No! Renew your contract now if you’re out of the contract term! Negotiate a rate on your tariff equivalent to the iPhone subsidy you were hoping for – and start it now so you can work off some of those tediously long contracts ahead of the phone’s release.

Then, when you buy an iPhone5 outright whenever they come out, you’ll already be achieving the savings you needed to afford it via your mobile tariff reduction, and you’ll be ‘locked in’ for a shorter period.

Inspired?? I think so! Would try it myself, but am tempted by the ludicrously cheap monthly rolling 3 SIM only iPhone tariff – at £15 a month for enough minutes, 1GB internet access and 3000 text messages, I’m unlikely to top it irrespective of my negotiations with O2, especially now they think they’re the top mobile broadband provider in the UK… Just need to do the maths on the subsidy…