Apple iPhone 5C: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

All eyes are on the iPhone 5C right now even if the iPhone 5S is the flagship handset from Apple. Confusion about what the “C” stands for in the iPhone 5C but it’s obvious that “cheap” is not one of them.

The iPhone 5C is either a blessing or a curse for both Apple and its customers, depending where you are coming from. We break them down here and share with you some possible scenarios.

The Good.

It’s cheaper more affordable. This will be the first time in the last 7 years of the iPhone that it will be sold at under the Php30k mark. Yes, a Php26,500 16GB iPhone 5C might still be expensive in this day and age when the same amount of money can buy you a quad-core Android smartphone with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a full HD display plus all the bells and whistles that would make Apple’s Touch ID pale in comparison.

Imagine getting a brand new iPhone free on a postpaid plan of around Php1,500 per month. That’s already 25% less than the average Php2,000/month which is the usual price point under a plan. It will certainly eat up the market share of otuneher handsets in the plan. Say goodbye to the “Mini” which Samsung has been marketing really heavily in the last couple of years.

The Bad.

Apple continued its “tik tok” timeline by creating a slightly improved handset every other year. As such, the iPhone 5S is a completely expected product of this cycle. After the 3GS, the 4S and now the 5S, the iPhone becomes so predictable it reduces itself to a borderline boring product.

The introduction of the iPhone 5C was an unexpected move. It certainly is a reaction to the growing popularity and market share of Android, and perhaps, even of Windows Phone. It’s a nice little trick — re-package the year-old iPhone 5 using cheaper materials and manufacturing cost, then sell it as brand new at a slightly lower price.

While that might excite a number of people since it gives them a better chance at acquiring a new iPhone, the 5C does not speak well of Apple’s image. Apple has always been extravagant, ambitious and uncompromising. The iPhone 5S still adheres to that philosophy but the iPhone 5C just screams unimpressive.

The Ugly.

The iPhone 5C could be the stealth product. While the iPhone 5S is definitely positioned as the flagship handset which will go head on against the likes of the Galaxy S4, LG G2, Xperia Z1 and HTC One, the iPhone 5C may also get in the way as a second choice.

The iPhone 5C could either undermine the postpaid pricing of the flagship phones or force them to lower their prices. In a line-up of mid-range handsets being offered free on a Php1,500/month plan, the iPhone 5C could certainly disrupt the positioning of other brands. If it does, it’s going to be ugly.

Only time will tell how the iPhone 5C would fare. There is a pretty high likelihood that it will succeed and help Apple bite a bigger piece of the smartphone pie.

Hat tip to Israel Nicolas for additional inputs over email.

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iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 5C vs. iPhone 5S, spot the difference

For the first time in years, Apple has announced two design variants of the iPhone — the colorful iPhone 5C and the aluminum-clad iPhone 5S. We’ll break them down to you so you’d easily spot the difference.

In this table, we compare the iPhone 5 vs. the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S.

If you will notice, the iPhone 5C is basically the same as the iPhone 5 but with a colored polycarbonate body, heavier weight and thicker dimensions (8.97mm vs. 7.6mm). The iPhone 5S has the same body construction but different color and slightly better hardware as indicated in the table above. There’s also the inclusion of Touch ID which we discussed here.

You can read up on the detailed features of the iPhone 5S here and the iPhone 5C here.

We’re also including the expected retail price based on the HK Apple Online Store. Take note we included iOS7 to the iPhone 5 since the update will be out this September.

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Apple announces iPhone 5C!

Apple today announced the iPhone 5C which comes in a variety of 5 new colors and made of polycarbonate materials. That’s almost same specs as the iPhone 5, only now they come in colored plastic.

The iPhone 5C will be available in blue, white, red, yellow, green colors.

Apple iPhone 5C specs:
4.0-inch IPS LCD display @ 640×1136 pixels, 326ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Apple A6 1.2GHz dual-core processor
PowerVR SGX543MP3 (triple-core)
16GB, 32GB internal storage
1GB RAM
DC-HSDPA 42Mbps, LTE 100Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth 4.0
8MP iSight camera, LED flash
1080p video recording
1.2MP HD front-facing camera, 720p @ 30fps
GPS w/ aGPS support, GLONASS
iOS 7
132 grams (weight)
124.4 mm x 59.2 mm x 8.97 mm (dimensions)

The iPhone 5C will be ready for pre-order on September 13 and release date is set on September 20 in Singapore and Hong Kong. iPhone 5C release date in the Philippines is December 2013.

As for the iPhone 5C price, here’s the postpaid contract as indicated by Apple:

iPhone 5C 16GB — $99 cash-out on 24-month postpaid plan
iPhone 5C 32GB — $199 cash-out on 24-month postpaid plan

No prepaid price kit indicated yet.

Apple also announced the iPhone 5S here.

Updated: As per the Hong Kong Apple Online Store, here are the prices of the iPhone 5C:

iPhone 5C 16GB – HK$4688 or Php26,500
iPhone 5C 32GB – HK$5688 or Php32,000

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Apple iPhone 5S & 5C: What We Think We Know

Everyone’s told that Apple will be holding an event this September 10 to finally reveal new devices. However, it seems that aside from the iPhone 5 successor, we might also be looking at a few more surprises like the alleged iPhone 5C. Read on to see everything that we think we know about Apple’s soon-to-be-announced iProducts.

The iPhone 5S

iPhone 5S 2

1. Same design, different story

We haven’t seen leaks or reports of an iPhone 6, and if we follow Apple’s launch cycle – we’re definitely looking at an iPhone 5S soon. Apple retained the same design when they went from the 3G to the 3GS and from 4 to 4S, and it’s highly likely that the next iPhone will follow this said pattern. The differences however will be seen elsewhere.

128GB

2. A 128GB storage option

For so long now, smartphones have been stuck on 8, 16,32 & 64GB internal storage options. Just lately, Apple upgraded the memory of their 4th-gen iPad to 128GB, so we’re guessing the company might do the same for the next iPhone. After all, insiders have already claimed that it will.

3. Better camera & dual LED flash

iPhones never fail to improve their cameras in every iteration. With the iPhone 5S, reports are looking at an improved f2.0 aperture which will take low-light performance a step higher. On top of that, a lot of leaked parts have already hinted at a dual LED flash.

4. Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanners aren’t a new thing in the smartphone market as we’ve already seen it in phones like the Motorola Atrix, but after that, the trend seemed to have died down. A lot of reports and analysts are now claiming that the iPhone 5S will definitely feature the said scanner, replacing the concave home button with a convex one.

iphone 5s gold

5. A third color option; champagne gold!

Black has been very much a standard color to phones, and Apple is very well known for making white a norm for them as well ever since the iPhone 4. It is possible now that they’re fixing up a 3rd color option. Leaked volume buttons and back panels have already pointed towards this – and it is expected that we will have a champagne gold iPhone 5S to be announced soon.

iPhone 5S change

6. iOS 7, A7… and NFC?

Of course, iOS 7 will be seen here no doubt. The chipset however, will be an improvement to the A6X — the A7, which will be coupled with 1GB RAM. No one is sure if NFC will make it to the next iPhone though.

The iPhone 5C

iPhone 5C box

Together with the aforementioned iPhone, Apple is also expected to release another variant — the iPhone 5C. Now, what ‘C’ stands for is unknown (color? cheap? polyCarbonate?), but speculations are saying a lot more than just that.

5C iphone

1. More color options & plastic construction

The backplate of the iPhone 5C is probably one of the worst kept secrets ever, since by now we already know that it will be made out of glossy plastic & it will be available in many colors. So far, we’ve seen light colors of red, green, blue and yellow, including white.

iphone 5C

2. iPhone 4S-like specs?

Just like the iPad Mini, it seems like Apple is planning to reuse their old internals on their new phone. This time it’s on the iPhone 5C. Reports say that the phone will run the 4S’ 8 megapixel camera & dual-core CPU, although that remains to be confirmed. We’ll have to wait and see.

3. Budget-friendly

On top of everything that we’ve gathered about the iPhone 5C, all of those setbacks in specs and construction is a likely price reduction, probably by as much as $200 to $250 of the flagship model.

September’s going to be a busy month for tech sector as we are nearing the Christmas season. Next month, we’re also expecting phones like the Sony ‘Honami’ and the Galaxy Note 3. In Apple’s camp, on the other hand, that’s all we’ve heard about; not much word on the iPad Mini 2 and the 5th gen iPad.

So, which one are you waiting for?

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