iPhone 4

I've been doing quite a bit of research into the cost of upgrading my current iPhone 3GS to the newly announced iPhone 4.

My problem is that I’m under contract with O2 in the UK until mid December. I was hoping that O2 would allow early transfer to a new contract at a minimal, or even no cost. This however, is not the case. They want an up front payment of £20 for every remaining month. This would add a further £100 to my upgrade cost - a charge I’m not willing to stand. Thanks to @PaulWestlake and @donmcallister on Twitter for all the information and costings that they have posted, it seems as though I am best to wait until my £35 a month, subsidised phone contract ends in mid December, then to transfer to O2s Simplicity contract, giving calls and data only, for £15 a month. I will then be free to buy my own iPhone and to transfer the sim from the 3GS to it. Firstly, I must check that this is possible, as I believe that the iPhone 4 uses the smaller, micro-sim format. I will need to check that O2 will issue one of these, tied to my current number. If not, I’ve heard that it is possible to cut the standard sim down to size, very carefully.

My next thought is, is it really worth buying a new iPhone in December, when it’s likely that there will be a new, improved model again, the following June. After all, I will be able to run the new iOS4 operating system on my current 3GS and take advantage of virtually all of it’s functionality. Much as I’m drooling over the new hardware, the most sensible decision would be to sit on the Simplicity tarrif until next June and then buy the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer. The trouble is… I’m not always particularly sensible.

Please note, this blog post was made from the Tumblr app on my iPhone. Any mistakes or spelling errors will be corrected when I can see it in full on a computer screen.