iPhone 3G Australia

Having seen the video where Steve Jobs said he would be releasing the 8gb iPhone 3G for $199 worldwide, I assumed that, being Apple, they wouldn't stick to a strict US to AUS dollar conversion and bump the price a little - I can deal with that. But it was released today for:

8gb iPhone: $729

I so agree. He said it'd be $199 US world wide and a little more for the 16 GB version as you said. And those prices sure as **** aint $199 US.

At those prices the lowest mac mini is the same price as the 16GB iphone. And that's crazy. A phone costing as much as a computer??? I was going to get an iphone outright, but at those prices I just might have to reconsider.

And all the plans with Optus, Telstra and Vodafone are complicated. I'm not sure if the upfront fee means you own the phone outright or not. Anyways which ever plan you're on is a lock in for 24 months (But some optus plans have a 12 month option), which is a lot in my opinion.

And here are the links for us Aussie iphone users or future users.

Telstra:
http://www.telstra.com.au/nextgnetwork/ipricing.htm

Vodafone:
http://store.vodafone.com.au/iphone/

Optus:
http://www.optusiphone.com.au/home.aspx

Pretty ridiculous huh? -_- Once I found out the price of the phone outright I went looking at plans, hoping there'd be something like a $29 cap or something - similar to the Vodafone one (though I'd prefer it with Optus but whatever) but the lowest plan available is $49 and I don't want to spend that much a month... so both on principle and due to finances, I won't be buying it until they change something... very disappointing.

Actually if you follow the link to the optus page I gave above they do have a cap plan less then $49 a month. It's $19 a month with $50 worth of talk and text and 100MB data. Plus there is the monthly iphone repayment fee which is 8 GB $21 a month over 24 months
8 GB $51 a month over 12 months
16 GB $26 a month over 24 months
16 GB $61 a month over 12 months.

So the cheapest you can get it from optus on a cap is $40 a month.

I was also disappointed with the prices and plans offered for the iPhone.

As you said, it's a lot of money to either subscribe for 2 years or having a plan at $49 min per month.

At the moment I have a prepaid plan that I recharge ($30) sometimes every 2 months lol

the8thark said:

Actually if you follow the link to the optus page I gave above they do have a cap plan less then $49 a month. It's $19 a month with $50 worth of talk and text and 100MB data. Plus there is the monthly iphone repayment fee which is 8 GB $21 a month over 24 months
8 GB $51 a month over 12 months
16 GB $26 a month over 24 months
16 GB $61 a month over 12 months.

So the cheapest you can get it from optus on a cap is $40 a month.

Click to expand...

Sorry, forgot about that one. At the moment, I have a prepaid Optus mobile on Turbocharge - so every time I recharge with $30 I get $150, and it expires after a month. I'm quite happy with that since I can usually use about $100 a month. I probably could limit myself to the $50 per month but I'd be paying more than I am now, for much much less so I can't justify it.

I went down to an Optus store and ask about iPhone plans, etc
Since I'm an international student here, I'm not able to subscribe to a plan even a 12 months plan because my current visa expires in 11 months.

The guy at Optus just suggested the best offer would be a prepaid. The thing is on prepaid offer only the TurboCharge gives you Internet Data. I've already got a prepaid and I don't even use the TurboCharge ahah