These are the best iPhone 16 deals, according to a tech expert

At long last, the moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Apple’s new iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have launched in the UK, being joined by the new Apple Watch Series 10 and new AirPods 4.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are filled with the company’s new Apple Intelligence smarts, powered by the company’s new A18 and A18 Pro chipsets and iOS 18, making Siri more useful and your iPhone apps more connected than ever before. But as leaked ahead of time, the AI features have been delayed, with Apple having confirmed in its keynote that they won’t come to the UK until December.

Beyond artificial intelligence, all four iPhones have a new haptic camera control button on the side for taking pictures and videos, and even let you swipe between camera settings. The Pro smartphones also have bigger displays while keeping a similar-sized footprint, and they have even longer battery life. They each have better cameras and new colours and are more durable than ever before, making them great upgrades over their predecessors.

Launching today (Friday 20 September), I’ve rounded up the best iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max deals from all the major retailers and carriers.

The best iPhone 16 trade-in deals in the UK

While you won’t find any deals on the latest iPhone 16 handsets outright, the Apple Store and third-party retailers offer trade-in deals which will lower the total cost. I’ve found the best trade-in offers and deals from Apple, John Lewis and Amazon.

Best Apple Store iPhone 16 trade-in deals

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Apple never slaps any discounts onto its iPhones, but you can get a pretty hefty saving by trading in your current smartphone. You can get up to £645 off your new iPhone 16 by trading in an iPhone 15 Pro Max, bringing the cost of the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro Max down to just £554.

If you trade in an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, you can get between £330 and £575. While those trading in an iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro can get up to £390 off the new iPhone 16. Apple also offers 0 per cent finance, letting you spread the cost of your new iPhone 16 over monthly instalments.

Best John Lewis iPhone 16 trade-in deals

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Like the Apple Store, you can also trade in your current smartphone at John Lewis to lower the cost of your iPhone 16 purchase. If you trade in an iPhone 15 Pro Max, you can get up to £625 off your new iPhone 16. Even one of the oldest smartphones (an iPhone 11) could get you up to £120 on trade-in. John Lewis takes more than just iPhones, however, so you can also trade in an Android smartphone to lower the cost.

In terms of other perks, John Lewis is offering 20 per cent off an Apple 20W USB-C power adapter (£19, Johnlewis.com) when you add it to your cart alongside an iPhone 16 purchase and enter the code “APPLEADAPT” at the checkout.

Best Amazon iPhone 16 trade-in deals

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If you’ve got an Amazon gift card (admit it, we all get them for our birthday), and have a phone to trade in, it might be worth buying your new iPhone 16 direct from Amazon. Amazon sources out its trade-in program to Ingram Micro, who is offering up to £599 if you trade in an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Ingram Micro also accepts trade-ins if you’ve got an Android device, so you’re not locked into trading up an iPhone if you’re making the switch to iOS.

The best iPhone 16 carrier deals in the UK

Mobile phone carriers have lots of deals on the latest handsets. If you’re looking to pair your smartphone with a new contract, the likes of Sky Mobile, EE, O2 and Vodafone have slashed the price on data and have thrown in additional perks. I’ve rounded up the best and cheapest contract deals from all the major carriers below.

Best Sky Mobile iPhone 16 deals

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Sky Mobile offered the very cheapest deals for the entire iPhone 15 line-up last year, and it seems to be matching those prices for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

The iPhone 16 Pro starts from £33 per month, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts from £39 per month. The iPhone 16 starts from £26 per month and the iPhone 16 Plus starts from £30 per month. There’s no up-front cost like other carriers, but you will have to add on a data plan. Sky is offering double data for a limited time, and the cheapest data plan costs £5 per month, getting you 10GB of data instead of 5GB.

Plus, there are other perks if you take out a contract with Sky Mobile. The carrier has a piggybank system, which rolls your unused data into a virtual pot that you can share with your family, use in future months, or even exchange for rewards. The carrier also lets you stream on any Sky app, such as Sky Go and Sky Sports, without using any of your data.

Best Three iPhone 16 deals 

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While Three’s deals were a little lacklustre last year, the mobile network provider is offering the best iPhone 16 deals I’ve seen at launch so far this year, and have some of the best trade-in valuations out of all the providers. You can save up to £747 when you trade in an iPhone 14 Pro Max, for instance.

All of Three’s cheapest iPhone 16 deals come with 15GB of data and last for 36 months. The iPhone 16 costs £30.50 per month and comes with a £30 up-front cost, while the iPhone 16 Plus costs £33 per month and comes with a £40 up-front cost.

The iPhone 16 Pro costs £36 per month and comes with a £50 up-front cost and the iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £41 per month and comes with a £60 up-front cost. That makes Three the best network if you’re looking for an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, just watch out for the up-front cost.

Best Mobiles.co.uk iPhone 16 deals

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Online mobile phone shop Mobiles.co.uk, owned by Currys, has some impressive iPhone 16 deals on a per-month basis, but the up-front costs can be high (though not as high as buying an iPhone 16 outright).

The cheapest iPhone 16 deal is with Currys’s iD Mobile, which uses Three’s network. You’ll pay £29.99 per month, but there’s a £199 up-front cost. It comes with 100GB of data. The contract only lasts 24 months, though, which is shorter than Sky Mobile. An iPhone 16 Plus with 100GB of data will cost you £39.99 per month, with a £99 up-front cost.

Mobiles.co.uk’s best iPhone 16 Pro deal is again with iD Mobile. You get 100GB of data and pay £39.99 per month, with a £169 up-front cost. Want an iPhone 16 Pro Max with unlimited data? You’ll pay £44.99 per month and £199 up-front.

If you trade in your current handset, Mobiles.co.uk will take an extra £50 off the up-front cost, and you can get a free £10 Currys gift card after you make your purchase.

Best Tesco Mobile iPhone 16 deals

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Tesco Mobile’s iPhone 16 deals are slightly cheaper than Sky Mobile’s, but you’ll only get 3GB of data. Tesco Mobile uses O2’s network, so your coverage should be the same as anyone using an O2 SIM.

None of Tesco’s plans come with an up-front cost. The cheapest iPhone 16 deal costs £36.49 per month’ the iPhone 16 Plus costs £39.49 per month and the iPhone 16 Pro costs £42.49 per month. The iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £48.49 per month. All of these Tesco Mobile phone contracts last 36 months.

Best Vodafone iPhone 16 deals

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While Vodafone doesn’t have the best monthly deals, it does have some of the biggest trade-in valuations if you swap in your current handset, with Vodafone offering up to £736 for an iPhone 15 Pro Max. That’s £100 more than Apple, and you can use your trade-in value to lower your monthly cost, add it to your Vodafone account as credit or get the cash straight into your bank account.

Vodafone’s cheapest deals come with 3GB of data and last 36 months. The iPhone 16 starts from £43.24 per month and has a £30 up-front cost, the iPhone 16 Plus starts from £46.27 per month and a £30 up-front cost, while the iPhone 16 Pro starts from £49 per month with a £39 up-front cost and the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts from £54.76 per month with a £50 up-front cost.

Best EE iPhone 16 deals

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EE’s iPhone 16 deals at launch aren’t the cheapest around, but they come with unlimited data, so you won’t have to worry about running out, and it offers the best value in terms of extra perks. Plans with 5GB of data are marginally cheaper, but if you want a 5GB SIM, you might as well choose a plan with Sky Mobile, who is offering 10GB of data for £5.

An unlimited iPhone 16 plan costs £58.24 per month with a £30 up-front cost; the iPhone 16 Plus with unlimited data costs £61.27 per month with a £30 up-front cost. The iPhone 16 Pro with unlimited data costs £64.26 per month with a £30 up-front cost and the iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £70.32 per month with a £30 up-front cost, again with unlimited data.

All of EE’s contracts last 36 months. If you don’t mind paying a bit extra, EE is also offering the Apple One bundle subscription as part of its Full Works for iPhones package. If you opt for the Full Works plan, you’ll get Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud+ for 24 months, as well as unlimited data and a data roam abroad pass. To get an idea of the value of these perks, EE claims that the benefits are worth up to £1,200 altogether. You also get an extra inclusive perk, such as a subscription to TNT Sport. You can also get up to £480 if you trade in your current iPhone.

Best O2 iPhone 16 deals

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O2’s iPhone 16 deals are good for fans of freebies. The deals include a free subscription to Disney+ or Amazon Prime, as well as access to O2 Priority (who hands out the best gifts) and inclusive roaming in Europe. The below iPhone 16 deals all come with 25GB of data.

The iPhone 16 costs £49.20 per month with a £30 up-front cost; the iPhone 16 Plus costs £52.25 per month with a £30 up-front cost; the iPhone 16 Pro costs £55.25 per month with a £30 up-front cost and the iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £61.30 per month with a £30 up-front cost.

All of O2’s device plans last 36 months as standard, but they unlink after 24 months, so you can pay the rest off sooner and upgrade if you wish. You can also trade-in your current device to lower the cost of your monthly plan.

Best SIM-only deals

Sometimes the cheapest way of buying a new iPhone is to secure it on 0 per cent finance with Apple, Johb Lewis or Amazon, spreading the cost over 24 months, then pairing it with one of the cheapest SIM-only deals. Here are some of my favourite providers’ deals.

Apple iPhone 16 price: How much does the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro cost in the UK?

While rumours ahead of the iPhone launch suggested that components of successive iPhones were getting more expensive and increasingly difficult for Apple to absorb, the entire iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max cost the exact same price as the iPhone 15 line-up.

The base iPhone 16, which features a new 48MP camera system, a bigger battery and the new camera control button starts from £799 for the 128GB model, while the larger iPhone 16 Plus starts from £899.

The iPhone 16 Pro starts from £999 for the 128GB model, which is the same price as the iPhone 15 Pro at launch, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts from £1,199 for the 256GB models.

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