Best iPhone 16 deals: How to preorder iPhone 16 and 16 Plus — best deals from EE, Sky Mobile, Vodafone, more

The iPhone 16 starts at £799, whilst the larger 16 Plus model begins at £899. Both of these handsets are available in the following four finishes:

• Black
• White
• Pink
• Teal
• Ultramarine

The iPhone 16 is available in four storage configurations, with UK prices of:

• 128GB | £799
• 256GB | £899
• 512GB | £1,099

Meanwhile, the larger iPhone 16 Plus is available in the same four storage configurations, but starting at a higher price point:

• 128GB | £899
• 256GB | £999
• 512GB | £1,199

Monthly payment options are also available, with the iPhone 16 starting at £33.29 per month and the iPhone 16 Plus at £37.45 per month.

All five of these new iPhone 16 models will be available in-stores and start shipping to customers from Friday September 20. It's unclear whether Apple has prepared enough stock to meet demand, but in previous years, we've seen shipping dates start to slip in the hours after preorders go live.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus promise a number of critical upgrades over their predecessors. First up, a new Camera Control button has been added for snappy access to the camera and new ways to scroll through different photos and video modes.

The camera lenses have been upgraded too, with a 48MP Fusion camera with a lossless 2x Telephoto zoom is designed to offer the functionality of two cameras in one, while an updated Ultra Wide camera enables macro photography for the first time on the standard iPhone.

The Action button, previously exclusive to Pro models, now comes to the standard iPhone 16 lineup. It lets you quickly access several common functions with a single press, including identify a song with Shazam, activating the torch, or switching between Ring and Silent modes.

Powered by the supercharged new A18 chip, these iPhones have been designed to be the best showcase for Apple Intelligence — a suite of AI capabilities designed to enhance user experience whilst prioritising privacy. Apple Intelligence introduces Writing Tools to proofread your writing or adjust the tone of your emails, documents, and text messages.

It can also quickly summarise text, generate never-before-seen new emoji based on a written prompt, and remove unwanted people from the background of your photographs. Unfortunately, Apple Intelligence UK release date is scheduled a few months after the iPhone 16 Pro launch, so you won't be able to test all of these new AI tricks out-of-the-box.

Best iPhone 16 deals

Preorders for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are now available, with the release date for both of these handsets scheduled September 20. If you want to buy either of these handsets outright and then pair with your existing SIM — or any SIM-only deal that's caught your eye, you're not restricted to simply buying direct from the Apple Store.

A number of popular online retailers launched preorders alongside the Apple Store at 1pm on September 13, including AO.com, Currys, John Lewis, Very, and Argos are expected to list the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus models on their online stores from September 13, when preorders open worldwide. Amazon already lists the models, but there's no option to buy the handsets just yet — you'll need to wait for 1pm on Friday.

Discounts on the iPhone are pretty rare, but before these handsets have even launched — you're not going to see any sizeable price drops. Instead, you're likely going to be paying RRP for these all-new devices, so we'd recommend shopping with a retailer that you trust to ship the new iPhone to you on release date, or with a decent returns policy.

We've rounded up links to preorder as soon as possible, so you can get started with your new iPhone as close as possible to release date —

• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 from Apple Store
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 Plus from Apple Store
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 for £799 on Amazon
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 Plus for £899 on Amazon
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 for £799 at Currys
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 Plus for £899 at Currys
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 from AO.com
• View Deal | Preorder iPhone 16 Plus from AO.com

Sky Mobile

If you want to preorder the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus on a pay monthly deal, then Sky Mobile is offering 50% off 5G data plans for the first year, unlimited streaming of TV shows, movies, and live Sky Sports from Sky Go, and no upfront cost.

Yes, one of the best perks of picking Sky Mobile over its rivals is that any mobile data used within Sky-owned apps will never count towards your monthly allowance. Yes, you'll can stream endlessly from Sky Go, Sky Sports, and other Sky apps over 5G with no risk of burning through your monthly data allowance.

That means you can spend hours binge-watching series like House of the Dragon, Chernobyl, The White Lotus, Succession, and Euphoria on Sky Go and you won't use a single megabyte of 5G data. Likewise, you can stream live Premier League matches from Sky Sports HD on Sky Go without spending a penny extra on your monthly bills.

If you're already a Sky TV viewer, then you can afford to save some money on your 5G data plans with Sky Mobile.

The entry-level iPhone 16 starts at £26 per month, rising to £30 monthly for the iPhone 16 Plus. These are 36-month contracts to pay-off the cost of the handset. The cheapest data plan from Sky Mobile costs £5 a month for 5GB of 5G data, while 100GB of 5G is available for £14.

All Sky Mobile plans ship with no upfront fee and include unlimited calls and texts.

Sky Mobile offers the ability to roll-on any leftover data to a Sky Piggybank for future use. Customers can use this 5G data in the future — if you're having Wi-Fi trouble at home, or staying somewhere without broadband, for example — or share it with up to seven SIMs on your account. You can even exchange unused 5G data for rewards.

EE

Both iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are available on EE's new 5G network, which boasts faster speeds and improved reliability. For the first time, EE is offering the ability to spread costs over 36 months — unlocking EE's lowest monthly price plans.

EE's Essential Plan for iPhone offers competitive pricing across the new range. The iPhone 16 starts at £38.24 per month, while the iPhone 16 Plus is available from £41.27 monthly. Both pay monthly deals arrive with a £30 upfront cost, unlimited texts and calls.

If you're willing to spend a little more, EE's Full Works Plan for iPhone offers Apple One bundle, which combines Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ with 50GB storage. It also bundles unlimited data and roaming, unlimited Apple Watch data, and Network Boost for enhanced performance in busy areas.

With this plan, the iPhone 16 is available from £54.24 per month, and iPhone 16 Plus from £57.27.

O2

If you're looking to upgrade to the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, the network is offering an extra £100 when you trade-in an old device before October 9, 2024.

iPhone 16 starts from £49.21 per month, while the larger iPhone 16 Plus costs £52.25 monthly. Both of these plans comes with a £30 upfront cost and 25GB of 5G data on a 36-month contract.

It's worth noting that O2 is one of the few networks that didn't resurrect EU roaming fees following the UK's departure from the European Union, so you'll be able to that 25GB of monthly data allowance across 49 European countries. Plus, you'll also get acces to its O2 Priority rewards scheme, which offers free coffees from high street chains, discounted cinema tickets, and early access to concert tickets.

If you want to bolster the number of perks, O2's Plus Plan costs an additional £3.99 per month, and brings O2 Switch Up — so you can upgrade to a new handset before the end of your contract, and O2 Travel Inclusive Zone.

Best discounts on iPhone 16

Helping to soften the blow, Apple offers trade-in deals for existing iPhone owners looking to upgrade. It's offering between £130 and £630 in credit towards the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus when you trade-in your existing iPhone, although the exact amount will depend on the model and condition.

Best of all, Apple lets you keep ahold of the device you're looking to trade-in until after you’ve received your new iPhone. It will mail a trade-in kit and instructions on how to back up and transfer your apps and personal data, as well as how to securely wipe your data and prep the old handset to send it back.

Your chosen payment method will be credited with the amount after Apple has received and evaluated your trade-in iPhone. Here's a list of the current trade-in values on-offer from Apple:

• iPhone 15 Plus | Up to £420
• iPhone 15 | Up to £415
• iPhone 14 Pro Max | Up to £575
• iPhone 14 Pro | Up to £470
• iPhone 14 Plus | Up to £335
• iPhone 14 | Up to £330
• iPhone SE (3rd generation) | Up to £115
• iPhone 13 Pro Max | Up to £390

• iPhone 13 Pro | Up to £330
• iPhone 13 | Up to £260
• iPhone 13 mini | Up to £220
• iPhone 12 Pro Max | Up to £275
• iPhone 12 Pro | Up to £215
• iPhone 12 | Up to £180
• iPhone 12 mini | Up to £135
• iPhone SE (2nd generation) | Up to £65

• iPhone 11 Pro Max | Up to £170
• iPhone 11 Pro | Up to £145
• iPhone 11 | Up to £115
• iPhone XS Max | Up to £110
• iPhone XS | Up to £80
• iPhone XR | Up to £100

What's new in iPhone 16 and 16 Plus?

iPhone 16 and 16 Plus keep roughly the same appearance of previous iterations — in contrast with the pricier iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, which sport new bigger screen sizes. On the back, the two camera lenses have been stacked vertically to enable Spatial Video when shooting video, which can be watched back in immersive three-dimensions on the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3 VR headset.

Apple has also introduced a slew of saturated new colours — Black, White, Pink, Teal, and Ultramarine.

There's no shortage of changes on the inside.

First up, the new A18 chipset delivers a 30% faster CPU and up to 40% faster GPU compared to the A16 Bionic, which was found inside the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus last year, while being more power-efficient. Built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology, this custom-designed chipset boasts an upgraded 16-core Neural Engine, optimised for large generative models.

And that's what will enable a slew of new AI features under the Apple Intelligence umbrella.

Apple Intelligence, which will roll-out to iPhone owners in December in UK — although it's worth noting that millions of existing smartphone owners are set to miss out, introduces a range of new AI capabilities. Writing Tools works across any app on iOS and will adjust the tone of you writing, making it more friendly, concise, or professional. It can also summarise lengthy email chains, documents, and paragraphs of text into bullet-points, check your grammar, and flag sentence structure issues.

Elsewhere, Apple Intelligence will add a new app called Image Playground, which generates never-before-seen images in three styles (Animation, Illustration, and Sketch) based on a written prompt. Genmoji will let you for create custom emoji to use across the likes of iMessage, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

AI voice assistant Siri will be treated to a welcome upgrade with all of these new Apple Intelligence smarts. As well as a new design — summoning Siri will now cause the borders of your iPhone to swirl with a glowing light — the talkative AI will now remember context between requests so you won't need to repeat yourself, and will be able to follow your line of through even if you stumble over your words or correct yourself mid-sentence.

You'll also be able to type requests to Siri — handy if you don't fancy barking an order for your iPhone, or you're somewhere the AI won't be able to hear you. The chatty assistant has also gained extensive product knowledge to answer support questions about iPhone features and other Apple devices.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus sport a 48MP Fusion camera with a 2x Telephoto option, effectively providing two cameras in one. A new 12MP Ultra Wide camera enables macro photography and gathers up to 2.6x more light, according to Apple.

The new handsets support second-generation Photographic Styles, which allow for more personalised image adjustments while still accounting for skin tones — something that most one-size-fits-all filters in mobile apps won't do. Meanwhile, new Audio Mix options enhance video sound editing.

Launching the camera is quicker than ever, thanks to the new Camera Control button on the side of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. With one-tap, you'll open the camera, so you'll never miss a shot. Holding the button will enable Visual Intelligence features that aim to identify dog breeds, business opening hours, and plant species simply by pointing the camera lens.

Camera Control lets you swipe to move between camera features, zoom, and more.

The Action button, previously exclusive to Pro models, now comes to the standard iPhone 16 lineup. This customisable button provides quick access to the torch, Shazam, Focus modes, or can simply be a way to jump between Ring and Silent modes.

The display sizes remain 6.1-inch for iPhone 16 and 6.7-inch for iPhone 16 Plus, featuring Super Retina XDR OLED technology and the Dynamic Island.

Speaking about the new models, Apple Vice President of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing, Kaiann Drance said: "iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus mark the beginning of a new era for iPhone with Apple Intelligence delivering powerful, personal, and private experiences to our users.

"With new ways to discover the world around you and capture memories using Camera Control; a 48MP Fusion camera that gives you two optical-quality cameras in one; a big boost in battery life; and powerful, efficient performance thanks to the A18 chip, this is the perfect time for customers to upgrade or make the switch to iPhone."