'kay guys. My 24-month contract with O2 is due to expire in the next few weeks. I have the piephone 3gs and want the "5" (or 4S or whatever they say it'll be). I can upgrade now and get a piephone 4.

Will my monthly contract end, leaving me on a rolling contract? Can I then do this and keep going until the piephone 5 comes out?

Any other options? Spent a few bob on apps (esp medical ones) hence reluctant to go for non-iphone options.

Rolling monthly contract, wait for new iPhone

What he said. iPhone 5 will probably be out within a month or two.

ditto. The new phone will be here in November. Too close to sign up for a new phone until you have details of the new iPhone. Also if you decide for an iPhone 4 rather than the 5 or whatever they call it the 4 will be much cheaper.

My 3GS is playing up, it has corrupted my Audible collection 3 times this month! The headphone socket stopped working properly last year (the headphone jack only works in one direction, if it gets twisted, the sound goes away!)

I've not been impressed with the reliability of the 4 - my boss has been through 4 of them since May! That was after going through 4 iPhone 3GS in 18 months. He's now swapped it out against a Samsung Galaxy SII and is very happy with it; only time will tell if it is reliable.

I'm looking at either the Samsung or the htc Sensation to replace it.

You guys are having the worst run of luck with your phones then Dave!
At dinner last night, I was the only person to have an iPhone 4. There were about half a dozen 3/3GS'. All of which were working fine.
What are you doing to them?!

My 3GS has been fine. No issues.

My 4's been fine, my dad's 3GS has done him with no problems for 18 months or so and my brother's 4's only issue is that the flash is constantly on, so it needs charging regularly. Given he dropped it in the sea, I'd say it's done pretty well.

I only know about five other people with iPhones in real life and none of them have had any issues. I guess you only hear about problems on the Internet. No one posts to say all fine here.

apart from the people in this thread saying all is fine

I've mentioned before in here that my brother hates me for telling him to buy a 4. He holds his phone in the non-Apple certified way thus constantly loses connection when on a call.

My first 3GS was sent back 3 times in 2 months, until they finally replaced it - 6 from the first 8 weeks without the phone. The replacement phone has worked well, until recently, apart from the headphone socket.

Since iOS4, it hasn't really been running well, very sluggish and the last update was very buggy, my Audible collection has been corrupted 3 times now, which is a pain in the rear, considering it is the only reason I keep the iPhone around!

The problem with my boss is that he actually uses the iPhone for telephoning, which seems to be a weak point for the iPhone - he talks for an average of 4 hours a day. The battery seems to be one of the weakest points, with several 3GS and 2 iPhone 4s giving up out.

3 x 3GS with battery problems (battery holds for less than 2 hours stand-by).
1 x 3GS with shielding problems (internal speaker for earpiece clicks and crackles when the iPhone seeks a new tower or data is transferred - the typical brr-di-brr-brr you hear on a radio, if you stick a mobile phone next to it).
1 x iP4 antenne problems (Wi-Fi range of 2M, Bluetooth 30cm)
1 x iP4 battery problems (after 1 month use, the iPhone battery couldn't hold a chage)
1 x iP4 antenne problems (weak 3G signal and Bluetooth not working at all)
1 x iP4 battery problems (battery dead on arrival)

He got the iPhone 4 in May, after the 4th dead iPhone, he switched to a Galaxy SII in mid August.

If you're contract ends, don't tht them just roll it over month by month. Get a new sim only month by month contract. That way you won't be paying your old price that includes subsidising the phone. SIM only contracts are almost half the price of normal contracts.

O2 do an iphone simplicity contract. It's a 30 day rolling contract. Costs around £15 a month

That's solved with the free cover.

Yeah I thought about going to PAYG at one point, which is why I asked.

O2 seem to have a Simplicity 100 tariff which is £16.50pm incl data bolt-on (which I need). But does this mean a new sim and number? I've had the same number for almost ten years, so I'd like to keep it if possible.