The 9 Month Itch
It’s been 9 months since I bought my iPhone 3G on o2 and chose the £35 per month tariff which got me 600 inclusive minutes, 500 texts and unlimited data. As a fairly low user it came as no surprise that I wasn’t even touching the edges of this allowance each month.
With o2 in the UK, we can downgrade our tariff after 9 months. So, last week I called o2 and downgraded to the £30 per month tariff which gets me 75 inclusive minutes, 125 texts and unlimited data. As you can see there is quite a big leap in allowance between the two tariffs for the sake of £5, but it’s better off in my pocket than o2’s. I’m sure the £30 per month tariff will be more than enough, but it’s good to know that I can upgrade again at anytime if my usage increases especially since MMS uses 4 SMS messages. I think popping back up to the £35 per month tariff may come sooner than I anticipated 
Which brings me neatly to the iPhone 3GS that was released today. AT&T in the USA and o2 in the UK released their pricing and eligibility for upgrade details shortly after the Apple event at WWDC last week. Unlike July 2008 when existing iPhone 1st gen customers could upgrade to the iPhone 3G by simply signing another new 18 month contract, customers must now wait until their current contract expires before being eligible for an upgrade, or they can pay up their existing contract and then sign a new contract for the iPhone 3GS.
As the features of the iPhone 3GS were being announced at the Apple event, the improved 3MP camera and video was something I was very pleased to hear. However, since my current contract doesn’t end until March 2010 then I don’t have the eligibility to upgrade right now. However, o2 have outlined ways of getting the new device, one of which would be to pay the remainder of your monthly line rental in one payment and sign a new Pay Monthly contract. Not an attractive option for me with 9 months left, but also signing a new 18 month contract means when the next new iPhone is released next June I wouldn’t be eligible for that one, which is bound to carry even more new great features than the 3GS, plus a new design I’m betting.
The other alternative is to buy the PAYG iPhone 3GS 16GB for £440, pop in my existing pay monthly SIM and then sell my 3G. That means I own the phone outright and my contract ends next March as usual, leaving me free to get the new iPhone in Summer 2010 (and sell the 3GS). This is a far more attractive offer and very many of my online friends have opted for this so they can have the latest and greatest device today. This is the route I would likely take, should I decide to get the 3GS.
Have you bought the new iPhone 3GS today? Are you going to buy yourself out of your contract? Wait until your 18 month contract has expired? Or like me are you considering the PAYG iPhone + your existing SIM?
About the author
I'm a thirty-something Geordie Lass with a passion for Macs. I love playing with new gadgets, Mac software and iPhone/iPad apps.
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about 1 year ago
I am greatly considering the iPhone 3G S. I have a way to get it at the subsidy, which I confirmed is legit with my local AT&T store.
See, my wife and I are not on a FamilyTalk plan. She is actually still on her parents’ mobile plan, which means she still has a South Dakota number even though we live in Nebraska.
Basically, we could move to FamilyTalk, AT&T would sell the 3G S to her as a new customer, but then they could move my number to the 3G S and put a new Nebraska number on my current 3G.
Karen has been wanting an iPhone OS device for some time. I’ve noticed because she keeps putting apps on my iPhone and then running away to another room with it to play games.
We’ve considered getting her an iPod touch, but we figure why not just get the whole kaboom.
The only thing really holding us back is the hope of Apple’s exclusivity with AT&T expiring next year. We’d both be much happier if the iPhone were on Verizon. And from watching the keynote, it sounded like Apple is shopping around for a new or additional US partner.
Now, I could pay the full $700 for a 32 GB iPhone 3G S, but wouldn’t it be cheaper to do the scheme that I’ve cooked up, and then if Verizon does get the iPhone next year, just pay the $175 early termination fee? I think yes.
There is also the thought that adding Karen to AT&T would double our monthly bill. Right now her parents don’t seem to mind paying her phone bill.
Everything is under consideration. Nothing will happen until at least July.
about 1 year ago
The 3GS as a hardware upgrade really doesn’t appeal to me. Video would be nice, I admit – but personally it’s not worth the price of either paying out my O2 contract or buying a 3GS through Pay&Go. Voice control is something I’ve never used in a phone (pretty pointless in my opinion) and I’m pretty certain I’d have absolutely no use for a compass.
I’ll be frank and say I totally fail to understand you shelling out £440 for a phone which barely updates it’s predecessor. But, that’s just my opinion
about 1 year ago
@Chris: I’m still in the consideration period too. Going to wait until the buzz dies down to see how I feel.
@Andrew: One of the reasons I’m not making any rash decisions is to see how I feel in July when the hype dies down. I know that everytime Apple release something I have an overwhelming desire to buy it, haha. The improved camera would be a *really* nice addition and the video would be great to have, also. I got some advertising money recently which will cover the cost of the iPhone 3G S, but it had also been put neatly to one side incase we see any refreshes to the MacBook’s or iMac’s in August/September. I might still go in that direction, so I’m giving myself another month to think it over.
about 1 year ago
Well I got my iPhone 3G S today and am loving it. Admittedly it’s my first iPhone but have come across from an iPod Touch.
Sadly had a horrible experience at the Apple Store today ( see http://the.0gravity.co.uk/universe/blog/2009/06/19/1250/ ) but after going an an O2 store it was sorted.
Now back to fiddling with my new toy!
about 1 year ago
Hi Alistair. Oh dear, sounds like a load of messing around but glad to hear it all got sorted in the end. Enjoy playing with your new iPhone
about 1 year ago
I don’t *need* to upgrade, but by god do I want to! (and am!) I know there might not seem like much that’s new hardware wise, but to me it’s worth it
I keep reading reviews about how fast it is and how good the video recording is, why do I read them? To justify the price baby! I can’t wait to try “Play more songs like this”
about 1 year ago
Good for you, Tom
I’ve seen a couple of videos taken on the 3G S and they are well impressive, which does not help the side of my brain which is telling me “No. Just stop it! Stop it” 
about 1 year ago
Some thoughts on the 3G S from my friend Don: http://myownreality.eu/2009/06/3g-s-first-impressions/
about 1 year ago
I’ve watched some videos taken of the 3G S and the 3G side by side, and well, the S is stupid fast. And that is appealing as my iPhone 3G does feel a bit sluggish since the update. But who knows, maybe 3.0.1 (or whatever it gets labeled as) will fix that.
Still trying to convince my wife, anyway.
about 1 year ago
I’m impressed with the video quality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmAA7Nx9AUQ – I thought that was recorded in HD before I noticed the 3G S tag! Audio sounds very decent too.
I’ve seen the side-by-side comparisons and the 3G S wins on speed, obviously. I’ve never really been impatient enough to want a major speed boost when games are loading, etc. The 3G is fine for me on that front. But, video is ultimately the selling point for me. I don’t have a seperate camcorder because I know I wouldn’t use it enough to warrant spending the money on one, but to have it incorporated into one device which does everything else is tempting. Very tempting.
Can’t wait to hear Tom’s thoughts when he gets his new iPhone
about 1 year ago
Another (RAW) video from the 3G S which you can download from this article, in the Talking About Video paragraph: http://thenextweb.com/2009/06/21/iphone_3g_s_quick_review/
That is truly awesome stuff, for a phone, IMO.
about 1 year ago
I’ve somehow managed to time things well, I bought my 2G in Jan 2008, and my contract is now up for renewal!!
I’ve got to wait until Friday though… My fiance is getting the 2G and we swapped this month so she could try it out (she loves it, but complained about it being quiet and sluggish at times) – I’ve been trying to txt on a Sony W800i and I’ve missed my email & Facebook on the move (but not the bulk in my pocket..) I’ve been using the work’s Blackberry and its a truly horrid device.
I was considering a 16Gb white one – anybody had any experience of how well it weathers over time? Does it discolour, do scrapes and marks show up more than on the black? My 2G has been in a hard case since new and its marked from the case would you believe… I think the decider will be what they have in stock….
Just reading Don’s review – very impressed with the new charger, it means that I can give my Fiance the one that came with the 2G! Also like the idea of the battery percentage.
about 1 year ago
I’m getting the 3GS. I was originally going to sell my 16Gb 3G on mazumamobile for 200 squid and buy a PAYG 16Gb 3GS.
But, it turns out the girlfriend has been secretly lusting after my iPhone, so rather than getting an 8Gb, she’s giving me £100 for my 16Gb and I’ll pay for the 16Gb 3GS on her new account and we do a bit of swapsies with the sim cards. Works out at about the same (a little more after I’ve put applecare on my old one so she won’t be stuck with a dead phone if it goes wrong – £24 off ebay, but it’s the the gf, so what can I do?).
about 1 year ago
Haha, glad you have a plan worked out, Graham. The lure of the 16GB PAYG iPhone with my Pay Monthly SIM in it is proving too much at the minute. If I still feel like this next week then I think I may have done the deed. I know £440 is a lot of money, but if I can sell my 3G after that then I’ll not feel so bad.
about 1 year ago
So I’m spamming my own blog with comments now, but after getting my tariff reduced to the £30 per month one, I noticed that over the past few weeks my SMS usage has increased – some of it MMS related, most of it not. So, since my lower tariff came into effect midnight last night, I have to wait until 7th August before I can increase it, but an alternative to tide me over is a bolt-on.
I called o2 and they offered me the unlimited texts bolt-on for £7.50 per month. I can then choose to keep going with that and my £30 tariff or end the tariff and go back to my £35 per month one next month. I’ll monitor my usage and make a decision then.
about 1 year ago
I’m looking forward to seeing what Apple have for us in the next month or so. If it isn’t this long-lusted-after netbook/tablet then I might just get myself that shiny 3GS. The video feature is once again taunting me. It’ll be the ultimate all-in-one device…until next Summer that is