How to get the iPhone 6s as cheaply as possible

As ever, the absolute cheapest way to get one is to pay for the handset outright, from Apple, and then grab a SIM-only deal to use in it.

Credit card and SIM-only savings

The entry level iPhone 6s is going for £539 and the bog-standard 6s Plus will sell at £619. It sounds a lot, but in the long run buying can be cheaper than signing up for a pay-monthly contract.

For example, if you bought the iPhone 6s via Vodafone on a two-year contract, you’d get unlimited calls and texts, and 6GB of data in return for £45 a month. Over two years that’s £1,080.

If you instead bought the handset from Apple at £539 on a 0% purchase credit card, splitting up the repayments over 24 months, and then used a SIM-only deal with the same allowances from The People’s Operator at £14.99 (on a rolling one month contract), your grand, two-year total would be £898.76.

That’s a saving of £181.24.

Of course, the two hurdles here are being able (and happy enough) to take out a purchase credit card with a period of at least 24 months’ interest free, and then being comfortable with choosing a smaller network operator.

Most SIM-only deals are for 12 months though, which means you’d also have to sign up again at the end of year one.

If you have a spare handset to use in the interim, you can always recycle your old iPhone and get some cash to help with the up-front cost of the new iPhones.

The great benefit of the credit card/SIM-only route, however, is that the handset is yours to sell at any time. If, after 12 months, Apple looks set to drop the iPhone 7 – you could just sell your 6s and pay off the credit card balance.

Make allowances

6GB is actually quite a big data allowance for many users. If you were happy to reduce your allowances a bit, there are more savings up for grabs.

Buy the 6s from Apple and stick Giffgaff’s 2GB, unlimited texts, 500 minutes SIM in it for £12 a month and your two year cost drops to £827.

But if you don’t want to pay big money up front for the handset and prefer to use a pay monthly contract, our mobiles channel can help you to compare the best deals as we get them.

For instance, we have a two year deal with Vodafone at £39 a month, plus £59.99 up front – totalling £995.99 and giving you unlimited calls and texts, plus 6GB of data.

Whichever way you decide to buy, take your time comparing the deals and always work out the two-year cost factoring in the monthly payments plus the price of the handset or up-front fee.

Recycle and save

If you have a spare handset to use in the interim, you can always recycle your old iPhone and get some cash to help with the up-front cost of the new iPhones.

For example, a 16GB iPhone 6 on O2 will sell for up to £230 with our recycling partner. A 16GB iPhone 5s on O2, meanwhile, will net you up to £154.

Remember that trade-in values for older iPhone models are only going to go down as the 6s models get more common, so if you are going to sell up – sooner is better.

Please note: any rates or deals mentioned in this article were available at the time of writing. Click on a highlighted product and apply direct.