Apple decrees only two iPhones per customer in the UK

With just a few days to go before the iPhone goes on sale in the UK, Apple has revealed what the 'event' will entail. The iPhone will be available from Apple, O₂ and Carphone Warehouse stores from 6.02pm on Friday 9th November. The 8Gb model will cost £269 inc VAT and there will be a limit of two iPhones per customer.

There are three iPhone tariffs, the cheapest being £35/month, which includes unlimited data and free use of The Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots. The minimum contract is 18 months, which means £269 + (18 x £35) = £899, or One Expensive Phone.

Apple recently started to turn away cash buyers in the US and now insists that customers pay by credit card, in an attempt to prevent new, unactivated iPhones being resold. There's no word on this policy being introduced in the UK, though.

Incidentally, iTunes 7.5 is now available for download and you'll need to activate your new purchase online. UK iPhones ship with v1.1.2 of the firmware, which doesn't work with the current Jailbreak hack that allows handsets to be used on any network.

So, how long after the 6.02pm launch will the first unlocking hack for the UK iPhone appear? Make a guess in the comments (and leave your email address) and we'll send an prize* to the person that gets closest, in hours and minutes.

*Something shiny from the office, which may or may not be a handful of assorted USB flash drives…

[ Apple]