Apple kills off iPhone 3GS, slashes prices on iPhone 4 & 4S

If you're in the market for an older iPhone model, now's the time to buy, with Apple dropping prices (and a model) across the board.

With the iPhone 5 finally out of the starting blocks, Apple has implemented its usual price reductions across the rest of the product range. Sometimes when Apple introduces a new model it upgrades the technology and delivers savings in the bargain, but not in this instance; at $799 for the 16GB model, $899 for 32GB and $999 for 64GB, the iPhone 5 is exactly on par with the iPhone 4S's previous pricing tiers. However, the older models are now significantly cheaper than they used to be.

The iPhone 4S's new price-tag is $679 for a 16GB model (as of today, the only size available), which is $120 less than it cost yesterday. Also reduced is the iPhone 4, which now costs $449 and comes singularly with 8GB built-in storage. The one casualty in all this? The venerable iPhone 3GS, a classic mainstay of the range, has officially been retired after a dutiful 3+ years of service.

While the iPhone 4 has taken the 3GS's place at the entry-level $449 pricepoint, it does so with some caveats. The iPhone 4 is indisputably superior to the 3GS, but some have criticised its A4 processor for not being powerful enough to adequately run the 4's Retina display, particularly with regard to gaming. Still, by other measures the iPhone 4 could be considered an outright bargain: after all, at $449 it's a stunning $230 cheaper than it was yesterday.