Best place to buy an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus in the UK.
Plus: What to do if you pre-ordered an iPhone 6 from Phones 4U
Apple has launched two new iPhones today so here’s what you need to know about the price and where to buy the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the UK. For that we explore the best place to buy an iPhone 6 and how to get an iPhone 6 on release day.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are just days away from being released, so you’re probably wondering how to get your hands on one on release day. Well, you’ve come to the right place! Here, we discuss the best places to buy an iPhone in the UK, and advise you on how to buy an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Finally, we discuss your options if you’ve preordered an iPhone 6 from Phones 4U, which has announced that it is entering administration.
Where to buy iPhone 6: Apple
Of course, you can go to Apple to buy you’re iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus whether you choose to shop online or head to a physical store. If you’re thinking about the latter, you might want to wait until a day or two after 19 September when the launch day hype has died down.
Apple as dropped the price of its flagship smartphone slightly, so the iPhone 6 starts at £539 for the 16GB model. If you’re after the iPhone Plus, it starts at £619. See below for the full price list of models and storage capacities.
iPhone 6:
- 16GB: £539
- 64GB: £619
- 128GB: £699
iPhone 6 Plus
- 16GB: £619
- 64GB: £699
- 128GB: £789
Phones 4U iPhone 6 pre-orders: I pre-ordered an iPhone 6 from Phones 4U. How am I affected by Phones 4U going into administration, and what should I do next?
Update, 15th September 2014: Phones 4U has today announced that it is entering administration. How does this affect customers who have pre-ordered an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus from Phones 4U?*
Which Apple stores have the iPhone 6 in stock?
Visit Apple’s retail store website at http://store.apple.com/uk to find your nearest story. You can then search to find out whether that store has your desired handset is in stock, and you can even reserve a time slot to pick it up later. There will also be a phone number – it is worth ringing to avoid disappointment, the store nearest to our office has stock each day, but mostly it goes to people who reserve at around 6am each morning. (We can’t find any stores that have iPhone 6 Plus in stock right now.)
Where to buy iPhone 6: Mobile networks
Buying a phone outright (SIM-free) is expensive so you might want to buy it on a contract. We don’t have comprehensive details yet but here’s what we know about buying the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus from a mobile network.
If you pre-ordered a smartphone before the news of Phones 4U going into administration was revealed – if you’ve already paid but haven’t yet received your device or commenced your contract, in other words – you may be worried about getting either the money or the device and service you paid for. But Phones 4U has insisted in a statement that customers who’ve not had their devices sent out to them will be refunded.
“Any orders that have not already been dispatched will be cancelled and any payments refunded to customers,” a representative said. “Phones 4u apologise for any inconvenience.”
Stop the payment if it’s not too late: This is promising news, but we nevertheless advise you to contact your bank (or credit-card provider) at once and see if you can cancel or recall the payment, or if you are covered in case of events such as this.
If you can get through to a Phones 4U representative, it would be worthwhile finding out where you stand, but the company’s website is currently down and the stores are closed. Phones 4U customers are advised to call 0844 8712253 for support, but we’ve not been able to get through to anyone from the company this morning.
Existing contracts: If you’ve got an existing phone contract with Phones 4U, by the way, you should be ok. Phones 4U says current contracts won’t be affected. Networks will continue to provide mobile service, and you’ll be able to keep using your phone as normal.
Repairs: Phones 4U has stated that phone repairs currently in progress will be completed as planned, but they will be sent back to a home address rather than than to a store location. If this applies to you, call 0844 8712269 for further details.
* Needless to say, while we concern ourselves here with iPhone fans who face a loss of several hundred pounds, the news is far worse for the approximately 5,500 Phones 4U employees believed to be at risk of losing their jobs. This is a sad situation all round.
Pre-order iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the UK
Apple has kicked off pre-orders of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on its Online store, and is offering a reserve for pickup service from your local Apple Retail Store. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will actually hit the shelves on 19 September.
The company has revealed that the new iPhones achieved a record number of first day pre-orders, with over four million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units ordered within the first 24 hours of availability.
“Demand for the new iPhones exceeds the initial pre-order supply and while a significant amount will be delivered to customers beginning on Friday and throughout September, many iPhone pre-orders are scheduled to be delivered in October,” Apple said in a press release. “Additional supply of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available to walk-in customers on Friday, September 19 at 8:00 am local time at Apple retail stores.”
To pre-order your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, you can follow this link.
There, you’ll need to choose a model, the colour (Silver, Gold or Space Grey), and the storage option. You can also add a Pay as you go starter pack from Three or O2 if you want to.
At time of writing, only the 16GB iPhone 6 in Space Grey says that it’ll be delivered on 19 September. All of the other iPhone 6 models say ‘Dispatched 7-10 days’ so there will be a longer wait for the device, and some of the iPhone 6 Plus models say 3-4 weeks already.
[Update, 15 September: Apple, along with the major carrier firms, has now sold – or appears to have sold – its entire preorder supply of iPhone 6 Plus handsets. This means that you can expect longer ship times when buying the iPhone 6 Plus.]
To reserve an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus in store, you’ll need to go to the Reserve and Pick Up page. You can check the availability of the model you want by choosing between iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the drop down menu, and then choosing your preferred store.
We spent some time checking through the availability of the models as of 10am on 12 September, but could only find the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus models available in some stores. The iPhone 6 in all colours and capacity options seemed to be available in the majority of stores though.
You can also buy the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on contract from your network provider.
EE has also kicked off pre-orders of the iPhone 6. EE has partnered with Apple to offer the new VoLTE feature for better quality phonecalls. EE’s contracts start at £50.99 per month for the 16GB iPhone 6 with a £29.99 upfront cost, while the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus is available to pre-order for a £29.99 upfront cost and from £63.99 per month.
Three has begun pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus too. The iPhone 6 is available on various contracts with a £99 upfront cost and from £38 per month. The iPhone 6 Plus from Three will also require a £99 upfront cost, and contracts for the bigger phone start at £47 per month.
You can pre-order the iPhone 6 from Vodafone, too. Prices start at £99 upfront and £43.50 per month, but there are also some options that don’t require an upfront cost at all. The iPhone 6 Plus is available from £48.50 per month with a £99 upfront cost too.
O2 has also confirmed that it’ll be offering the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and kicked off a pre-order on Friday. Prices start at £43 for the iPhone 6, with a £29.99 upfront cost. For the iPhone 6 Plus, expect to pay in excess of £48 per month with a £9.99 upfront cost.
GiffGaff has a ‘keep me posted’ page for the iPhone 6, and Virgin Media‘s iPhone 6 page still says ‘Coming soon.’
Carphone Warehouse is also offering iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and we’ve often found that it offers even better contract deals than the carriers themselves. Pre-orders from the reseller have begun, and it seems like you’ll be able to get your hands on the iPhone you order from them on release day.
Carphone Warehouse and Amazon.co.uk will offer the iPhone 6 SIM-free, in addition to other resellers including gsmnation and Expansys. We’ll be bringing you release dates, best contract prices and best prices on the SIM-free iPhone 6 as resellers soon.
How to buy an iPhone 6 in the UK on release day
If you want to get your hands on the iPhone 6 on the day of release you may have to join the extremely long queue. In fact, you might even need to join that extremely long queue days in advance of the actual release date.
Even if you’ve pre-ordered your new iPhone, be warned that it’s still possible that you won’t get your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus on release day even if you pre-order it. It will all depend on how many people pre-order the devices, and how many units Apple has managed to manufacture and ship out. When the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s were released last year, the iPhone 5s was sold out within minutes.
If you’re determined to get the iPhone 6 on the day of release, we’d advise you to head down to an Apple Store as early as possible to avoid disappointment, as it’s likely they’ll sell out in most stores. It’s also worth attempting to find the most remote Apple Store possible, as London’s Convent Garden and Regent Street stores are usually extremely busy and will have people queuing outside for several days, maybe even weeks.
Pre-order the iPhone 6 here,
iPhone 6 (16GB)
iPhone 6 (64GB)
iPhone 6 (128GB)
Pre-order the iPhone 6 Plus here,
iPhone 6 Plus (16GB)
iPhone 6 Plus (64GB)
iPhone 6 Plus (128GB)
Recommend: Apple has released new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. You can use Syncios to free backup old iPhone and transfer to new iPhone 6. You can also download and install apps into iPad/iPod/iPhone. There are Huge and growing collection of free games, apps, wallpapers, ringtones for iOS devices. Just simply download and have a try.
You can follow Syncios on Twitter, Facebook for more tips and tricks.