Punkt vs a locked-down iPhone
Short answer: Punkt is two different answers. The MP02 is a minimalist 4G phone, the object itself, designed by Jasper Morrison. The MC02 and MC03 are privacy smartphones, not dumb phones. A locked-down iPhone is the answer when what you want is your one phone with the compulsion removed.
The case for Punkt, made properly
- The MP02 4G Minimalist Phone, CHF 299 as we read it, designed by Jasper Morrison: calls, SMS with T9 and MMS, contacts, notes, clock, calculator, calendar, and Pigeon, Signal-compatible encrypted messaging. Punkt calls it “a feature phone for those who dip into the internet, not the other way around”: it shares its connection with a laptop instead of browsing itself
- The MC02 5G Secure Phone, CHF 499, runs Apostrophy’s OS with email, calendar, contacts, notes, storage and a VPN “protected within Swiss jurisdiction”, and a Privacy Bubble that isolates apps
- The MC02 still runs Android apps: its GMS Wizard installs “any Android app from the Google Play Store”, in a private environment or a sandboxed Google one, and the Vanadium browser comes with it
- The Apostrophy subscription is included for 12 months with the MC02, then CHF 11.99 a month (CHF 9.99 billed yearly), in Punkt’s own words; the MC03, CHF 745, comes with two years
- If privacy from advertising-driven data collection is the reason, that is what the MC phones are built around
Where a locked-down iPhone fits better
- If the goal is fewer apps, the MC02 is not that: it keeps a browser and the whole Play Store. A supervised iPhone keeps only the apps you pick and hides the App Store
- If the MP02’s calls, texts and Pigeon are not enough (the bank, maps, the camera, two-factor codes), a locked-down iPhone keeps those few and nothing else, in one phone
- Cost: the iPhone you own, and Tinyphone is free for the first phone
- With iOS 27’s iPhone Handoff, the iPhone in your drawer can carry your real number
Side by side
| What | Punkt | Locked-down iPhone (Tinyphone) |
|---|---|---|
| The phone | MP02 CHF 299; MC02 CHF 499; MC03 CHF 745 | the iPhone you own, or an old one |
| What it is | MP02: a minimalist 4G phone. MC02: a privacy smartphone on Apostrophy OS | your iPhone, supervised |
| Apps | MP02: calls, SMS, Pigeon messaging, notes, calendar. MC02: any Android app, through the GMS Wizard | the ones you pick; the App Store hidden |
| Browser | MP02: none listed, a hotspot for a laptop. MC02: Vanadium | none, approved websites only, or Safari |
| Subscription | MC02: 12 months included, then CHF 11.99 a month | none from Tinyphone |
Punkt’s facts and words are from punkt.ch, the MP02’s page and the MC02’s page, read October 23, 2026; prices are Punkt’s in Swiss francs, as shown there. Prices change; check theirs before you buy.
The verdict
Pick the MP02 if you want the object, a beautiful phone for calls, texts and encrypted messages, and can live without the rest. Pick the MC02 if privacy from data collection is the reason and you still want your apps. Pick a locked-down iPhone if what you want is one phone with only the apps you need, the rest gone so thoroughly the phone cannot offer it back.