{"id":632841,"date":"2026-03-15T12:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T10:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=632841"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T10:58:52","slug":"most-affordable-iphone-contracts-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/smartphones\/632841-most-affordable-iphone-contracts-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Most affordable iPhone contracts in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While the iPhone 17e launched<\/a> earlier this month, consumers can still take out device contracts from South Africa’s major mobile operators for older variants of Apple’s popular smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple says the iPhone 17e “combines powerful performance and features at an exceptional value, making it a compelling option for customers looking to upgrade to the iPhone 17 family.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As expected, the more affordable model makes some trade-offs compared to the base iPhone 17, especially in battery and performance, though differences are not as significant as people may expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The iPhone 17e has a 4-core GPU alongside the A19 chipset, while the base 16 has a 5-core GPU. Both versions come with hardware-accelerated ray tracing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other advantages of the base model include an advanced dual-camera system, while the 17e only has a 2-in-1 “fusion” camera system, missing out on the base model’s 48MP ultrawide snapper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers can also expect the latest Apple features on the iPhone 17e, including Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages, and Find My device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Apple’s newest budget iPhone is now available at Apple Premium Resellers like Digicape and iStore, the country’s major carriers have yet to release postpaid offers for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could only find contracts available for the iPhone 16e from last year through Telkom and Vodacom in South Africa, although Vodacom is currently out of stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclaimers from Vodacom suggest customers may have to wait 2 to 3 weeks before they receive their devices after purchase due to a stock shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more aesthetically-minded fans of Apple devices, it seems that South Africa has only received stock in the Black colourway, with White nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those looking for an affordable iPhone contract with the latest specifications, Telkom has an available offer for the iPhone 16e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cheapest contract available here is a 36-month plan at R499 per month. It comes with the iPhone 16e as well as a three-month free Prime Video subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers can get 20GB of data once off with purchase, then 2GB of anytime data every month, as well as 75 all-net minutes, 500 on-net minutes, and 500 SMSs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The once-off payment for this deal is R598, then the base subscription cost every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheapest iPhone contracts in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Vodacom’s iPhone 16e package for the 128GB storage configuration is a bit pricier at R669 per month for 36 months, with an additional R80 delivery fee.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This deal comes with the RED Core plan of 3GB of monthly data, 100 minutes, and 150 SMSs. Again, it is notable that customers will have to wait 2 to 3 weeks for this one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other carrier has the iPhone 16e in stock for postpaid, but many do offer affordable iPhone contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom is offering an iPhone 13 with the 128GB configuration for R399 per month, which includes the RED Core plan, 50 minutes, and 1GB of anytime data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a pre-owned device, however, which might be why it is so affordable. The iPhone 13 comes with a 6.1-inch OLED display, A15 processor, and a 12MP camera. This model was released in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carrier has sweetened the deal with a 1GB 3-month “video ticket” for streaming, and 30GB of once-off data. It also includes an R80 delivery fee.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also worth noting is Vodacom’s plan for 2 pre-owned iPhone 13 devices for R599 per month, working out to R299 for each phone, alongside R170 monthly airtime.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slightly more expensive options are available from Cell C and MTN.\u00a0Cell C’s deal for the pre-owned iPhone 13 is for R539 for 36 months, with 1.5GB of data, 100 minutes of airtime, and 100 SMSs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, MTN is offering models of the iPhone 15 from 2023 with a 48MP main camera, 6.1-inch display, 4,383 mAh battery, and 128GB storage for R579 per month.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more affordable 36-month plans come with 1GB of anytime data, 60 minutes all network minutes, and a 10GB once-off start-up bundle.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cheapest iPhone contracts in South Africa<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Model<\/strong><\/td>\nContract<\/strong><\/td>\nData allocation<\/strong><\/td>\nMinutes\/SMS messages<\/strong><\/td>\nPrice per month<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vodacom<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 16e<\/td>\nRED Core 3GB<\/td>\n3GB anytime data<\/td>\n100 minutes \/ 150 SMSes<\/td>\nR669 x 36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 13 (pre-owned)<\/td>\nRED Core 1GB<\/td>\n1GB anytime data<\/td>\n50 minutes\u00a0<\/td>\nR399 x 36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 13 + iPhone 13 (two devices, pre-owned)<\/td>\nRED Flexi 170<\/td>\n30GB once-0ff anytime data<\/td>\n170 minutes<\/td>\nR599 x 36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MTN<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 15<\/td>\nYellow Core 1GB<\/td>\n1GB anytime data, once-off 10GB start-up bundle<\/td>\n60 all-network minutes<\/td>\nR579 x 36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 16e<\/td>\nFlexOn 2<\/td>\n2GB anytime data, 20GB once-off data<\/td>\n75 all-network minutes \/ 500 on-network minutes \/ 500 SMSes<\/td>\nR499 x 36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cell C<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 13 (pre-owned)<\/td>\nElevate 1+<\/td>\n1.5GB anytime data<\/td>\n100 any-network minutes \/ 100 SMSes<\/td>\nR539 x 36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are the cheapest contracts for iPhone devices we could find from the top carriers in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341213,"featured_media":632852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17934],"tags":[355,1125,98927,42,58444,109,41],"class_list":["post-632841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smartphones","tag-cell-c","tag-iphone","tag-iphone-16e","tag-mtn","tag-smartphone-contracts","tag-telkom","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632841"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632841"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":632983,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632841\/revisions\/632983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}