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The iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S are coming to the UK, and will be on sale on 20 September on all the major networks. Read on to find out what we know so far about UK prices and release dates.
The iPhone 5C starts at £469 for the 16GB model if you buy it SIM-free from Apple or another retailer. Bump the storage up to 32GB and you’ll lay out a cool £549. The 5S, meanwhile, sets you back at least £549 for the 16GB model, with 32 and 64GB options coming in at £629 and £709 respectively. Ouch!
The iPhone 5C is available for pre-order on 13 September from the Apple store, the networks and phone shops — but there’s no pre-order for the 5S, so you have to go to a store in person to ensure you get one on launch day.
At the time of writing, EE, O2, Orange, Three, T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Phones 4 U have all confirmed they’ll sell both phones.
4G for the 5S and 5C
EE says a new iPhone will be available to customers who are more than six months into their contract and want to switch to 4G, under the new Swap scheme. Vodafone says iPhone will be available on its Vodafone Red 4G plans, with free Spotify or Sky Sports. O2 will sell iPhone on 4G contracts, despite being left out of Apple’s presentation, and offers the new iPhone on its Refresh tariff that lets you swap to a new phone even when you’re midway through your contract.
O2 says when you buy a new iPhone you’ll have to wait a week or two for Apple to send you the right settings to actually connect over 4G, so it’s knocking £5 off your monthly payment while you’re stuck with slower speeds.
For the latest 4G prices and best deals on a variety of LTE phones including the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S4 and more, check out our comparison of Vodafone, EE, and O2 4G deals, prices and data.
iPhone 5C pre-order with UK networks
Major UK networks have weighed in with their iPhone 5C prices. Three is offering the 16GB iPhone 5C for pre-order now, for £37 per month on a 24-month contract and £49 up front. That’s not cheap, but it does get you unlimited data, and should eventually get you 4G speeds, once Three turns on its LTE network.
Vodafone meanwhile has also shown its hand. The cheapest way to get the phone for free on the red-hued network’s 3G service is to shell out a whopping £42 per month, while EE wants £10 up front and £46 per month for its 4G service. Prices for T-Mobile and Orange are also far from cheap.
O2 meanwhile is doing a deal that gets you the iPhone 5C for £30 up front and £32 per month.
iPhone 5S prices with UK networks
The iPhone 5S is — as you’d expect from its high-powered components — a deal pricier than the colourful 5C.
On EE’s 4G tariffs, the lowest up-front amount you’ll pay for the 5S is £20, for which you’ll have to shell out a whopping £51 per month on a deal that gets you a hearty 20GB of data. For £26 per month and £260 up front you can get the iPhone 5S with a meagre 500MB of data.
On 3G with Orange, £120 up front and £37 per month gets you the 5S with 1GB of data. T-Mobile offers unlimited data for £37 per month and £140 up front.
O2 is similarly expensive. The cheapest way to get the 16GB iPhone 5S with the oxygenated operator free up front is on a 3G contract, which will cost you £42 per month. To get it on 4G you’ll pay £47 per month.
Vodafone has similar prices, with £47 per month for two years being the cheapest 4G deal, plus £80 up front. That’s costly, but does nab you 6GB of data, which is a healthy amount. On 3G the cheapest deal will set you back a not-much-cheaper £42 every month, and £80 up front.
Vodafone’s said it will publish more deals once the iPhone 5S is on sale, with lower prices that get you fewer minutes and less data. Interestingly, both O2 and Vodafone are offering similar prices for 3G and 4G tariffs, with often only a few pounds separating the two speed categories.
iOS 7
Both phones show off iOS 7 software. Owners of the iPhone 4, 4S or 5 will also get iOS 7 as a free update on 18 September.
What’s new in the 5S and 5C?
The 5C has a one-piece back made from polycarbonate that’s available in a whole rainbow of colours. You can choose from green, yellow, blue, white or red. Nifty.
The iPhone 5S meanwhile comes in all-new gold, silver and grey, and features a fingerprint scanner for getting into your phone without a passcode. You can also use the scanner — which is located in the home button — to authenticate your iTunes purchases.
Will you be buying one of the new iPhones? What’s the best deal you’ve seen? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
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This story was originally published on 10 September, when the new iPhones were announced. We’ll keep it updated with the latest details as new announcements are made.
