Apple iPhone 7 buying guide: Best contract deals and tariffs from UK networks

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus can now be bought online and pre-ordered from mobile networks and Apple itself in the UK, Europe and the US. Handsets ordered today will be delivered or available for collection in a week's time, on 16 September.

With the option of buying the phone outright or paying on contract – and with dozens of contracts from a handful of mobile networks to chose from – we have rounded up all of the best deals into one place.

Buying SIM-free

Buying an iPhone outright and SIM-free from Apple can be the most cost-effective option, but the upfront costs are higher than ever, due to Apple upping its UK prices after currency fluctuations in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Here is how the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus stack up, bought directly from Apple:

Of course, spending over £900 for a smartphone is not something everyone can afford to do. So here are some of the best contracts we have seen from the UK's biggest mobile networks.

iPhone 7 buying guide: BT Mobile

With BT, there are just three monthly prices to choose from, with only the up-front cost varying depending on which you pick. Prices start at £44 per month and £120 up front for the 32GB iPhone 7, but this only includes 500MB of data and 400 minutes, plus unlimited texts.

Instead, we would recommend spending £49 per month and £80 up front for 3GB of data, 1,000 minutes and unlimited texts. The up front prices rises to £150 and £200 for the 128GB and 256GB iPhone 7 respectively.

15GB of data and unlimited calls and texts costs £59 per month, plus a one-off payment of £30, £90 or £120 depending on which storage option you pick.

The iPhone 7 Plus has the same monthly plans, but the up-front cost ranges from £90 for the 32GB model on the £59 per month plan, up to £380 for the 256GB version on the £44 a month tariff.

In addition to this, existing BT Broadband customers get £5 all of these prices.

iPhone 7 buying guide: EE

EE helpfully provides what it claims to be its best-selling plans for each version of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. All packages listed below come with six months' free access to the BT Sport app. They are as follows:

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 Plus

As well as these deals, EE offers a package with 40GB of data for between £65.99 and £70.99 per month, depending on which phone you want. Finally, the cheapest way to get an iPhone 7 from EE is to pay £99.99 up front and £45.99 per month. This gets you the 32GB model with unlimited calls and texts, plus 2GB of data.

iPhone 7 buying guide: O2

Monthly tariffs from O2 start at £38 per month for the 32GB iPhone 7, with an initial cost of £179.99. But this only gets you 1GB of data (plus unlimited calls and texts). Up this to 3GB or 5GB and the monthly cost rises to £41.50 and £45 respectively.

Here is our pick of the best O2 deal for each version of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus:

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 Plus

iPhone 7 buying guide: Tesco Mobile

Tesco keeps things simpler than most networks. For now, every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus contract comes with 5,000 minutes, 5,000 texts and 3GB of data per month. All contracts are 24 months long.

With that in mind, here is a selection of how the costs stack up for each handset:

iPhone 7 buying guide: Three

Three offers 10 plans for the iPhone 7 and 10 for the 7 Plus. The monthly price then varies depending on the storage option you chose. That means 60 tariffs in total...

Here are the highlights for the mid-range 128GB model

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 Plus

iPhone 7 buying guide: Vodafone

Vodafone is another network to offer a large range of deals and tariffs with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, some of which include free access to Spotify and the Sky Sports iOS app. Here are some of the best offers.

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 Plus