Singapore operators release iPhone 4 prices

Apple announced the contract-free prices for the new iPhone 4. The 16GB and 32GB versions of the new smartphone are available at S$888 and S$1,048, respectively, directly from Apple. Today, Singapore  operators have announced their subsidized prices which will require the user to sign a two-year contract. Aside from the new iPhone 4, the 8GB iPhone 3GS will also be available from the operators as a lower-cost option.

The available price plans are similar to last year's deals in December when M1 and StarHub started to offer the iPhone 3GS. This means you get 12GB bundled data for most of the plans from each of the three operators. Note that M1 also gives unlimited data for its S$98 plan called iPhone Extreme while StarHub's S$98 3G SmartSurf 700 and SingTel's S$95 iFlexi Plus both offer 12GB of data. For full details of the price plans, check out our previous iPhone 3GS launch coverage or visit the operators' Web sites.


The following table gives the upfront handset prices offered by the three operators along with their corresponding price plans. The top-tier plan has been left out because the handsets are S$0 across the three telcos for that package.

	iPhone 4 (16GB)	iPhone 4 (32GB)	iPhone 3GS (8GB)
M1	S$480 (iPhone Value) S$210 (iPhone Lite) S$0 (iPhone Extreme)	S$620 (iPhone Value) S$360 (iPhone Lite) S$60 (iPhone Extreme)	S$360 (iPhone Value) S$60 (iPhone Lite) S$0 (iPhone Extreme)
SingTel	S$480 (iFlexi Lite) S$210 (iFlexi Value) S$0 (iFlexi Plus)	S$620 (iFlexi Lite) S$360 (iFlexi Value) S$60 (iFlexi Plus)	S$350 (iFlexi Lite) S$60 (iFlexi Value) S$0 (iFlexi Plus)
StarHub	S$500 (3G SmartSurf 100) S$230 (3G SmartSurf 300) S$0 (3G SmartSurf 700)	S$630 (3G SmartSurf 100) S$380 (3G SmartSurf 300) S$70 (3G SmartSurf 700)	S$350 (3G SmartSurf 100) S$80 (3G SmartSurf 300) S$0 (3G SmartSurf 700)

StarHub was the first to announce its prices. M1 and SingTel followed thereafter with slightly lower prices. The upfront handset cost is about S$20 lower for the latter two telcos compared with StarHub.

According to StarHub and M1, iPhone 3GS customers who signed up in December last year will have to wait until a year has transpired on their contract before they can upgrade to the latest iPhone 4.

Even then, these customers will have to pay an early upgrade fee since the full 24-month contract obligation has not been fulfilled. Such a fee also applies to the original batch of SingTel iPhone 3GS customers who got their phones in July 2009.