you can only use it in wifi range
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If you're an existing O2 customer wanting to upgrade, let them know how you feel via the the petiion on the O2 forum http://forum.o2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=20280&sid=5b2c5d421412a594efe2b6f0bce43736
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I think people are also forgetting that much of the features described at WWDC yesterday will still be available on the 3G and some even on the original iPhone - its software, which we all get as a free update on the same day.
Hardware wise the update includes a few cheesy extras, which if I were buying new today I would consider, but not neccesarily buy tho.
The 3GS seems to be a stop gap product, something to compete directly with the newer smartphones to keep the Apple stock prices up. The iPhone 4 is going to need a lot of money to develop and really we dont know what technology it should have in it yet. Banks are tight as you like right now, so they want to finance it internally no doubt.
I think a lot of people will be less irate when they see iPhone OS 3.0 running on their existing 3G, and much of this "distress" is due to people not fully understanding the difference between the hardware and the software capabilities. Your "old" 3G isn't useless yet!
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The 3Gs is improved hardware, but don't forget the 3.0 software will give the existing 3G user an enhanced phone... what other phone manufacturer pumps out software improvements like Apple?
If it matters to have the improved camera/video and a digital compass etc. that much then people are going to have to pay for it... I think this article is a bit of a storm in a teacup...
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jonbounds it may have no camera, but without a phone of course you can only go on the Internet within range of wifi networks!
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just to add, if anyone is a villain here, it is apple
I have been an 02 customer for 5 years and was due an upgrade 2 months ago. When I asked retentions for a reconditioned iphone 3g I was told that APPLE WILL NOT ALLOW o2 to discount line rental on ipohnes, even for loyal customers phoning the retentions department.
so rather than paying £35 per month in line rental for the privilege of having an iphone, I am instead paying £15 per month for the same package with a nokia N96.
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I can't really add much to what has been said. Upgrade cost too steep. I won't be upgrading. Why is the cost of the 8gb not been reduced. Who would be silly enough to buy it at that price.
The big problem I think will come when Apple realise UK sales (their second biggest market) drop through the floor. Would like to see O2's exclusivity removed - that really would be karma.
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I think what all this demonstrates is what a phenomenal job Apple have done of instilling fierce (blind) brand loyalty amongst their legions of fans. All those early adopters of the original iPhone, who are now furious with o2 for the costly upgrade path, could have just bought a different phone 2 years ago that gave them many of the features that the iPhone is only now getting. OK, so the touch screen is in a class of its own, and the App Store is a killer app in itself, but many of the new features, like MMS messaging, video capture, copy & paste and so on, have been available on other manufacturers' handsets for years, but that fact seems to get completely ignored when these features are 'revealed' in Apple's keynote presentations.
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For a while there, this was almost a tech blog. However, you've now gone back to being a fanboy blog*, with four out of the last seven posts being Apple-related. I no longer see any point in the RSS feed taking up valuable resources in my browser.
*or possibly a cynical, tabloid, fanboy vs anti-fanboy rabble-rousing blog
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O2 can do what they want as they have no competition in this market (UK iphone sales), all we can do is vote with our feet and avoid a purchase. Until anti-competitive practices like this are eliminated then it will be the usual rip off UK for the consumer. This is only one small example of the nature of the UK market (mobile companies, energy companies, low cost airlines, banks etc..) where UK consumers have a poor deal, of course the government are too busy with other important issues like tax evasion, moats or duck houses to care!
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Hedley and others:
I understand what you're saying but the pricing models for the iPhone and iPhone 3G are very different in terms of how the subsidy on the iPhone is delivered to Apple - in the iPhone it was up front, in the 3G the cost was absorbed over the 18 month contract.
Those of you complaining should really go back and read your contracts because that's what you willingly signed up to. The only people to blame in this instance are yourselves if you're unhappy.
I'd also point out that when the iPhone comes to other providers that they'll operate in exactly the same way as O2 have - if you sign an 18 month contract then you'll be liable for it, regardless of Apple's refresh cycle.
So no, O2 shouldn't let you off and are being perfectly fair and upfront because if they let you carry your agreement forward then they:
a) Lose money
b) Have to put up with the same piteous whining when the next refresh comes round.
Caveat emptor, people.
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I don't know anything about Phones & Networks so I stand to be corrected. Since France does not permit exclusive contracts on 'phones, why not buy a unlocked iPhone in France, bring to the UK and use, say, the Virgin Media £10 per month, unlimited calls "sim card" only contract
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I do not expect a new iPhone as a current user - far from it. What I do expect is the ability to upgrade my phone without the need to "buy out".
I would happily pay for a new phone but to be told I cannot even do that unless I fork out to "buy out".
O2 have misjudged this badly - a simple single payment upgrade price per contract type is all that was necessary....
Bad call......
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It's not the fact that o2 s making people buy out their contacts. That to be honest is to be expected. It's the outragous price of the hardware. My Original iPhone contract is up for renewal now. I didn't get one of the 3G ones, so to upgrade to a 16Gb 3GS iPhone is going to cost nearly £200. That is where my outrage is. It has an air of anti-competitiveness about it.
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"does any other commercial business have fans not consumers?"
Try every company in the video games console market. ESPECIALLY Nintendo.
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Whilst I am angry at the costing of everything, people need to realise that O2 aren't soing anything that every other phone company does. Just because it's the iPhone doesn't mean you should get a preferential rate. If you had a Nokia N phone with Vodafone say, and then the new Nokia N series comes out, would you expect to be allowed out of the CONTRACT you entered into in order to get the latest phone? No! Everyone has to wait to upgrade or buy out to upgrade. That's just the way it goes. The iPhone and Apple are just another option in the market.
If anything i'm angry at Apple for making 3 generations of a phone in two years when they could have created the 3GS from the outset. Whilst i love my 3G phone, it is lacking basic features of other phones which have been out a lot longer.
But having said that, the 3.0 OS that comes out this month will rectify most of those issues making the 3G iPhone even better. I can live without a 3.2mp camera and video recording. The Voice control sounds impressive but, let's face it, will be buggy as all voice control is. And a compass?!?!?! Who the hell needs a compass on their phone? If you are someone that has genuine use for a compass, then you will already have one and it would probably be a lot better!!
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OSX-Fan,
There are not always settings available for other UK networks meaning the user will not always be able take advantage of all the features. And, they will get charges vast data charges unless they have good data bolt ons
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@ Jaffa - the compass (in conjuction with GPS) will enable all sorts of clever apps to be written. Look up Wikitude on the Android platform for an example.
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Wow. Just wow. Talk about the amount of brainwashed "ooh it shines!!!" people commenting on this!
Apple don't deserve the type of fan boys it gets. It's crazy, because a lot of their marketing scheme is delivered around telling intricate little lies, but gets this crazy deluded fan base.
But as you can see...:
They are no different to M$, Nokia, Sony, etc...
Here's the big shocker:
IT'S CALLED BUSINESS.
If you don't like it, tough!
And lol@the bashing at O2. O2 probably provides the best service in this country in terms of telecoms, especially in the broadband sector (Be Broadband included). I don't even use them for any telco service - but gosh I wish I did!
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The pricing policy stinks! I only got my iphone 3g in March. But, I am really looking forward to the software upgrade. Ok so I wont have a serviceable camera, but the OS software upgrade gives me most of the new features. And stuff like mms, cut and paste, pairing with laptops and bluetooth stereo will come in v handy!
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Smells like a monopoly to me. Wonder what the Office of Fair Trading have to say on this, if anything. My O2 contract expired 2 months ago and I've been waiting for the new iPhone to be announced as I knew it was coming. But at this price for a new iPhone phone & contract - I'm shopping for a new provider. There are other phones out there and this price just isn't worth it.
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It is standard practice for all service providers to charge for an upgrade if you are part way through a contract so I don't have any problem with that.
Yes we got free upgrades last time but O2 also got to tie us in to new 18 month contracts. Tit for tat. This time there is no freebie, fair enough, but not only do they want us to again sign new 18 month agreements, we will also have to buyout our existing contracts. You usually only have to buyout your contract if you are moving to a different provider, why should it be any different for the iphone?
If I do decide to buyout my O2 contract, it won't be to upgrade to the 3GS but to take my custom elsewhere.
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It looks like you can still get the old one on the old price. Seems like an attractive option right now.
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JonAnalyst
Presumably the Virgin "simcard only" deal would allow you to make telephone calls and perhaps a separate deal with BT Cloud for WiFi would suffice.
I assume this would work because the iPod Touch (which is just an iPhone w/o the telephone element) does work for many apps for the iPhone. Maybe only +-90% but you could avoid the hassle of a six month/ 1 year upgrade.
Otherwise just an iPod Touch with Skype would be OK (assuming that it is likely to be upgraded to similar functionality as the iPhone in the near future)
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honestly, some of the people complaining about being in an 18 month contract really should go and look-up what the word contract means. Anyone who is older than 18 should really know the deal with tie-ins, and complaining is just laughable. Pay up your contract or wait, its as simple as that.
On the serious point though - the price of the new iPhone 3GS is really high for what is basically a revamped (and slightly upgraded) 2 year old phone. I can see me getting one on import depending on the currency conversion.
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I'm going to buy one for myself and one for my wife on Pay as you go, some would say it's a lot of money, I guess it is but we are looking at it this way, your not getting just a phone, your getting all these:
A handheld gaming device that has better game play than a Nintendo DS
A top of the range music player
A GPS device
An Internet browser
A sat nav
A personal organiser
A video player
A camera
A video camera
A TV (BBC iPlayer)
Take all the above gadgets and put them into one and this starts to look like a good price.
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As a customer I like o2. Their customer service is excellent so far and I get what I would consider a fair deal ... my iPhone costs £35 a month for 600 minutes and 500 texts and unlimited(ish) internet; I also get broadband at home for £7 from o2. I upgraded from version 1 of the iPhone to the 2nd generation last time around and signed up for another 18 months with o2.
This time, however, they are going too far. o2's calculator seems faulty because they want £185 for a phone which costs US$199. My calculator says £125 is nearer the mark. Even adding a US sales tax doesn't alter the figure significantly and as all the phones are imported from China or wherever that shouldn't make a difference.
Apple ... this isn't your fault and I'll be very pleased to download the free-of-charge 3.0 software but o2 are doing you a big disservice in the UK. In rip-off Britain I expect to pay a little more but Apple themselves moved to make their prices more UK/US compatible so why should we now be ripped-off by o2? Perhaps we should ask the Spaniards who, as Telefonica, own o2!
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"Take all the above gadgets and put them into one and this starts to look like a good price".... but when you consider that many other handsets on the market have most of these features, but come free on pretty much any tariff you like, surely you have to accept that Apple are just taking the pi$$?
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I'm a long time Apple fan and was planning to buy one of these for my wife. I can afford the price, but don't see why I should. I'll wait until O2 and Apple see sense.
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Ultimately a contract is a contract. When you sign up for 18 months it generally means 18 months. I know, I am tied in to 3 for another 5 months and they are the worst network by far.
With the move towards the US model of 24 month contracts are they actually going to start offering 24 month warranties. Of course you could spend another £60 on Applecare. Kerching!
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Why can't O2 run a trade in programme for iPhone customers?
Trade in your iPhone 3G as part of an upgrade programme, refurbish the old iPhone and sell it on as such to PAYG or cheaper contract customers, thus increasing their customer base and keeping existing customers happy?
Apple already does brisk trade in refurb'd laptops and iPods via their online refurb store.
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lets be honest, the price tag an 18 month contract now attracts is a fully funded iphone - in fact it has substantial profit in it for apple so there is no subsidy. most of the monthly fee also goes to apple so o2 arent being greedy, apple are. when you consider the launch of the palm pre is around the corner and will probably be free at the same price point on most networks, i think apple are taking a big risk commanding sucha premium to be in the iphone owners club!
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My mate and I queued up last year. Neither of us will be queueing up this year. Last years queues were of fans and friends of fans.
I love my iPhone. Yes I know that's sad, but I genuinely do. By far the best gadget I have ever bought. Yesterday I worked out my finances, trying to make it so that I would be able to afford the new iPhone that was going to be announced. OK when it was announced it wasn't the best refresh of the phone, but until this morning I was still planning on upgrading. Then I saw how much it was going to cost me. Far too much for not that much gain.
Shame really as I had been over the moon with o2 before this.
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What's with the whining?
The same reaction occurred with the launch of the 3G - let's face it, early adopters are going to be paying through the roof.
Personally speaking it cost me "a lot" to switch from my "provider at the time" to take advantage of the original iPhone - but it was worth it! As a long time Apple advocate (10 years) the experience (personal and technical) is spot-on.
The sale of my original iPhone on eBay more than covered the cost of the 3G - and the same is highly likely from the sale of my 3G for the 3GS.
The only real gripe I have is with the tethering plans - but I can buy into that as and when required.
Bring it on and stop the constant moaning people!
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Those who have an iPhone 3G. You have an asset which is still worth a fair amount. You can sell your iPhone 3G to one of the phone recycling companies for about £200. Probably £250 or more on ebay.
Put the same amount towards a new 3G S (which is what you'd have to fork out if you took a new contract anyway) and your done, plus you stay on your existing contract.
Maybe O2 could offer to recycle the phones on customers behalf and give a guaranteed value plus a small subsidy (1 month free line rental). That might be enough of a carrot?
Just a thought.
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Some of the comments here laughable - people saying that they "have to pay" so much for an upgrade now, when I'm sure they've been perfectly happy with their iPhones up until the new one was announced. On top of that, they then vilify O2 with phrases like "in a recession", implying that O2 should be making an exception for iPhone customers as opposed to a fairly standard upgrade policy - one that was signed up to when people got their contracts!
More importantly, in a recession people should be watching their own spending - a slightly faster iPhone is not exactly a mandatory purchase. If a new iPhone hadn't been announced, no-one would have been floundering and gasping around like a fish out of water, they would have just been as content as ever.
The people complaining loudest are those who "have" to have the newest and best - in which case you should be prepared to pay for that attitude.
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Good lord, look at you sad, whining apple fanboys, all i can see from this blog is:
"boohoo.... i signed this 18 month contract less than 12 months ago and those nasty people at o2 won't let me break it to get my new iphone which does only slightly more than what my current iphone does." Wow.... when you write it down it does look like pathetic whining!
I can understand the anger though, honestly i do. As you must be so angry at yourselves because all apple do is go "look at the shiny shiny" and you all go running like rats to the pied piper. They have been doing this for years with their ipods and you seem hurt and angry with o2 for some wierd reason because apple are doing the same with the phones they are making
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O2 is a victim of its own success here. There was a huge amount of hype around the iPhone and iPhone 3G when they were launched, and a lot of coverage in the media that just didn't happen for any other phone. A lot of iPhones were sold because O2 essentially had free advertising. The spotlight was on them when the message was good and it's still on them now that the message is bad.
The problem is the exclusivity contract between Apple and O2, which means that voting with your feet means choosing another handset. Current iPhone owners are also locked in - O2 refuse to unlock iPhones for use with other carriers at the end of a contract, which is against OFCOM recommendations and not the case for any other handset that they offer.
A major UK online retailer sells the iPhone 3G SIM-free and unlocked. They are expensive, but they can be used with any carrier and are not subject to O2's terms and conditions. Hopefully the new model will also be available through this channel.
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I'm a little miffed, as I just swapped over from Vodafone to O2 for the 3G iphone. I did ask about the new iphone but it was all just rumours at the time. No one knew anything concrete really. So I just decided to sign on the dotted line.
If I waited another month I would've been a very happy chappy, but as some have already said, you're not getting that much more than what you will get with the 3.0 firmware. Better battery life 'upto' 2x faster application load times, better camera, video recording and compass.
Its not a lot really. The voice recogition is that only on the 3GS?
If you consider what actual extras I've lost out on it, its not big deal.
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Under the sarcasm VidicTheDestroyer does hide a valid point. Current iPhone owners were happy with their phone. They now have this perception that bunging a compass and a video camera on to the new model suddenly makes them lumbered with a obsolete paperweight.
Look at the history of Apple's product deployment. They are serial releasers at least once every 12 months on each product line. This does not make your current device any less of a beast than it was yesterday. Only your perception has changed and not iReality. If you do move on to the 3GS then iPhone 4 will land in about 12 months and then you will be in the same situation again.
Apple are a company geared towards profit, not a brand, not a lifestyle choice, not a cool friend but a large corporation just like every other one out there just with more rounded corners.
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Is this the day the iPhone becomes an iCon?
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I'm not angry at Apple per say, they have released a great piece of evolutionarily technology, I'm more angry with 02 for the ludicrous way they are dealing with the pricing structure and lack of 'reasonable' upgrade fees for existing iPhone users.
I'm not looking for something for nothing here I'm willing to pay an upgrade fee to the iPhone 3GS (say £99) even if it means extending my current contract for another 18 months, the iPhone to me IS that good a device. The iPhone has changed the perception of what a phone should be, and as the iPod did before it with the music industry, the iPhone has the potential to change how carriers operate not just for iPhone users but for everyone and the industry as a whole.
I've seen the various blog posts, tweets and petitions (which I've signed) talking about this issue but one tweet sums it up for me. The iPhone killer comes not from another handset but from a carrier... O2 to be more precise.
To use an Apple slogan... O2 need to 'Think Different'... or face the consequences.
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For those suggesting that iPod Touch = iPhone without phone ... what about the missing
camera
bluetooth
GPS
(compass - in 3GS)
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Apple didn't anger the fans: O2 Angered their customers.
I was going to get an iPhone 3GS but it would cost me £514. It's the exact same cost as running my current contract alongside a brand new contract with a new phone on it, only I don't get the minutes of the cancelled account.
This is what happens when you have a 12 month product cycle and an 18 month contract.
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Get a life.
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@jonbounds (#8)
There already is an iPhone without the phone. It's called the iPod Touch
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Why the hell are so many people blaming o2 for the upgrade costs?? Do you see o2 applying similarly ridiculous terms to other manufacturers' handsets? Well??
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The issue is not the length of the contract but the fact that the vast majority of iPhone 3G owners are Apple fans and O2 is alienating them by not providing a reasonable upgrade path.
By all means levy a charge or extend the contract term but to have no upgrade path is just going to annoy a huge percentage of customers.
This will come back to haunt them if the iPhone becomes available on an alternative provider in the future.
Me, Im buying one on Pay as you go and not renewing my contract in January. That way if the next iPhone is available elsewhere O2 will lose my business.
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I don't understand those existing iPhone customers, mid-contract, who seem to expect O2, the service provider with whom THEY VOLUNTARILY entered into a fixed-term contact, should now rip up the paperwork and allow them to start all over again without penalty. Granted O2 allowed it with the launch of the 3G variant but that should not be taken as a given.
You have a contract, legally enforceable, and you should lump it like the rest of us. I have an 18 month T-Mobile contract with about 12 months left to go. I don't expect T-Mobile to suddenly end the thing early and allow me to upgrade my handset just because I want the latest new model.
Perhaps I should try it with my mortgage provider...tell them I need a new house now and my existing mortgage should be written off as I need a new house NOW!
Turning to the 3GS model, I'm disappointed to be honest. Little tangible benefits. Yes there's some "under the hood" tweaks to speed things up but the camera is still shockingly poor compared to the latest Samsung and Sony Ericsson models being released.
The one thing in the iPhone's favour is the glorious user interface, something which even I (an anti-Appleite!) admire.
But sooner or later some iPhoners will realise the likes of Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Palm, HTC et all are all banging on the door. Indeed, the very soon to be launched Nokia N97 is surely one of the closest rivals for the iPhone and it will be interesting to see how sales of this device (which matches or in some cases exceeds the iPhone's capability) fare.
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@ vidicthedestroyer
You must be a riot amongst friends...
@ aptonline
Spot on - for O2 to expect customers to "Buy out" there contracts BEFORE splashing out on a 3GS is commercial suicide. When iPhone 3G was announced 1 gen owners had an upgrade path that worked and brought more customers to the table with what seemed a great way to stay on top of the technology.
Nominal fee - restart your contract = perfect
As it stands a lot of iPhone user will have to wait longer than the NEXT revision of the phone is available - stupid.
Potential customers will be driven away by what looks like a contract trap and nothing more.....
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Wonder if anyone can help me with my Dilemma
Just paid out my contract with orange got PAC code.
Just about to but new iphone on contract with 02.
Going to Washinton 26th June shall I buy one there or here and what are the benefits/drawbacks
Thank you
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This is all a bit silly - people are drawing comparisons to the introduction of the 3G when original iPhone owners were offered cheap upgrades, but those owners had previously paid FULL PRICE for the first generation iPhones and taken no subsidy from O2 whatsoever, so when they upgraded they got the same price as every other "new" customer taking on a new *subsidised* handset. Once you do that, of course you're tied into the new contract and of course you have to pay to get out of it, because you owe O2 for the cost of that subsidy.
I do agree the new iPhone's aren't competitively priced over here and O2 are in danger of losing custom over that, but that's a commercial decision by O2 and customers will simply vote with their feet.
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@neilephipps
Would the "contract trap" you refer to be the legally binding document iPhone users happily agreed to when they signed up??
Findlay Colquhoun sums it up pretty well with the mortgage analogy - why should consumers expect a contract on an Apple product (ooh, shiny shiny) to be less legally valid, or binding, than any other contract?
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O2's upgrade policies certainly aren't as good as my last provider (Orange) - but lets face it, no other provider has a 'phone as good as the iPhone. I probably won't leave O2 - but unless I switch to the Palm Pre in January I think I'll be skipping an iPhone generation as well.
Philip
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I have a number of issues here. As an iPhone owner, most of what I want is in OS3, not the new phone and I get that for free.
Essentially for me I'm being propositioned to fork out a lot of money for:
A better camera - useless until they give it a flash
A compass - fairly useless
Tethering - useful if it runs on 3G but it doesn't, so useless
Extra memory - quite useful
Faster processing - I don't really notice speed problems that often
So why on earth would I upgrade?
I do however agree that I signed up for an 18 month contract and they don't have to let me out of it. But, like a lot of other people here, I'm just going to wait another 6 months and see what Apple comes out with next year so O2 just lost a sale.
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I am actually considering downgrading to an original iPhone or second-hand iPhone 3G (my own 3G was stolen last month, halfway through contract).
The complete lack of a coherent, affordable upgrade path is a poor deal for loyal customers and reflects very badly on Apple and 02. And in the States, on AT&T.
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I just love the way that so many people cant just see that both companies are running Businesses to make money. Its what they do.
My Mrs' Bought a Fiesta ST last year and Ford have just release a new Fiesta, does this mean she is entitled to the new model?
NO
I bought a Macbook in January and the Specs have been updated in the WWDC yesterday, am I entitled to a New one?
NO!!
I could go on all day with the examples but I won't. Some people just need to deal with the fact that this is how technology has always worked. When you buy something new, a newer version is always around the corner, you cant win!
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Not bothered about upgrading as I'll wait until iphone 2010 ... nothing in the new 3GS that makes me want to upgrade - but am very annoyed about O2 charging £15 per month for tethering and using the phone as a modem when I am already paying for unlimited internet use on the iphone and if I'm tethered I'm not sure what the difference is to using you tube or surfing the net or streaming radio or the rest. Given that I can get a mobile broadband dongle cheaper, why bother? O2 is being very greedy and has, as far as I can see, ruined its reputation with what was a pretty loyal base of customers. Good Job O2!
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Having just come off the phone from Orange retensions, they advised that the iPhone will be available on Orange within the next three months 'apparently'.
Due to the number of people leaving Orange because they want the iPhone, apparently its a paperwork exercise now before it can become official.
Ok - maybe this is just sales talk, to keep me as a customer, but surely Orange couldn't be so obvious by saying that the iPhone will be available?
Has it actually been confirmed that O2 are still the exclusive iPhone supplier?
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@ TheTruthAbout
It has been confirmed O2 are still exclusive but no one knows dates.
Someone I know who works for Orange has been told they will be selling the 3G, but that was months ago.
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Here is the iPhone fan perspective:
It is our intention to upgrade to EVERY major new version of the iPhone on launch day. We have shown that we are prepared to pay £620-720 per year to do this - including upgrade and monthly contract.
O2 know this full well, and yet their pricing and contract structures do not accommodate for their most loyal customers.
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I understand what a contract is. I don't want a Nokia. But nobody with an iPhone 3G will have a contract coming to end right now, that is the problem, EVERYONE has at least 6 months to wait. I am prepared to pay to upgrade, but the situation O2 has created means that no existing iPhone 3G customer can get the new model without paying at least 6 months of their contract and risking missing the boat again 6 months later. That's the issue - the 3GS is limited to new customers only and the people who are most likely to want the new iPhone are those who already have one.
For example, on £45 per month, the new phone is free on a 24 month contract, or £87 on an 18 month contract. Why can't O2 offer me the phone for £87 on a 24 month contract? They get their extra 6 months all the same.
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When Apple let o2 do the iPhone for "fre", they really did open this can of worms on themselves. The problem with "Free"* is that everyone thinks they can afford it.
And in the same stroke takes Apples' reputation of creating quality exclusive products for the privileged few and grinds it to dust.
They should have kept the 3g one at a cost, like the original iPhone.
That way, those who could afford, had. Those who cannot, dont. Much like everything else. It's not a human right to be given stuff for free, nice things cost money.
Mind, the concept of currency being exchanged for goods or services seems to becoming more and more misunderstood.
I blame the retailers myself, luring in the slack-jawed luddites with "free" stuff, knowing full well that their target deemographic is far too naive to understand the mechanics of the system.
suckers.
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As mentioned above, the real scandal is that O2 have doubled the price of the phone over the 3G for people outside of a contract. Those of us who didn't upgrade to a 3G - who O2 have effectively had nine months of free money anyway - suddenly have to pay twice as much or go to a two year contract.
Why, when the price is unchanged in the US? Rip off Britain might actually mean something for once.
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I think what Apple are trying to establish is a base of customers that will enable them to launch a phone, to suit a set of contracts.
For example, many people still have 6mths to wait until they can upgrade, but for those like me, who are out of contract with their providers, will change to provider for the iPhone.
Therefore, once there is sufficient clients, Apple will be able to tailor their launches for the number of users.
Obviously, 1G users got offered an upgrade, because it was in their interests to use the latest technology, which could also suggest Apple were possibly not happy with the original version.
The software upgrade for existing 3G phones 'may' have been released to appease the 3G users, so they could bide their time until out of contract.
Who knows!
All I know is, I'm in that dilema of whether to wait and see if what Orange have said is true or jump ship to O2.
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I still have one of the first gen iPhones as Ive been waiting to upgrade to something different and exciting. For the meagre selection of added extras, this still aint it and Ive got better things to spend £185 on.
E.g. It would be nice to have a web focussed phone that could actually browse Flash sites. Wouldnt this be a little more useful than a compass???
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45 quid a month for a phone? Some people have more money than sense! Do you REALLY need to spend that much per month on a gadget? Here are three simple steps to phone Nirvana...
1: Buy a cheaper phone - you can still talk to other people on them despite the fact it might not have a compass on it.
2: Donate your savings to a worthwhile charity.
3: Feel better about yourself knowing you haven't lined Steve Jobs already bulging wallet but you may have saved a childs life.
May your God go with you.
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oDear o2 oNo
Apple has no doubt produced another amazing product upgrade. I love my iPhone 3G. I am however astounded that somebody important at Apple, hasn't kicked somebody important at o2 very hard indeed by now, for their pathetic network and 3G performance amidst their exclusivity as sole iPhone carrier in the UK. They certainly have not ploughed much investment into the infrastructure to ensure that Apple's product performs as remarkably as it should. I won't be buying myself out of the remainder of my 18 month contract to upgrade. If o2 had any competition in the UK, they wouldn't be expecting us to either.
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Why should O2 expect customers to pay their full monthly line rental, for the remainder of their 18mth contract for example, to be able to buy a new iPhone???? My previous network provider, Orange, which I left only because of O2's exclusivity of the iPhone, would usually allow an early upgrade for a fee (probably the balance of any outstanding subsidy from your previous phone) but not your full monthly tariff!
O2's arrogance will hopefully lose them a lot of customers and I will be leaving O2 as soon as their exclusivity agreement with Apple stops.
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The accessibility features in the new iPhone 3G S may well be enough to tempt some consumers to pay the premium. Apple may well be the first mainstream company to ship a touch screen device which can be used by visually impaired people. If this is indeed true, that is one phenomenal achievement.
Google Engineers have been working on making their Android platform accessible for a while now, though none of their work has yet been released. If I find that I can finally utilise built-in functionality with the new iPhone, I for one will be extremely impressed and very happy.
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Hi,
I think that this should get a mention.
@O2 has been tweeting about O2 Priority Lists, there are 4, Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Everyone is on a list.
Google: O2PriorityList
They are based on your average O2 spend.
The more you spend per month the better the reward, if you are on the platimun List you can upgrade your handset now as you get to upgrade 6 months before the end of your contract, gold 3 months & silver 1 month.
So just like any loyalty scheme if your a big user\spender you get rewarded, this seems fair to me.
I hope this helps.
The tethering pricing is another matter entirely. It doesn't seem to make any sense.
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Problem Solved!!
Sell your current phone, get the iPhone PAYG ride the contract out till December then downgrade and disconnect/migrate to a simplicity tariff.
On a 12 month simplicity you get 1600 mins, 3200 texts and you can choose the unlimited web bolt on for £29.36 per month, thats saving £180 over the 12 months to offset against next years iPhone.
Depending on your usage you could even drop to 800 mins 1600 texts for £19.58 per month and save £25 per month over the 12 months (£300)
You also get month to month Simplicity tariffs
£19.58 gives 600 mins and 1200 texts plus unlimited web bolt on
£29.38 goves 1200 mins and 2400 texts plus the web bolt on.
You would lose visual voicemail, but honestly would it make much of a difference.
(savings based on being on a £45 tariff at present)
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damn it! i was hoping for an iphone this year if O2 didnt get it, guess i better start looking at the Blackberrys again.
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Definitely a great product BUT:
This looks to me like stretching customer loyalty and the power of the Apple/ iPhone brands to the absolute limit. It will be fascinating to see whether:
* Apple/ O2 keep their nerve on pricing
* Sufficient numbers of iPhone disciples are prepared to make sacrifices elsewhere in their lives in order to worship at the altar...
Like Rory, I have my doubts...
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The thing that really grates is how in the US the iPhone is cheaper, but here it's more expensive. If you look at what was said at the keynote they make a focus on how it'll be cheaper, but not for us by the look of it!
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I will never buy an iPhone for the following reasons -
1. It costs too much.
2. The contracts are too long and totally unflexible if you decide you can no longer afford the payments or you wish to cancel the contract for other reasons.
3. Pay as you go iPhones are circa £350+ GBP, that is a ridiculous price.
This new iPhone does nothing to change my view of something which is more style than substance and isn't worth the money unless you're a Prada tart.
If I want a phone with push email, internet access, camera, music etc. I'd buy a BlackBerry.
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Over the years I've succumbed to an iBook, Macbook, two iMacs, Mac Pro, 2 Cinema Displays, 3 iPods and I'm on my second iPhone (both bought on launch day). Will I be getting the iPhone 3GS, NO, NO, NO, NO and NO.
Seems like someone is taking the proverbial!!
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To all the people saying about how it should be no different than any other phone.
Firstly it should be the same as the original to 3G.
Secondly, other phones you can upgrade to at least 2-5 other phones. With the iphone you can only upgrade to one other handset. Also on other phones there are many other tariffs, with the iPhone there are only 4, all of which are specific to the iphone.
You should be able to end your contract early if your upgrading because then O2 will have you longer.(iphone 3G for 6 months then another 18 months for 3GS) whereas now many people will not be willing to upgrade incase there is the same problem as there is now.
The iPhone is different, because its the only phone series made by Apple, Sony Erricsson and Nokia make loads of phones. Also you have to be on O2, so if you upgrade O2 are guarenteed youre still with them.
All those people saying "it's only a phone" you obviously don't own one, and it's not just a phone it's your money and your not being treated very well. So people have a right to be annoyed. Also more reason because on a normal phone people could just switch network and keep the phone, iphone you can't do that.
Like it or not the iPhone is different, and if each customer just paid the difference of the handset each time it came out, the whole thing would work superbly. You get an up to date modern phone almost immediately and Apple get lots of customers and O2 can keep you. Also there's no problem of looking around for the best deal, no confusion between which phone is better. Just Simple.
Sadly because of this nonsense about the switch to 3GS it's not as good.
The iPhone was also successful because it was new and it was mananged and sold in a new easier way.
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Why all the moaning? I still don't understand why everyone is so angry at taking out contracts and then moaning that they can't get out of them. I'm very much looking forward to getting a 16GB 3GS on a 24-month contract.
Is two years too long? If you have itchy feet, then maybe. But I've had an old Sony Ericsson phone for well over two years now. Are we all so fickle nowadays that a piece of technology worth hundreds of pounds is destined for the scrapheap after less than two years?
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Why don't people understand the concept of subsidised phones and contract terms?
The original iPhone was NOT subsidised, therefore upgrading to the subsidised 3G model was permitted and the carrier expects to recoup this subsidy over the course of the 18 month contract.
As the 3G was subsidised, users will not be able to upgrade to the new 3GS for the cheaper subsidised price as the carriers might still not have recouped the cost providing the original subsidised phone. They are welcome to pay extra to upgrade before the end of their current contract.
When purchasing the 3G, users signed an agreement to use the phone for 18 months, not 12 months and then upgrade again, where will the mobile carriers make their profits if they are permanently handing out the latest and greatest new phones for cheap prices?
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What has worried me is the apparent reasoning behind the upgrade policy. As we know, O2 are losing their exclusivity in January 2010, and are charging high prices just to get that final sqeeze in.
As a first gen owner, and opted not to upgrade to iPhone 3G, I am now being told that I cannot upgrade since I have to stay for the full 18-months as stipulated in the contract.
The alleged reason for iPhone 3G customers not being able to upgrade and having to pay off their current contract is due to that the iPhone 3G was subsidised in the contracts, and such that the former iPhone (1st Gen) wasn't.
To me, it is unclear why they aren't letting customers of the first Gen upgrade, as the device has been paid fully, and O2 would be gainign more income rather than asking me the pay off or wait, then potentially losing my as a customer. I have less than 6 months left, and have been told by official Customer Services that I cannot upgrade, to the contrary of what their Twitter spokesperson said.
O2 need to get their act together, fast... for the benefit for them and the iPhone customers.
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I'm very happy with my 3G iPhone. I like the choice, range and value-for-money of the iPhone apps. I'm not really interested in the new 3GS features and I don't feel the need to have the very latest model for the sake of it. Having said that, neither do I see no point in waiting for competitors' second-rate copies of the iPhone to groan into life sometime in the future when I can have the real thing now. I still don't understand why people plod on with Windows bugbloater version 2 million with 25 options for home/business/school/nerdclub, either but that's another story.
And I have never met anyone who owns an "iPod-killer" Zune. Funny that - perhaps they are just too sad to admit to it...
Anyway, I'm much more interested in the free iPhone version 3 OS software upgrade out soon.
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You cant blame O2 entirely. They are only trying to regain some of the huge fees they have to pay to apple for the exclusive.
As always, apple have to do things in there own different way.
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Ah diddums.
If it's worth it to you, pay the money. If not, don't.
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@Lem007... Actually... O2 are still profiting from each unit they sell.
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Some comments from an O2 retensions guy I spoke to today:
"Look - we really don't have any say in this - everything from minutes and inclusive texts get dictated to us by Apple. We can't offer ANY deals"
Admittedly he was trying to get me off his/O2's case for not providing a more attractive upgrade path. Though I thought my offer of upgrading to the £45 per month deal (from £35) was a fair first bargaining point to reduce the buyout fee....
Somethings about the hardware (h/w) in the new iPhone 3G:
The iPhone 3GS contrary to many of the comments above (and O2 rep's pleas to take the free s/w update and be happy...) has considerable hardware improvements:
1/ compass - no not that interesting in terms of map navigation - but _much_ more interesting for the augmented reality applications that are enabled by it (e.g. arrow on screen overlaying actual camera view showing where address is/shop is/free coffee)
2/ HSDPA - what a Nokia user is used to seeing at 3.5G - considerable speed boost - admittedly right now mostly in cities/urban areas - but noticeable for downloads, streaming and multimedia intensive browsing
3/ARM A8-Cortex CPU. Don't worry about the details - this is 1.5x to 2x faster than ARM11 in iPhone 3G [and with some good programming could get faster]
4/Improved camera h/w - I hate the fuzzy shots my iPhone3G takes - forget video - having a half decent point and shoot camera in the 3GS which will also do macro (hence a whole suite of applications ranging from barcode reading to face biometrics) is a killer upgrade feature
5/Lastly - for the geeks out there - the iPhone 3GS has an OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics hardware accelerator (PowerVR SGX) this provides not only much improved graphics and user interface effects, transitions, composition, great game graphics and other features but _could_ with the porting of an OpenCL implementation allow allow "General Purpose processing on the graphics processing unit (GPGPU) - look this up in Snow Leopard and have a good think about development convergence around OS X on all Apple platforms and the general idea of having a hardware platform like the PS3 which developers are going to learn to exploit over the coming year with applications Apple haven't even considered yet. [I know that's what I'm going to do!]
So... a lot of reasons to get hold of this new device asap. I lost track of the score on the 'its a contract, stupid' vs 'betraying their loyal customers' debate - I myself have 7 months to go on my contract and am more worried about the general lack of synchronicity between O2 contract period and Apple's upgrade cycle - I'd much rather pay a simpler higher entry figure and be able to upgrade after a years contract.
I'm off to the US next week where I'll try to secure a new 3GS which I'll pop my O2 SIM into and hope for the best.
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One of the main features touted by Apple for the 3GS is the speed improvement. Yet, as far as I can see O2 has little or no HSDPA 7.2 Mbps coverage. (Other networks do including T-Mobile who's mobile broadband seems to me the best.) So anyone upgrading had better put a high value on the camera upgrade and the compass!
I've been considering an iPhone for ages as everything else I have is Mac. However, I really didn't want to move to O2 from T-Mobile. I thought that the 3rd generation iPhone would be the one to go for but actually it really doesn't seem that big a step forward. I really wonder if its worth it.
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I quite like the hardware improvements, but is the overall cost worth it?
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The UK has it much better than some other countries. For example here in Canada the iphone is only available on a THREE year contract (that's double 18 months) and it's still a few hundred dollars to buy first. In three years I imagine they'll have brought out the iPhone Nano. Not to mention the fact that the data allowance is ridiculously low compared to the UK and other countries.
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I was looking forward to seeing how the new iPhone 3GS would turn out, which ended up be pretty close to rumours in the months leading up to its launch. I would certainly like one (who wouldn't), but am nowhere nearly as excited about it as I was when the 3G was launched and am unlikely to dash out to get one. Reasons for this include:
- Some of the new features are things that most other smart phones have been able to do for years. My ancient Palm Treo 650 is able to copy and paste text, as well as shoot video and send multimedia messages. These are not 'game changing' features (to use horrible Market Speak).
- It's rumoured that the 3G is capable of video but that this has never been enabled. If apple as eco friendly as they've been claiming to be recently, why can't they make their current products work to the best of their abilities, rather than making people go out and spend lots of money on new bits of plastic?
- Unlikely I know, but I've been hoping the iPhone won't be restricted to O2 as the reception where I live (in North London) is terrible. Many of my friends have this complaint too.
- I tend to feel rather ill when I remember just how much I'm paying for the 3G model: £52.50 per month (£45 contract + £7.50 O2 insurance). I am not jumping at the chance to pay even more than this.
- I bought my 3G the day it was released, which cost a one off fee of £60 for the handset on the the £45 per month contract for the top end model (16GB at the time) for an 18 month contract. If I were to do the same with the 3GS, with the top end model (32GB) for an 18 month contract, that will cost £175.19 for the handset. Oof. And before you ask, I would expect the 32GB model to be the same price as the 16GB model a year ago.
Unlike some people, I'm not surprised that O2 aren't offering a free upgrade from 3G to 3GS, although it doesn't exactly make them look great, having been more generous last time the iPhone was updated. I think the big problem for me is that it's even more expensive than the 3G, and it's just not that different. When my contract runs out, I may just stick with what I've got, or possibly give the Google phone or the new Palm a go (in 6 months time we should have a good idea of how these are going). Hasn't anyone heard there's a recession on?!
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Once again Apple has offered a carrot, and as usual there are those out there who will bite, but at what cost?
I see I'm not the only one who think this latest phone is nothing more than what it should have been, when it was released last year. Seriously though, I bought my phone out right last year as a pre-paid, it's been replaced 3 months after I got it due to software problems and they now expect another $900AUD for functions that my little NOKIA had two years ago? Get real, also reading through the hype, this new up grade 3.0, has most for the functions, except the updated camera and video, oh! An a compass?
Has anyone checked that most of these could have been included in this upgrade, like the video recorder and the compass, but Apple chose not too?
There are already apps out there for Jailbreak ones that do just this, so my final word to Apple is to stop chasing the buck and fix this! Apple has for a long time delivered the goods, so do the decent thing and fix the iphone 3g first before you start talking up the "New" one!
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How strange. Apple fleece O2 for an exclusive deal (let's not kid ourselves - a company like Apple, already great at overcharging for albeit very nice products, would not sell themselves cheap on an exclusive deal with O2) and then people complain at O2! iPhones have always - and will always - be expensive. There are other choices and people should vote with their wallets. The iPhone is a very nice phone (all Apple kit is very nice and very expensive), but let's not think that Apple are going to join the world of pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap any time soon.
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A lot of people seem to be saying O2/AT&T are only being resonable in asking early upgraders to pay-off any subsidy they'd lose.
I'd agree - IF that were true. Unfortunately it's not. If you compare the £35 with the SIMplicity (SIM only) £20 tariff with free web bolt on, they are exactly the same quotas. This means the extra £15 is effectively to pay for the phone subsidy.
That means if you wanted to pay off the subsidy 7 months early, say, then the price you should have to pay is 7*£15 = £105. However, O2/AT&T are asking people to pay the whole remaining contract value, even though you're agreeing to buy a new phone and stay with them even longer. This would be 7*35=£245. That's a premium therefore of £140 OVER AND ABOVE the actual subsidy.
That would be fair enough if you were leaving O2/AT&T, but if you're staying with them, it seems unfair to penalise you, as I say, OVER AND ABOVE the subsidy. You are being asked, effectively, to pay for the data/voice part of the tariff over again.
This is not the same for other phones - upgrading early is much closer to the actual lost subsidy.
Finally, why have a yearly upgrade, and yet only allow 18/24 month contracts? I'd have thought it would be in Apple's best interests to get more handset revenue from those willing to part with it.
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I understand the predicament that no current iPhone 3G users are eligable (apart from those who spent £400 on PAYG and are unlikely to fork out again so soon).
But why should iPhone users be special? O2 kindly subsidised a £400 machine for us last year, so that I could pick up my 16GB top-of-the-range version for just £59. I'm still paying for the rest through my 18-month service agreement. How does that entitle me to get another one, mid-way through the contract?
The original iPhone upgrade was different. O2 did not subsidise the original iPhone. Instead, Apple offered the device at a discounted rate (i.e. £269 instead of £400) for O2 to sell on at full price. To compensate, Apple took a share of the monthly service revenue.
Now I, like everyone else (and all mobile subscription customers everywhere), will have to wait until about November before I can upgrade. This will mean that I will most likely miss out on next year's upgrade but get the following year's on launch date.
Of course we could have it worse: US customers on AT&T are all stuck on 24 month contracts and so none of them will be able to get the new version for another year.
Still, Apple and the service providers could avoid this whole hassle by offering 12 month contracts or 18 month upgrade cycles...
Queues on the 19th still? Don't discount it!
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Mobile Phone contracts are a con-- period. It's much cheaper and better
to buy the phone from the cheapest source and then use pay as you go.
For this reason even though I am a BIG Apple fan I have not moved to an IPhone and find the wireless capabilities of an IPOD Touch is all I need.
Consider taking out a wireless agreement instead--much better and cheaper and faster. An IPhone will only enter my life when all this nonsense with O2 exclusivity is ended.
tonymort
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Guys, calm down! Why all the fuss, come on it isn't exactly the most groundbreaking update to a device ever. I mean compared to the 2G to 3g upgrade, this isn't something that I will be rushing to the shops for. I'm quite happy with the 3G, it does everything that the 3GS can do but slower, without a compass, and has half the memory (ok better camera on the 3GS and video recording). Sorry guys but I will not part with that sort of money for a device that is minorly better than the one that I currently own. Besides 3.0 upgrade will enhance the current device and give it a new lease of life, many of which Apple are touting on the new device. So chill and wait, you are better off with the 3G now, than you were with a 2G when the 3G device was launched!
You are better off waiting until the next device that comes out, by then I think technology (and more Iphone competitors) will have developed and entered the marketplace. I anticipate the next device to be a groundbreaker rather than this one....
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I have an iPod touch, and although I would dearly love to upgrade (pardon the pun) to an iPhone, this strategy from O2 is just unacceptable. In short - the total minimum cost of an iPhone 3G S over an 18 month contract is over £700. The worrying thing is, people will pay it!
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Gutted! I was looking forward to getting my hands on the new video features but there is no way I can afford to buy-out my existing contract. Seems nuts, as I am sure I will not be the only one, so providing no upgrade path could be a costly decision for O2 and Apple.
There has been some discussion about not blaming Apple. Of course we should be blaming Apple - they are a brand and have a duty to look after their end customer. An upgrade path for existing users should have been agreed with O2.
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@tondoz
"A handheld gaming device that has better game play than a Nintendo DS"
Easy on the kool aid there.
@Jon8898
"other phones you can upgrade to at least 2-5 other phones. With the iphone you can only upgrade to one other handset."
"The iPhone is different, because its the only phone series made by Apple, Sony Erricsson and Nokia make loads of phones."
"All those people saying "it's only a phone" you obviously don't own one"
You CAN upgrade to countless other phones regardless of what handset you have. You're CHOOSING to upgrade to one particular phone.
Thanks for making me laugh!
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All the people who are saying they should get the new IPHONE 3GS for free when upgrading need to think logically, for example if i went out and brought a ford focus, then 6 months later a new model the ford focus S came out i wouldnt get into a tiff and start moaning about the fact that i have to buy it , and wont be getting it for free. Also a friend of mine has a sony ercisson c905, so when the 12 megapixel sony ericsson does he get it for free? I dont think so some how. After all we are in the middle of a recession, so of course companies are going to want to make money. Plus i doubt apple and O2 are going to give iphone customers special treatment and not standard O2 customers.
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So typical, rather than looking at a situation rationally, people just throw tantrums and start petitions.
The situation with the iPhone is no different to every single other contract you can get in the UK . Note the word "contract". I couldn't go and swap my N95 for a new N96 last year just because Nokia released a new model, since I still had several months to run on my contract.
As it happens, I'm pretty fortunate that my contract ran out just as the 3GS is coming out. It might be an incremental update, but as a non-iPhone owner, the new version looks very appealing now that it does video and satnav, and has a capacity that's enough to leave my MP3 player at home.
I'm certainly not expecting a discounted iPhone 4 when that inevitably comes out next year.
@JemBFS (no. 32), O2 aren't advertising two prices, you get the phone free if it's a 24-month contract or pay £96 for an 18-month one.
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I would love to own an iPhone, but unfortunately I simply cannot get a signal from O2 at home. So, until Apple consider allowing other mobile providers to sell iPhones, I will never be a customer of theirs, however willing.
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Aww boo hoo! A commercial enterprise in the middle of a financial recession won't give you a £400 smartphone for free. Is anybody really surprised by this? I don't wish to seem harsh, but: You signed a contract. Get used to it.
When you signed that contract, you "bought" an iPhone (heavily subsidised by O2). It's yours - you're not renting it so you have no automatic entitlement to upgrades. Can you imagine taking back your BMW after a year and demanding the dealer replace it with the latest model? Outrageous.
What makes people think Apple/O2 are obliged to replace their iPhone just because something newer and better has come out? This product was never going to be like those semi-disposable fashion phones of 10 years ago. If your iPhone still works you really have *nothing* to complain about. Use it and stop crying that the kid next door has something better.
If you got a free upgrade to iPhone 3G you have already got far more than you paid for - count yourself lucky and stop whinging! You're customers of O2, not Steve Jobs' favourite nephews
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PS I know "Apple - angering the fans?" makes for a more compelling headline, but wouldn't a more appropriate and journalistically honest headline be:
"O2 - pleasing the shareholders!"
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Basic rule of thumb: If you forget the hash up that's been made with the iPhone, O2 are actually a pretty good network.
Therefore, get yourself any other phone through O2 (since most have superior features to the iPhone anyway) and you'll not have a problem.
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@ ct2k7-net
The i-phone, like all other phones are subsidised by the operator. Lose, or damage your phone beyond repair and you'll find out how much they really cost when you buy a replacement.
O2 make their money entirely from the network
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@all iphone 3G owners who started their contract last july...
buy the £538 iPhone 3GS 32GB or just the 16GB for £440. Sell the iPhone 3G for £300 on eBay. Stick your contract SIM into the 3GS for 6 months, at the end of the contract O2 will offer a rolling 30 day contract which will cost you £20 a month, and if you don't get a new phone with it, they'll give you £150 credit on your bills, giving you 7-8 months worth of line rental paid.
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I too am a o2 Iphone user, I had the 2G and I have the 3G. Like everyone else I am dissapointed that we can't upgrade for free or at a small cost. But what other companies let there customers upgrade to the newest phone?
It seems Nokia are releasing a newer version of there N96 phone every month, but their customers don't expect a free upgrade?
Maybe we shouldn't have been offered the free upgrade last year and this discussion wouldn't be taking place.
Not defending O2 in any way, as the US can upgrade for free, and O2 charges/costs are ridiculously high, (I'm just happy I have a friends and family discount on mu iphone tarriff!!)
But at the end of the day all Iphone users SIGNED a 18/24 mth contract you, qall knoew that Apple WOULD bring out a new Iphone but we all have been given a FREE software upgrade to 3.0 given you nearly all the aspects of the 3Gs (except new camera, Video cam etc), so upgrade your software and then upgrade the phone to 3Gs if you need to when your contracts end?! But I'm sure we will be in the same position next year if Apple release a new design/new Iphone 4g so maybe don't upgrade to 3Gs wait for next year?!!?
Too many people want something for free, and in these times you can't expect to get a $400 smart phone for free!!!!!
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As the old saying goes, "a fool and his money are soon parted"
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Tethering good.
O2's price for it, silly bloody price. Might as well buy a mobile broadband unit.
Spike
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How could you possibly be angry with o2?
You signed up to an 18 month contract, you must be old enough to understand what that means!
Line all o2 customers we can upgrade one month early.. sooner if you have a higher priority status.
Would you complain if Sony developed a new TV a few months after you bought one?
If you're that bothered about having the best model all the time.. then buy a pay and go one!
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This is all highly amusing to me; people really don't understand how their price plans work.
Like a lot of people here, I'm generally happy with O2 and I upgraded my 2G iPhone to the 3G one on release day last year. What many people don't realise is that O2 did not subsidise the original 2G iPhone. Most of the funds from actually purchasing the phone went straight back to Apple. This means they didn't have to claw back any money from monthly contract payments and therefore when the new phone was released and they were allowed to subsidise it, they were able to offer it as an immediate upgrade. I won't bang on like some on here about other phones / networks / products (mortgages??!) but in some ways they have a valid point too.
Not sure what I'm going to do yet, will have a play with one on or around launch day and probably get on one on PAYG, selling my old one on eBay. Total cost, not much more than £200 I'd have thought and then I can upgrade free of fees for iPhone 2010. I really don't know what all the fuss is about. You want the newest phone, pay the price
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Whats the problem here then?
Is it Apple users getting all hot and bothered about not being able to get the latest and greatest iPhone on the day it comes out. O no you wont be cool anymore!!
Get a life, its the same as for anyone else on any other network with any other phone. You sign up you get your and you live with it for 12-18 months. Thats the way it works. Why do Apple users think there special?
P.S. Apple users think there special becuase they think they are fans that get special treatment for paying silly high prices. Well Apple thinks of you as piggy banks (connsumers/customers) who's pockets they can pick just like every other company thinks of consumers. Weclome to the real world its a ...
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Really is this for real?
You are all adults im assuming that you understand the concept of an 18 month contract. Why exactly would you be blaming the network. They are left in the dark about new releases just as much as we are! If your looking for a scape goat O2 is not it. You wait when the upgrade is due then you do it period. Yes there was an early upgrades before but maybe its not finacially viable this time most of the profits go to Apple we all know that! The network i would assume make the money from the price plans and i would assume very little from the phone.
You can whinge all you want about the costing of the handset but i wouldnt be surprised if the network had very little input into this! You all knew what you were getting into when you bought the phone as well as me so whats with the whinging.
The comment about re-aligning upgrade with the Iphone launches amsuses me. Apple were stating that there was no new one before so you expect an international business to change the whole structure for this come on really. If apple brought a new one out every year then you would always be six months out regardless thats if they decide.
I have had nothing but excellent service from O2 and it seems like people are looking for someone to blame and its not O2 if anything you should consider the part Apple has played in this.
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Apple UK is flogging the existing (old) 3G for £342 (or $559) nearly THREE times the price of the 3GS advertised in the US this week!
It's actually 65 quid cheaper to buy the 16Gb 3GS phone in the US at $199 (or £121), buy a New York to London Airline ticket on BA (£156) and have it flown back to the UK to get the new Phone - what a total and utter scam!
I pity those working in my local Apple store, because I'll be bothering them with very tricky questions this weekend!
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"It's actually 65 quid cheaper to buy the 16Gb 3GS phone in the US at $199 (or 121), buy a New York to London Airline ticket on BA (156) and have it flown back to the UK to get the new Phone - what a total and utter scam!"
I somehow think you have not factored in the cost of a 2year contract with AT&T.
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What rubs salt into the wounds is the fact that the old iPhone 3G 8GB is available in the US for $99, that's around £61. Yet O2 have not taken any price cut at all on the original iPhone 3G - it is still priced at around £340.
And I know you pay a premium for Apple products outside America but no price reduction is ridiculous on O2's behalf!
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Does anyone else here love cheese? I mean really crave it?
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"@all iphone 3G owners who started their contract last july...
buy the 538 iPhone 3GS 32GB or just the 16GB for 440. Sell the iPhone 3G for 300 on eBay. Stick your contract SIM into the 3GS for 6 months, at the end of the contract O2 will offer a rolling 30 day contract which will cost you 20 a month, and if you don't get a new phone with it, they'll give you 150 credit on your bills, giving you 7-8 months worth of line rental paid."
All very well that, but who can afford half a ton on a mobile phone? I know I couldn't afford it let alone justify it. Especially seeing as though there will be a new one out in 12 months time.
However, O2 are not the problem here. The people you need to look at are Apple. Obviously, the production costs are high so apple need to claw money back somehow.
I think people are finally waking up to something I have seen for years though. Apple products are over hyped and are far too expensive for the normal customer/consumer. The fact alone it costs half a ton on PAYG is ridiculous as it prices out a market that o2 and apple should really be trying to tap into. Instead of going for the elite, go for the people that can't afford the elite. Offer a trimmed down version instead of just limiting some of the features that are on the old one (by that I mean they are still there but can't be used).
Apple are your crooks here. Not o2.
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To add to that previous comment...
I am still shocked it has taken 3 attempts to add something my phones have been doing for years (MMS).
Wait until Christmas and get the palm pre and a decent MP3 player / ipod touch. It will cost the same as the new iphone and you get a better phone and a decent mp3 player which is an iphone but without the phone bit (although there is an app that is being developed to allow you to use it as a VOIP phone).
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I'm not bothered about the price of the phone but is it too much to ask to align the contract cycles and update cycles?
This way people would upgrade and pay the £185 or £275 for the new phone and sign a new contract with O2.
I have 6 months before I can upgrade, I have no intention of giving O2 over £200 to buy out my contract. When I can upgrade the next iPhone release will be 6 months away. Therefore, I'll not be upgrading until iPhone4 comes out in June 2010. I would happily upgrade and pay the money for the new iPhone and sign a new 18 month contract with O2 if they made upgrading affordable and on the understanding this would apply to future upgrades.
Apple and/or O2 are just depriving themselves of handset sales now and new longer contracts. I know plenty of people in the same situation who will now just wait till next year and iPhone4.
O2 should significantly reduce the cost to upgade. I think they will have to sooner rather than later.
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I've just signed up to a long term contract just so I could get the 8gb iPhone for free, I'm not bothered in the slightest that there's a new model out. I think it's a great phone, with great software and the new software update coming out soon will add some further enhancements that will improve things much more.
This happens in the IT industry all the time, new models come out, everyone moans that theirs is now out of date, blah, blah.
If you've signed a contract then tough, you knew the deal when you got into it, you wouldn't get any different service with any other contract, whether it be phone, broadband, gas, mortgage etc.
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@ StephenCunningham
Spot on
Surely a large proportion of the target market already own a 3G on contracts with at least 6 months left to run. I'm with you on having absolutely on intention of buying out (to be honest you have to daft to do so) but would stump up the 3G S unit cost and start a new contract.
As it stands Apple are not going to see significant sales of 3G S in the UK at all.
All the negative publicity isn't helping either......
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I remember when O2's XDA was released. I paid £400 for it on top of a pay-monthly contract so I don't see what you're all moaning about. It seems relatively cheap to me for the technology you are getting.
If you want the latest tech as soon as it comes out then be prepared to pay the price.
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sjholland wrote: "However, O2 are not the problem here. The people you need to look at are Apple. Obviously, the production costs are high so apple need to claw money back somehow. [ ... ] Apple are your crooks here. Not o2."
Eh? Apple are asking a high price for a high-value, highly desirable, expensively made item... In what way does this constitute "clawing money back"? How does that make Apple "crooks" ??? It's called business. You know what you're getting, you pay your money and you receive all that and more (with the free software upgrades). If you don't like that, choose something else and get used to the idea that not everything desirable is also attainable.
I am stunned that fully grown adults are whining like spoilt children because somebody else has a better toy or a shinier rattle than they do. Is this a generational thing? Are today's teens, twenties, thirties(?) so utterly self-obsessed that they expect mama Apple to serve their every whim, change their electronic nappies and powder their metaphorical bottoms? You have no such entitlement - no wonder the economy is in a mess. GROW UP!
My theory on all this: You don't hate Apple at all. Nor even O2. Deep in your hearts perhaps you simply hate yourselves for wanting it so badly. "I know it's wrong. I know it's expensive. I know it's not even the best smartphone but I still want a new iPhone soooo badly". Makes you feel kinda dirty, don't it.
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Having read the majority of the comments in this blog, i have come to the conclusion that all those people who jumped on the bandwagon of updating their original iphones to the 3g version are just annoyed that they cannot have the latest version and are therefore confined to the ranks of "old phone users". i am glad the Apple and O2 have brought out a more up to date phone, as it enables people like me, how were stuck in a mobile phone contract with another provider and unable to switch to the "latest " phone at the time. Still my contract is now up for renewal and i will be in the que to get the new 3GS phone. I will be outside my local O2 shop waving it in the face of all those "must get it first" people who have the OLD 3G phone.
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I feel that I'm in a good position. I had planned to buy an ipod touch, and I'm at the end of my current mobile contract on a price plan similiar to the ones offered. Now I can "merge" them and get a 3GS Iphone.
However, I understand the position of those who want to upgrade, but at the moment the 3GS has made me decide to go iphone.
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I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about to be honest. The new phone doesn't really add much onto the old iphone 3G so I'm perfectly happy to wait for the next iteration in June 2010. The new 3.0 software runs fine on the 3G (the Gold Master version has already leaked onto the usual sources) and even that isn't stunningly different to version 2.0/1. People also forget that there's a fantastic market for second hand iphones. I finally got round to flogging my 2G to one of these internet recycling places the other day and got £150 for it. More than enough to subsidise the cost of a new phone/contract, especially if you're selling the 3G.
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I have an iPhone 3G, upgraded from the original iPhone in July last year. I have 6 months to go before I can upgrade to a 3GS, so I'm not too concerned about having it right now now now now as some people are.
I cannot believe the attitude of some people here. But I will say this - all existing iPhone owners will be getting a free software upgrade on 17th June to enhance the iPhone. MMS, system-wide landscape keyboard, Find My iPhone (MM subscribers only), Safari with Autofill, tons of new APIs for Devs... trust me, you will not be disappointed when you get it.
If you want the new iPhone and you are 6 months into an 18 month contract, you have to buy yourself out of the 12 months that you SIGNED FOR when you took out your original contract. How this is 'unacceptable' to certain people is beyond me. It's a contract, it's a legal document. End of story.
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I don't mind the fact that we have to pay off the contract. That is perfectly understandable. To an extent I don't mind having to pay for the phone, even if it is twice what it should be, but the thing that really disgusts me is the tethering charge, £15 is plain extortion and is obviously a cynical move to protect their mobile broadband products.
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@ thisMacaroon
'Deep in your hearts perhaps you simply hate yourselves for wanting it so badly. "I know it's wrong. I know it's expensive. I know it's not even the best smartphone but I still want a new iPhone soooo badly". Makes you feel kinda dirty, don't it.'
Amen Brother.
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Have just realised that I'm now out of my 18 month contract. Have just downgraded to O2's £20 per month non-iPhone tariff (600 mins, 1200 txts, free data) thereby saving meself £15 per month. Have decided not to upgade to the new handset thereby saving meself £185 plus £15 x 18months. So I still have an iPhone (old but still beautiful)and a saving £455 to spend on something shiny. Any suggestions?
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@ twelveightyone
As usual all perfectly fair points..
I believe what has irritated current users is that they bought into the iPhone idea. A smartphone built by the company that makes technology work for the rest of us. Many dumped other networks/phone models that DID offer a lot more than the the original/3G iPhone (not the UI granted) but hardware features that are now just coming to iPhone. Personally I feel that should be rewarded. Business is business, I'm in it and customers count. To deny loyal customers an upgrade option that benefits both parties I feel is VERY shortsighted, as I have stated the target market already own an iPhone and will skip a meaningful version and sales will not be driven through sensible contract retention.
Underlying all this I think is the fact that O2 will not have the exclusivity within a year and do not want to get burned. Apple on the otherhand should being thinking longevity and brand protection (which are so tightly directed for both Macintosh and iPod - they protect and control both channels ruthlessly)
Both parties have missed a great opportunity which surprises me.....
Happy with my 3G but if were an Apple exec I'd being rueing that lost revenue....
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O2 once again have alienated all of their customers as usual, and this time also loyal Apple fans. Apple really should stop with the exclusivity with the UK's worst network. Who pass on their dodgy signal and exclusivity price onto Apple fans who only want to pay a reasonable amount for the latest iPhone.
I can see why O2 may deny very early upgrades but charging for tethering! THAT is one step too far. Making us pay TWICE for data! PATHETIC!!!
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Apple should buy T-Mobile.
Issue mobiles and computer devices with inclusive connection, that would be innovation (or maybe subscriptions with inclusive upgrades on release date). would provide the equivalent of the hardware software completeness that works so well.
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With the upgrade from 2G to 3G, O2 set a precident. However, this recent development has only alienated some of the Apple fans and highlighted the shortcomings of the iPhone being tied to a single provider.
It is the ability to shop around which makes the mobile phone market what it is. Why do you think all the providers have retention teams? There is the danger that their customers can get a better deal elsewhere, so they want to keep you on board as long as possible. This also why we now have 18 and 24 month contracts instead of 12 month ones.
In my opinion, O2's major issue is their exploitation of their exclusivity. The lack of an early upgrade path like last time. The tethering plans are not at a realistic level. Also by not choosing to drop the price of the older model, O2 go against customer expectation. The philosophy seems to be that there will always be Apple fans and therefore it doesn't matter what we charge as some suckers will still pay.
Mu iPhone 3G contract will expire in January 2009. I will not be getting a 3GS as the next iPhone will only be 6 months away IF I remain with iPhone and 02.
A shame for O2 as they could have had my money for at least another year by offering a deal like last time.
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In my eyes there is no issue here with apple or o2 (apart from the tethering which is a joke, no one in their right mind would ever go for that!)
if you currently have a 3g and have 6-12 months left on the contract, buy the PAYG 3gs now and get around £200 from a phone recycling website or even more probably on ebay for the 3g. This brings the new phone down to £240 at most and just use your current contract sim. It gets better though, in 6-12 months your contract expires and you get to sell the 3gs probably making up the rest of the £440 if not more and then get a new contract with new phone or just keep it and reduce to a simplicity tariff. Job done.
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Its not just O2 and the iPhone.
Vodafone wont let me upgrade my Samsung smartphone for peanuts, or refuse to release me from my contract without me paying up.
But then I didnt expect them to, grow up the lot of you!
Its Apples choice to deal with a single operator and your choice to buy it under the existing contract terms, which are pretty much standard.
Im starting to remember why I stopped buying Apple products and magazines now!
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I don't see what all the fuss is about. I own a Sony Ericsson, which was a high-end model when I signed up to the 18-month contract. Now I hear there is a great new Sony Ericsson phone coming out and I want to get it. It'll be expensive, but I don't expect Sony Ericsson or O2 to subsidise my upgrade! If these people are so keen to have a few extra additions on their iPhones, that would otherwise entail buying a new phone to us mere mortals, then they should either pay it, or make do with their current gadgets and be quiet.
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I bought my 1st gen iPhone in April 08 a couple of months before the release of the 3G iPhone. I had heard the rumours of the new one being released soon and took the £100 price cut from £270 to £170 as a sign that the new one was on the way and that they were shifting stock. I decided to save some cash and go with a 1st Gen phone assuming that the new phones would be significantly more expensive. When they were released there was virtually nothing in it price wise. Had I have waited a few weeks I could have had a 3G iPhone for the same money so I was a bit gutted. I think that is a bit cheeky of O2 and I felt a bit sore after that.
I then noticed they were doing the 3G upgrades for existing iPhone customers which would have allowed me to pay the same money again for the new phone. I decided it was a bit silly to upgrade after 2 months and figured I would live with what I had and save my money and wait for the next version or a special edition or something, I kept reading rumours of a special edition Red iPhone last year which I was hoping for. In retrospect I should have got the 3G and flogged my 1st gen phone on eBay.
As I am a 1st Gen iPhone customer with only 4 months left on my contract I would hope to be thrown a bone for having put up with a 1st gen iPhone for over a year considering I paid the same money as I could have paid for the 3G. I'm aware I signed up for an 18 month contract but before buying an iPhone I've always been eligable for an early upgrade and it was simply dependant on how long into my contract I was and which phone I wanted as to how much I had to pay to upgrade. By upgrading I would simply start another 12 month contract.
I think the problems have arisen from this default 18 month contract business. At the speed that manufacturers are releasing new technology each year, if not more frequently, it seems 18 months (let alone 2 years) is a long time to be 'tied in'. These 18 month contracts seemed to appear when companies started offering playstation 3's and xbox's and other things for 'free' by tieing people in for an extra 6 months or more almost giving them a loan on the free product. The result is not being able to upgrade to the latest and greatest item which regardless of how silly it sounds to some is important to a lot of people.
A lot of people are being quite disrespectful to people who just have a genuine interest in technology and owning the next best thing. I've got an 80Gb iPod video and an 8Gb iPhone. I don't think that makes me a 'fan boy'. I've never got on with macs but apple's multimedia devices are easy to use with excellent build quality and yes they're not cheap because they've dominated the market for so long now. I've loved having gadgets and gizmos for years amongst other hobbies and interests. Those people saying how sad people are for wanting to own what will inveitably be one of the most impressive bit's of kit out there should keep their opinions to themselves I'm sure they have their own interests which others might have negative opinions of and if they don't want one then that's fine, but plenty of people do & with just cause.
I particularly want one because the jump from 1st gen to the 3GS will be a pretty big one and now I'm used to the iPhone set up I don't think I'd go to anything else because it's so good. I just want more storage space and faster speeds whilst navigating the phone which the 3GS should offer in spades. Anything else is just an added bonus. The digital compass is a lot more useful than people are giving it credit for as well. It will allow a lot of applications and I suspect was neccessary for Tom Tom to release their sat nav application which will be worth buying I'm sure! People who already have a 3G don't really need to upgrade in my opinion. The 3.0 updates is going to offer them a lot of features for free making it nearly there. Tethering is a waste of money that only the rich will splurge on. You can get a 3G dongle for a lot less cost if you need that facility and it will probably be faster.
I think it is overpriced though and for that reason I don't think I'm going to rush in and buy out my contract. If I reduce my tariff to the £30 a month iPhone tariff and buy out of my contract that's £120 to buy out. That on top of the inflated prices means that really I'd need to go for a 16Gb 3GS for £87.11 on a £44.05 per month tariff and then reduce my tariff back down after 9 months which O2 have already confirmed you can do whether you are on an 18 month or 2 year contract. I'd love a 32Gb but I don't think I can warrant shelling out £175.19 or even £274.23 to stay on my current £35 a month tariff. I'm happy with what I get for £35 a month and don't really want to change.
Also on their website they've confirmed their priority terms for upgrades. If you spend more than £35 a month like me you can upgrade a month before the end of your contract. If you spend more than £50 a month regularly then 3 months early and if you spend over £80 a month regularly then you can upgrade 6 months early.
I just wish I could afford to buy one cash and not be tied into another contract but it's just far too expensive. It would save this problem occuring when the next one comes out though especially if O2 lose exclusivity in the new year. So I think I'll wait and see how I feel once my contract is up for renewal and see if they've reduced the price at all by then.... Probably not!
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If you got a Iphone 3g there is little difference than the new one being released, you can just get the new Iphone OS 3 update and bang you got an Iphone 3gs minus the additional 1 megapixal camera,compass and built in video recorder(which there are loads of apps for on the app store)
if you have to absolutely have the latest greatest thing wait for the Iphone 4g(theoretical) as the one thing that is a little tiresome is the connection speeds of the Nics on these Phones which seems like they have not upgraded in the new version either.
I feel for the old iphone users this is quite unfair.
keep the petitions going
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It's astonishing how people still have this rosy view of Apple. They rushed out the original IPhone when it was far from ready for fear that other manufacturers would beat them to the punch. Then when they releases the 3G which has the features the original should have had in the first place they get people to pay out for it again. Now when they add a couple of minor new features people are astonished Apple expect them to pay through the nose again. Apple is just another corporation looking to make the biggest profit possible, the sooner the fanboys accept that the better off they will be.
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I find the complaints fascinating. The iphone is cheaper than the ipod touch, and does a whole lot more than play music, ie digital camera, phonecalls, web access, need I go on. The 600 min tariff of £34 includes unlimited web access, and is only £14 more expensive than a sim only tariff with no internet access or phone.
Added to that, O2 make it very clear that the contract is fixed, 18 or 24 months, YOU CHOOSE, no downgrade on tariff, and no upgrade except for higher tariff contracts. Everything O2 state is in english, so clearly all the whingers complaining about O2 are driven by greed. The rest of us non-iphone owners don't own one because it's a) too expensive, and b) contract length of 24 months is too long at such a high fixed rate.
This is not rocket science, but clearly iphone owners are gadget hungry and starved of common sense. Even the original iphone is still one of the best in today's market, so be thankful you've got one while there are people in the world who don't have access to clean water!
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Customers pack our stores to get great deals on latest gadgets and are more than happy to sign that 2 year service agreement. Sales reps look them right in the eye and explain that they get that $499 phone today for only $199 because they are promising to continue service with us for the next 2 years. They also explain that they won't be eligible for another subsidized device until their contract is nearly up and they agree to renew it. It's simple and straightforward, but as soon as the next cool device launch rolls out all you hear is how they've been screwed over by their carrier. I mean how dare we expect you to keep to the terms of your contract, right?! This whole blog is one big pity party. It's good to know it's the same no matter who the carrier is or what country you're in. This same stupid blog is probably repeated in a dozen countries all over the planet. - AT&T Employee, Washington Sate.
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You guys that tied yourselves into a long contract are mad. I got a PAYG 3G handset and after a simple bit of work with my PC now have a network free iphone with all functions working. Sure I keep tabs on my web surfing while on PAYG as it is not flat rate but I am not a heavy net user anyway as I bought the phone for its games and music more than the net and in any case it would take some surfing to match the monthly bill the contacts charge. If i want to download Apps I can simply do it through any wireless hub. I can upgrade to any phone at any time, or which is key here change sim provider to chase the cheapest tarif.
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#166, @cyberjonnymorris, presumably, you've switched to a 30 day Simplicity Tariff then..?
I've just sold my 2G and replaced it with a Nokia 6600 slide - going back to a plain old handset was very liberating.
Si.
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I'm an Mac fan and looked forward to the iPhone being released, following the development and watching the launch in the USA ....... when it came to UK I would've bought one, had I been able to choose my provider or even my tariff. But no, so I won't have an iPhone, not until we have the freedom to choose. With competition O2 would have had to address most, if not all, the complaints I've seen but, having a monopoly they don't need to. I suspect there are many, like me, that would dearly love an iPhone but are also holding back.
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I have an iPhone 3G. What is so compelling about this update that I'd want to get it? I can't see anything really, the majority of the new OS features will work on my new phone. I won't get a new camera and video, I won't get a compass, I won't have the new speed. None of these are as important as MMS and cut and paste. If there had been a cheap upgrade path I may have looked at it. There isn't but that's not an issue. My current iPhone does all I want of it.
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Whilst I understand that O2 subsidised the 3G and therefore have to tie people into the end of their contract, which is fair enough, as people signed them, they (O2) did set a precedent with the original, which may have been a dangerous move for them in a business sense. The two things that really annoy me about O2 are the charge for tethering, which is ridiculous as we get unlimited data anyway, and the poor O2 3G coverage. To get the most of of the iPhone 3G (or indeed the 3Gs) a 3G network is needed. All the other networks have a far superior 3G network, in terms of coverage of the general population. Apple need to take note of this, and ensure that they hand their product to a carrier that has a decent 3G network. I own the 3G, but bought it on PAYG, and will probably buy the 3GS on PAYG after selling my 3G, but not until the price comes down, and cutting my contract to a simplicity until the iPhone 4 comes out next year!
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*Mock The Foolish Apple Fan Boys*
I had a phone that could do all that Apple are now heralding as breakthrough for the new iPhone almost THREE years ago . . . Groundbreaking. . . Get over yourselves. . . your lining up to get mugged over and over by O2 and crying every single time.
Anyone thinking about getting one of these phones should read the following and take my advice. . . .
HTC Touch Pro II or HTC Touch HD FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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That's terrible!
To lock someone in at that price is not right[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
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