Apple and O2 announced today that O2, the leading wireless carrier in the UK, will be the exclusive UK carrier for Apple’s revolutionary iPhone when it makes its debut in the UK on November 9. iPhone combines three devices into one-a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and the best mobile Internet device ever-all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. Apple sold its one millionth iPhone just 74 days after it went on sale in the US on June 29.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with O2 to offer our revolutionary iPhone to UK customers,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “US iPhone customer satisfaction is off the charts, and we can’t wait to let UK customers get their hands on it and learn what they think of it.”
“Our strategy at O2 is to bring our customers the best products and experiences,” said Matthew Key, CEO, O2 UK, in the press release. “The iPhone is a breakthrough that is changing the way people use their mobiles forever, and we’re thrilled to have it exclusively for O2 customers in the UK.”
iPhone users in the UK will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple’s iTunes software running on a Mac or PC in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated. Activating iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their tariff, undertake a credit check and activate their iPhone. Once iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts and TV shows just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.
In addition to all the revolutionary features that made iPhone so popular in the US, iPhone users in the UK will have access to Apple’s latest music offerings on iPhone including the recently launched iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store offers customers the ability to browse, search, preview, purchase and download songs and albums from iTunes over the built-in Wi-Fi on their iPhone. No computer is required and when the customer connects their iPhone back with their PC or Mac, their music automatically syncs back into their iTunes library.
iPhone is scheduled to go on sale on November 9 and will be sold exclusively in the UK through Apple’s retail and online stores, O2 and The Carphone Warehouse’s retail and online stores. iPhone will be available in an 8GB model for 269 pounds sterling (inc VAT, US$542) and will work with either a PC or Mac. Three new iPhone tariffs will be available from O2 starting at 35 pounds, which all include unlimited anytime, anywhere mobile data usage and, in a market first, free unlimited use of the UK’s largest single public Wi-Fi network, covering over 7,500 cafes, restaurants, airport lounges, pubs and other locations across the UK.
iPhone activation will require an Internet connection; an iTunes Store account or a major credit card; the latest version of iTunes and a Mac or PC with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later; Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later; or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate Edition. iPhone requires a new 18-month contract with O2. Existing O2 customers will have the option of keeping their existing phone number and upgrading their account to work with iPhone while new customers can also simply and easily transfer their current mobile number to O2.
Misleading: unlimited data is not unlimited, it will be limted to 1,400 pages a day.
Edge…ulp.
Wi-fi is faster….yeah, sure, try finding free wi.fi locations in Europe…
Sigh! no 3G… £35, 45, 55 LOL! pft!!!!!!
269 pounds, that’s like US$550 … ouch! How do they explain the difference? Perhaps they are just saying that to throw off competitors, when Nov comes, they’ll offer it at a lower price … or else it wont fly.
Everything is more expensive in the UK because they have higher wages, etc. They often moan about it but fail to realise that they earn twice the average of the counterparts in other countries.
Taxes (VAT) makes a big difference
I love mac to death but wont pay that much for a phone……
Will take up Orange on an upgade instead….
The price is the same as the €399 purported for the rest of Europe. Please mind that prices quoted include sales tax, which can be as high as 19%. Suddenly, it’s $460. Plus, European warranty rules apply, and O2’s customer base is smaller than AT&T;’s.
Still, a more aggressive pricing would help create the demand. Like £240/€350. That would be slightly higher than US prices, but acceptable.
£900 for 18 months on up to £1260!!! to much money for people that don’t have that sort of cash to throw at a phone.
Cost is £229 plus VAT so equates roughly to $458. So $60 above US price, to allow for currency fluctuations.
1400 pages a day is pretty much unlimited data by anyone’s measure.
£35/month data plan plus phone price is £689 for first year, which is cheaper combined price than I can get the N95 from my current supplier, Orange.
Seems like a reasonable deal to me.
Price is £229 excluding VAT, or about $458. So only $60/£30 difference to US price.
I currently pay Orange around £30 month for fewer minutes and no data. These plans seem broadly fair.
John:
We’ve got higher wages in the UK? Which Bizarro-Parallel-Universe-Evil-Twin-Clone UK do you mean there, exactly?
Wages are comparable to the rest of (Western) Europe. Prices ARE higher, though. Just because we’re on an island, and can’t run away.
“Everything is more expensive in the UK because they have higher wages, etc. They often moan about it but fail to realise that they earn twice the average of the counterparts in other countries.”
What??? I have no idea where you heard that from, but it’s total rubbish. The UK has some of the highest prices, work longer hours with fewer holidays than the rest of Europe yet don’t earn much more, if at all. Some jobs will earn more, some less, but we’re certainly not all rolling around in big piles of cash. Besides, even if it was true, why should that mean we pay more? If something is worth X amount, it’s worth X amount – that shouldn’t change based on ability to pay. If it did, the US would be paying $1000 a pop for iPhones!
After the PS3 fiasco (at one point, it was only £100 more to fly to Hong Kong and buy one than buy an official one!), it’s just another case of the UK getting stiffed.
Seems like a pretty good deal… wonder if it’s possible to get a US iPhone and just buy an O2 sim card?
£35 is very reasonable for unlimited data…
£270 is about what I expected to pay really. Follows the US->UK ipod pricing strategy.
Guess I’ll have to find £269 somewhere in the sofa then!
John,
I live in the USA and travel to the UK frequently on business. We have a business unit in the UK and trust me, for the same Engineering / Program Management job function, the salary over there is equal to about half of what we make in my company in the states.
Noooo.. That means that the rest of the Europe slips to the year 2008. That is not good news!
You don´t have to buy an iPhone if you don´t like it. Your money your decision. I will buy mine when I get the possibility. iPhone is very well priced compared to Nokia. O2 prices are also very fair. I like that WI-FI hotspot deal very much. That is the way to go.
Basically you can´t get anything comparable to iPhone with that amount of money.
You can get something cheaper but you do not get the same functionality.
In my profession wages are twice in the UK than here in Spain. Stop moaning. You turn up here with your overvalued currency and buy cheap houses. Even your pensions are twice the Spanish average. You cant have it both ways. The UK is one of the richest countries in the world.
Unlimited data is not unlimited. If I want to download a big file there is a limit on it. That is false advertising.
Apple is starting to get greedy,
Does anyone know if this means o2 will also be the carrier here in Ireland??? Tbh I think Apple should nt have limited it to one carrier per country. It will seriously p*ss people off imo. I’m sure it will change in the future but I cant think of a good reason for them to do this.
I cant even begin to tell you how dissapointed I am. No 3G and outrageous prices..I mean wtf? I am putting my purchase on hold for sure.
UK busineses do not re-locate their call centres outside the UK for no reason – they do it because the wages are so high there. Ditto car manufacturers, etc. Not to mention the UK ego is much bigger than the rest of Europe! Pay for it suckers.
The plans seem pretty normal without the cost of the phone. I noticed at Car Phone Warehouse you can get free smartphones and they throw in a nintendo wii.
(oh and not so sure about that higher wages thing, first London is one of the most expensive places to live, & the UK is far below the USA on income per capita. We don’t moan, it really is more expensive to live here, but it’s all relative, it probably looks cheap to the Swiss.)
As an American expat living in the UK, I have observed that the British generally don’t realize just how high their standard of living is.
The prices for iPhone UK seem mostly comparable to US prices, but I wonder if sales might be affected by some kind of “early adopters’ potential pre-price-drop preemptive remorse…”
£269
I never thought I’d say this but Steve Ballmer was right, it has got to be the most expensive phone ever in the UK.
I think I’ll hold out till next year when the price drops.
@Jim
Steve Ballmer is never right.
How come the Nokia N95 is showing at £299 on the Orange website, then?
@John
Breathe deeply, count to ten. We’re sorry that so many British people buy houses in Spain.
@Bert
I was being facetious, I know he’s never right.
Just a bit taken aback. I also don’t like 18 month contracts… that’s a long time to have one contract and one phone.