Apple iPhone 14: Here’s how and when you can pre-order the new smartphone in the UK
It’s smartphone season, and Apple has just unveiled the new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 plus, iPhone 14 pro and iPhone 14 pro max to its lineup at the company’s Far Out Apple event.
While the handsets will officially launch on 16 September, for the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 pro and iPhone 14 pro max, and the 7 October for the iPhone 14 plus, pre-orders will open on 9 September for all four iPhones. And this year, Apple is making it easier than ever to prepare for the iPhone pre-ordering process.
The tech giant has essentially launched a pre-pre-order system. Using either the Apple Store app or the company’s Getting Ready page, you can choose your desired iPhone 14 configuration, add on Apple Care+, accessories and confirm your payment information.
This all means you’ll be able to zoom through to the checkout and make your purchase when iPhone 14 pre-orders open on 9 September. There are often shipment delays whenever a new iPhone is released, so it’s neat that Apple is making the process quicker and smoother.
In terms of the handsets themselves, well, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 plus look to be fairly iterative updates, with the main upgrades in design, specs and camera being reserved for the iPhone 14 pro series. As always, we expect Apple to offer up some juicy trade-in deals when the iPhone 14 opens up for pre-order on Friday, and we’ll hopefully see some decent deals from all the major UK carriers as well.
When can you pre-order the iPhone 14 in the UK?
The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 plus, iPhone 14 pro and iPhone 14 pro max will all be available to pre-order in the UK from 1pm on Friday 9 September. You will be able to pre-order your iPhone 14 from Apple directly, but we also expect other retailers, such as Currys and Amazon, and mobile phone carriers, including EE, Three, Vodafone and O2, to open pre-orders at the same time.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 plus will launch on 16 September and October 7 respectively, with the iPhone 14 pro and iPhone 14 pro max also launching on 16 September.
Apple iPhone 14 price: How much will the iPhone 14 cost to pre-order in the UK?
Rumours ahead of the Apple event suggested that the iPhone 14 could go up by $100 (£86) in the US as a result of the global economic downturn and increased prices of components. However, while it turns out that the iPhone 14 isn’t getting a price hike in the US, all four handsets are going up in price in the UK, potentially due to the strengthening of the US dollar.
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The base iPhone 14 will start from £849 for the 128GB model, while the iPhone 14 plus will cost £949. That’s an increase of £70 from the base iPhone 13 last year, which cost £779 at launch.
Both the iPhone 14 pro and iPhone 14 pro max have received a £150 price increase over the iPhone 13 pro and pro max. The iPhone 14 pro will start from £1,099 for the 128GB model, while the 14 pro max will start from £1,199.
The jump in price is in-line with other Apple launches this year, so it’s not a total suprise. The 2022 iPhone SE, for example, costs £419, that was an increase of £30 more than the second-generation iPhone SE from 2020. Meanwhile, the two most recent Apple launches – the MacBook air M2 and the MacBook pro M2 – both received hefty price increases. The MacBook pro M2 is now £100 more than before, while the MacBook air M2 received a £300 price increase.
What iPhone pre-order deals were there last year?
We won’t know what kind of pre-order deals will be available until 9 September, but Three and EE have both confirmed that customers will be able to pre-order the new handsets when pre-orders open this Friday. But if we have a peek at last year’s pre-order deals, we can get a sense of the potential price range.
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Last year, Sky was offering the best iPhone 13 pro pre-order deal out of all the carriers. The company had a deal on the iPhone 13 pro’s 128GB model in any of the four available colours. You could get the handset for just £33 per month when you signed up for a 24-month contract. There wasn’t an up-front cost, but you did have to add on a data plan, which started at £6 per month.
Three also had a pretty good pre-order deal on the iPhone 13 pro. You could get the iPhone with unlimited data and though you had to pay £49 upfront, you’d then only have to pay £35 per month for the first six months, and then £70 from then onwards.
O2 was offering up the base iPhone 13 with 150GB data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts for £48.98 per month as part of a 36-month contract, with a £30 up-front charge. It was also selling the iPhone 13 pro max with unlimited data for £63.50 per month, with a £30 up-front charge.
There were also pre-order deals from EE, Vodafone and Virgin Media, but they weren’t quite as competitive. We also saw pre-order deals on the iPhone 13 mini, but with Apple rumoured to be ditching the mini model in favour of a bigger one this year, those deals might become less relevant.
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Apple didn’t have any pre-order deals itself, only selling the iPhone 13 at full price, but it did have a few trade-in deals. You were able to get between £80 and £470 off a new iPhone 13 pro or an iPhone 13 pro max when you traded in an iPhone 8 or newer.
Based on last year’s carrier deals and taking into account the price increase, it appears that pre-order deals on the iPhone 14 pro could start somewhere around the £50 per month mark and go as high as £100 per month for the iPhone 14 pro max model. This is all conjecture for now, and we won’t know what the carrier pre-order prices are until the big day itself, so stay tuned.
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