With the latest Apple iPhone 5 Plans just announced, we have collated our comparison of the iPhone 5 plans in Australia. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are plenty of new iPhone 5 plans available from the major networks on the market. After all, everyone has to win from the popularity of the new device but let’s see whether or not the customer gets any benefits as well.
Comparing iPhone 5 Plans Through Providers
Optus iPhone 5 Plans
- Starting from $53 per month on a 2 year contract
Depending on your usage and needs, Optus can be viewed as a good choice.
Optus is a leading Telecommunications Provider in Australia. Seen as the original Telstra competitor, and with good network coverage. Be sure to compare their mobile plans against their other more competitive brand, Virgin Mobile.
Virgin Mobile iPhone 5 Plans
- Starting from $52 per month on a 2 year plan
Virgin Mobile have a cheap iPhone 5 plan with their $29 Big Plan offer.
In addition Virgin Mobile iPhone 5 plans are often seen as the more competitive Optus provider. Being completely owned by Singtel Optus, it offers the Network quality of Optus, but comes with the benefit of the Virgin Mobile competitive plans. iPhone 5 buyers should be sure to compare these plans.
Vodafone iPhone 5 Plans
- Starting from $48 per month on a 24 month contract
Vodafone is offering some of the more competitive prices on the new Apple iPhone.
With their latest Network Guarantee, these plans offer serious competition in the Australian mobile phone market and should be considered when purchasing.
Telstra iPhone 5 Plans
- Starting at $67 per month over 24 month contract term
This plan is the best iPhone 5 plan for coverage.
Telstra is a very popular choice by Australians, as it is largely seen as the best network for coverage in Australia. While Telstra's plans can be at the higher price point, they do have a strong mobile phone network.
The good news is that it seems data allowances are better than ever and you also get a lot of call and text value included in the plan of your choice. However, before choosing a plan you need to take a few factors into consideration.
Still Stuck on the Steps to Getting Your iPhone 5?
So you’ve decided you MUST get an iPhone 5 in your hands, but you want a plan which offers plenty of value for money, and enough bang for your buck. Who offers the best value, and what’s the right way to decide which carrier to choose?
Find the Right iPhone 5 Plan
- The first thing you have to consider is how much you usually spend on calls every month as well as how much data traffic you have.
- Data Usage - consider where you are most likely to use your phone for browsing and internet access because if you use Wi-Fi a lot, for example, you won’t need as much data allowance, meaning you can opt for a cheaper plan. If this will be your first smartphone, it is generally recommended that you go for at least 1GB of data per month because you are likely to use it more than you expect, especially if you are addicted to social networking.
- Will you be using your phone for business? Remember that you will probably need a fair amount of data allowance because you will likely be downloading tons of emails, opening PDFs and a variety of other files as well as uploading files you wish to send on.
- Entertainment Usage - If you plan to use your iPhone 5 mainly for entertainment, then storage will be just as important as the data allowance. The more storage you have, the more media files you can store on your unit. Of course, you can also stream media files straight from your computer thanks to some nifty apps but that will require additional data traffic, so be careful.
- Outright or on a plan? Some carriers offer plans that are significantly less expensive because they don’t include the handset and that doesn’t just refer to the overall cost but in terms of data and call costs as well. Additionally, you also will have more flexibility to jump from one carrier to another if you aren’t locked into a 24 month contract, as most telcos only offer the handset if you sign a long term contract.
However, keep in mind that if you buy the iPhone 5 on another form of credit, like if you use your credit card, you should also factor in the interest costs to make sure you have an accurate picture of which option offers better value.
Contract or buy outright?
You can choose to sign up to a 12-24 month contract, or to buy the iPhone outright and choose a SIM only deal. You can make significant savings when you buy a SIM only plan, but this is determined by how much you pay for the handset. Look at contract plans and see how much you’re being charged overall for the phone minus the services. Consider also if over the life of the contract it’s cheaper than buying the phone outright, it is crucial that you assess your ideal options.
But you also need to think about your usage habits. Think about how many calls you make, how many texts you send, and how much data you use before you decide what to do. Your usage habits play a big part in how much you’ll be paying each month for your iPhone 5.
Do you need 4G for your iPhone 5?
If you owned previous versions of the iPhone, you may have become accustomed to the 3G network, which was incredibly fast for its time. These days 3G just doesn't cut it. If you have an older phone and you are using 3G, you may not notice a difference.
4G network – makes the iPhone 5 blazing fast
4G signifies that the network consists of Fourth Generation radio signals. The 4G network is already proving to be very popular with iPhone3, 4 and iPhone 5 users, since phone speeds, browsing speeds and download speeds are substantially faster than previous generation networks.
The iPhone 5 is said to be twice as fast as the 4S. This of course is due to the new A6 chip that Apple decided to go with for the new iPhone, but it's also because of Apple's decision to use the 4G network wherever it’s available.
Snapping photos and sending them to friends, browsing your favourite websites, playing games with friends and strangers around the world – these are all activities you can do in seconds instead of minutes thanks to the speed afforded by this fourth generation network.
The bottom line is that if you plan to use 3G speeds with your iPhone 5, that's a little bit like putting a Fiat engine in a Lamborghini. Sure, it'll work, but you're not going to get the ultimate experience. There's a reason everyone is raving about the new iPhone and it's mostly because people are already used to using the new fourth generation signals. Do you need 4G for the new iPhone 5? If you read even a few reviews about the difference, you will soon see that the answer is a resounding yes.
Considerations - iPhone 5 may use more plan data
The data hog issue has caused The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) to launch new ad campaign warning new iPhone 5 users that they may be consuming larger than average data loads. The ad campaign seemed to have been launched at just the right time. Just as the billboards and letters were going out, iPhone 5 handsets were being sold en masse. Other smartphone users may also face high bills and large data usage if they are using the 4G network.
So, yes, 4G is fast, but it can also be expensive if you don’t have a decently-sized data allocation cap on your data plan. It’s really important to ensure that you choose a plan that allows for the actual amount of data you’re likely to use so you don’t go over your allocation amount. You’ll end up incurring additional costs on top of your plan charges this way. The best thing to do is monitor your data usage or move to a plan that offers more data for an amount you can easily afford.
As a new iPhone 5 user, you'll find that 4G makes your new handset fun and easy to use, as long as your usage amounts don't get away from you.
Choose your iPhone 5 Model - How Much Storage?
How much storage do you need? The iPhone 5 can be bought in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, and the price increases along with the storage capacity. If you’re on an older iPhone how much data do you currently use? This should give you an indication of much room you need on your new handset.
As a general rule the more photos, videos, and music you store on your phone the more space you’ll need. Don’t forget you can sync your media with iCloud so it can be downloaded to other devices to save space on your iPhone. If you’re using your iPhone 5 as a music player then you’ll want your music to remain on your handset and therefore will need more space, so the 64GB will be your best bet.
If you’re more of a surfer, and only use your phone to download the odd app, make calls and send texts you can probably get away with a 16GB version which should save you money.
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