Because it's worth it?
Today marks the day when you can begin pre-ordering the new Apple iPhone 4S, if you're that way inclined. At time of writing only two UK operators had gone live with their prices - Orange and Vodafone.
While Apple traditionally exercises a fair bit of control over what its channel partners charge for its devices, there is a fair bit of variation between the two, according to the different tariff packages they offer.
For example, the lowest monthly commitment you can get away with at Orange is £20 over two years. That gets you 50 minutes and 50 texts and 100MB of data per month, but you still have to shell out £309.99 for a 16GB 4S - making a total cost of ownership of £789.99.
The lowest monthly tariff at Vodafone is £26 over two years, but you get 100 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB data for that. You will have to fork out £359 up-front, making a total cost of ownership of £983. Don't forget you can see the SIM-free prices here.
Here's a screenshot of the Orange tariff page (they don't seem to offer anything other than 24 month contracts) and we'll bring you a full Vodafone table in a sec followed by Vodafone's tariffs.
Up-front costs for iPhones on Vodafone. Only 24-month tariffs covered, but Vodafone does also offer 18 and 12 month options.
| £26 (100 mins, 250MB) | £31 (300, 500) | £36 (600, 500) | £41 (900, 750) | £46 (1200, 750) | £62 (3000, 1GB) | |
| 16GB 4S | £359 | £259 | £159 | £59 | none | none |
| 32GB 4S | £439 | £339 | £239 | £139 | £79 | none |
| 64GB 4S | £519 | £419 | £319 | £219 | £159 | £29 |
| 8GB 4 | £199 | £99 | none | none | none | none |
| 8GB 3GS | none | none | none | none | none | none |
UPDATE - 11:45 7 October 2011 - T-Mobile contacted us to point out their tariffs are now also available, and you can see them here. They start at £25.54x24 + £239.99 for 100 mins, 100 texts, and 500MB data.
