
iPhone 5c - aydinhan
http://www.apple.com/iphone-5c/
======
pavlov
There's a feeling of déjà vu about this product approach. Take yesteryear's
technology, repackage it in a safe design that follows trends established by
others, sell for a price that is more than twice what the competitors charge
because, hey, you're Apple and your customers will happily pay for your
increasing margins.

At least this time around, the MBAs didn't get to name it "iPhone Performa
551c".

~~~
aespinoza
You know, you are right. It is sad to see that Apple has no new ideas. I
wonder if they will ever do something innovative again ?

I also wonder if Steve Jobs would ever put a fingerprint scanner in an iPhone,
make a "Gold" iPhone or keep the same hardware design for 3 consecutive
iphones.

~~~
phaus
The Gold iPhone actually looks tastefully done. However, I can't imagine even
the great Jonny Ive making it out of a meeting with a job after presenting
this to Steve Jobs as the future of Apple.

[http://d35lb3dl296zwu.cloudfront.net/uploads/photo/image/139...](http://d35lb3dl296zwu.cloudfront.net/uploads/photo/image/13910/LB_8130.jpg)

With this product alone, Apple has lost it's claim to good design.

We can also tell, from this hardware release, that Ive's redesigned IOS 7 was
intended from the start to match the hideousness of the iPhone 5C as closely
as possible.

The White iPhone 5C is OK (It's ridiculously expensive though), but the rest
of those colors, and especially the cases, are bafflingly ugly.

I'm sure Apple will be successful as always, but if the world were just, the
5C would be a bigger flop than Microsoft's Surface RT.

~~~
aespinoza
I definitely think this is going to be a success. I don't actually doubt it.

The disappointment is that I usually look to Apple for inspiration, and
lately, I don't feel it. I have been looking at other companies. Google and
Tesla are increasingly inspiring me more often.

Lately, I feel more inspired by Nokia, than Apple, which is depressing to say
the least.

------
hanifvirani
Nokia tweeted this:
[https://twitter.com/nokia_uk/status/377483408043036672](https://twitter.com/nokia_uk/status/377483408043036672)

~~~
astral303
Nokia is full of it here, it's not like Apple has never released multicolored
versions of their products before:

[http://cdn.cnet.com.au/story_media/339291893/apple_ipod_2008...](http://cdn.cnet.com.au/story_media/339291893/apple_ipod_2008_1.jpg)
[http://images.apple.com/ipod-
shuffle/images/hero1.jpg](http://images.apple.com/ipod-
shuffle/images/hero1.jpg) [http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/iPod_tou...](http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/iPod_touch_34L_5Up_AllColors_NowPlaying_PRINT-580x478.jpg)

~~~
TruthSHIFT
They could also be pointing out that the device color matches the OS color.
I'm pretty sure Apple has never done that before.

~~~
salgernon
In Mac OS 8, the 'yum!' Gestalt selector returned a value corresponding to the
case color. The OS tinted based on this value (at least on first install.)

------
blairbeckwith
I really don't get the external case design. Seeing just a couple letters of
"iPhone" through the holes in the case looks incredibly bad.

~~~
gfodor
Since Jobs died there have been countless stupid things people have pointed to
as evidence that Apple has changed since then. This is the first one I
actually buy, this is the exact type of thing Jobs would have flipped the fuck
out about.

~~~
adventured
I see people already joking that the C stands for Clown Phone.

~~~
gfodor
First it was Cheap, then it was Crappy, now it is Clown? I mean, the idea that
there will be a real, actual funny joke around what the "C" stands for seems
only real in the sense that people are talking about how there is going to be
people talking about what the "C" stands for.

~~~
adventured
I agree that there's too much absurdity around these types of product launches
in general. That being said, Apple has always enjoyed lambasting the
competition as being aesthetically challenged. Apple has probably more than
earned the blow-back for this rather lame design.

------
antr
Time will tell, but for the sake of argument: at c. $550 for the unsubsidised
version this is a very high price point for the "iPhone for emerging markets"
argument. I'm just very curious to see the market expansion with this "lower"
tier model.

~~~
cliveowen
I think this lineup may backfire. People with a 4S wanting to upgrade will
probably opt for the coloured, cheaper version. People who previously wouldn't
have bought the iPhone because too expensive (mostly in Europe where
subsidized planes aren't always available) won't buy it now anyway because the
5c is in the same ballpark of the 5s.

They have basically introduced a cheaper alternative to _old_ customers.

~~~
taylodl
I think they're targeting _young_ customers. Think of all the parents of teens
that wouldn't shell out $199 for an iPhone but would happily shell out $99.
Neither the kids, nor their parents, are particularly interested in quality
and whether this phone has the same value as the 5s. Plus the kids would
presumably be attracted to the colors.

------
Le_SDT
Apple breaking the scroll bar themselve? Could the site instead gives a real
scroll bar experience on desktop and give this "tablet-style" scrolling
experience to tablets/phones only?

~~~
eCa
I can only scroll down once, to design. Guess someone forgot to test things.

Win7/FF23

~~~
w1ntermute
Windows and Firefox - two things most "cutting-edge" web developers have long
since stopped caring about.

~~~
michaelwww
Win8 here. Chrome, FF, and IE work beautifully with the mousewheel. Chrome/FF
no scroll bar, IE has vert scrollbar.

------
markbao
At the unlocked price of $550 for the iPhone 5c and $650 for the considerably-
better iPhone 5s, it doesn't seem like there's a huge price gap here. I have
doubts whether it'll sell that well as the mid-level smartphone. The 4s is
$450, which is closer to the price point I would have expected.

~~~
georgemcbay
The price gap is in a way even worse subsidized because it is still just a
$100 discount up front but the same price per month for the same contract
length for a lesser phone.

The 5C doesn't make much sense to me beyond people that really want more
choice in the color of their phone.

~~~
barake
Most people don't consider the true cost of a phone contract. They're only
truly considering the up front cost - and a mid-range phone "costs half".

It's really hard to get the average smartphone buyer to understand the price
isn't $100 vs $200, but really $2500 vs $2600 over two years.

~~~
ctdonath
In the USA, considering the true cost of a phone contract is rather pointless
because you can't get a contract that discounts monthly cost by buying the
phone up front. You're going to pay the $2500 either way.

~~~
pekk
You're only going to pay $2500 if you plan to spend $104/mo. for one person.
Is that a 'discount'? Of course not.

If people spend that much, it is totally unnecessary. If you are going to
budget $2500 for every two years, you could get an unlimited talk plan for
$40/mo. and buy a $1540 phone every two years.

If you put it to most people that they should buy a phone for $1500 every two
years, they would think it was excessive.

------
saturdaysaint
Ultimately, this is barely a tweak of their old strategy. This is last year's
model, a little bit cheaper. Except now Apple has cheapened the cost while
upgrading the battery and front facing camera.

Mostly I see this targeting precisely the US customers that would buy the old
iPhone in years past - people that aren't interested in the latest and
greatest features very well might be induced to upgrade by a fun color that
stands out from their friends's iPhones.

------
gfodor
Before people write off the price point lets wait and see what Apple is
announcing tomorrow in China. I could imagine that the unlocked price is a red
herring and most buyers will be getting it cheap with contracts on China
Mobile.

------
mullingitover
It's cheaper to buy the 5S off contract at $650 and take it to Straight Talk
($45 a month AYCE data/minutes) than to buy the 5C and pay $100 a month at
AT&T for two years.

~~~
supercanuck
with no LTE and no MMS Text Messaging.

~~~
mullingitover
LTE is overrated and not worth it since I spent about 98% of my life on wifi,
and I haven't missed MMS because of iMessages.

~~~
untog
> LTE is overrated and not worth it since I spent about 98% of my life on wifi

Not worth it _for you_

~~~
mullingitover
Fair enough, I imagine there are some edge cases where paying half as much for
cell service doesn't justify the marginally lower internet speeds during the
occasions when wifi isn't around. It's definitely working out fantastically in
my case.

~~~
lh7777
WiFi works great for me at home and work since I control those networks. But
finding & connecting to public hotspots is often a pain and my effort's
frequently rewarded with a slow, unstable connection (even for paid ones). In
my area, LTE isn't marginally faster, it's _way_ faster than 3G. For me, it's
absolutely worth the extra money.

I really don't think having fast, hassle-free internet access on the go is an
edge case. Isn't that one of the main reasons people buy smartphones?

~~~
mullingitover
For the most part, when I'm out, I'm getting around 6Mbps. The difference
between 6Mbps and my friend's (on LTE) 14Mbps isn't exactly staggering when
you're reading HN or downloading a photo here and there, and even streaming
audio or watching youtube. Mobile sites are already very stripped-down in
terms of data usage. If I were, on a daily basis, uploading 100MB videos or
whatnot it might make a difference, but for my purposes HSPA+ is plenty.

------
baddox
It looks surprisingly good. One could even argue it looks as good or better
than the metal iPhone 5's.

I am disappointed that the 5C isn't the free (subsidized) version though. The
iPhone 4S is sticking around for that.

~~~
rodedwards
4S is probably not long for this world. Right now, its filling a gap both in
the product shelf (free) and in an amortization-of-development-costs schedule
somewhere. Plus, it allows for some extra profit taking from the 5C for the
moment as people eschew the 4S.

I'll bet as 5C production ramps, the 4S goes away in X months. Its in Apple's
long term best interests to get everyone on the same screen anyway...

~~~
Pxtl
Not to mention the peripheral market needs to get onto the new port.

~~~
rodedwards
Huh - I didn't realize the 4S still had the old port. Screen size and
peripherals - 4S has to get phased out pretty quickly.

------
crystaln
Lots of people complaining about the lack of innovation. What exactly were you
expecting?

A fingerprint sensor, which will almost certainly replace passwords on every
application once the API is exposed seems pretty innovative.

A chip dedicated to tracking movement for health / fitbit apps seems
innovative.

A dual flash and other camera improvements is solid.

Smartphones are maturing. We might expect a holographic displays, non-touch 3d
manipulation, tactile feedback, amorphous shapes, projectors, etc. in future
versions. However the technology and battery life are not there yet.

Apple is somewhat behind in OS usability - particularly around notifications
and inter-app communication.

Everyone wants to be wowed, and is bitching and moaning about the lack of
innovation - yet has no ideas or suggestions for what Apple could do.

Personally I don't want much more out of my iPhone other than solidifying the
hardware and interface improvements.

------
AlexanderDhoore
I'm very disappointed with the price. 599 euros. Holy F. That's a lot of
money. Wasn't it supposed to be cheaper?

I guess it makes sense, profit margin-wise. But I was really hoping for a ~400
euro iPhone. That would have been something man... Instant panic at
Samsung/Google/Microsoft. Too bad.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Apple already sells a Euro 400 iPhone. Right now it’s the iPhone 4, later this
month it will be the iPhone 4S.

I doubt Apple will want to compete in the bottom of the market as there are
too many phone manufacturers that are willing to sell phones at a loss.

~~~
AlexanderDhoore
Ok. Right... So the iPhone 5C isn't their 'cheap' phone at all. That makes
more sense.

------
_random_
I am confused, is it iPhone 620 or Lumia 5c?

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Did Nokia patent color?

~~~
Zikes
Yeah, right around the time Apple patented the rounded rectangle.

~~~
atonse
Was that before or after Apple had iPods in multiple colors for almost a
decade?

------
therandomguy
A $549 phone for developing markets. Seems like Apple is giving up on those
markets.

~~~
pekk
Apple never tried for those markets, so nothing to give up. C64 vs. Lisa...

------
dataminer
Lots of disappointment on iphone 5c pricing, here is my theory.

I think iphone 5c was never intended to match prices of android phones, it was
created to allow Apple to expand its market share in Chinese market. From what
is suggested in media, one of the reason Apple had a hard time getting China
Mobile on board, was the high cost of subsidizing flag ship iphones. By
creating a mid tier phone Apple may have been able to convince China Mobile to
carry iphone.

Tim Cook has been very bullish about Chinese market, and this move may turn
out very well.

~~~
kmfrk
This idea is also supported by the livestreams available to an Asian audience.

------
mcormier
iPhone? Sorry I was a little distracted with the interesting HTML scrolling
design for the page. It's very novel.

------
josteink
Mashable's take on the iPhone 5C:

[http://mashable.com/2013/09/10/things-iphone-5c-looks-
like/?...](http://mashable.com/2013/09/10/things-iphone-5c-looks-
like/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-
Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner)

------
ranman
Looking at both the 5s and the 5c they definitely have some cool features but
I don't know if it's really enough to prompt me to change from a regular 5.

The fingerprint sensor seems like a very nice touch but I still don't see any
NFC features (I guess apple isn't betting on this tech) which I love with the
android phones. No wireless charging.

I just really don't see a killer feature in this phone that makes me want to
upgrade. Am I missing something?

~~~
therandomguy
They don't want you to upgrade. They know you will when 6 comes along. This is
for people on "s" cycle.

------
Pxtl
So, I assume the new iPod will be modeled after the 5c? Pushing the iPod 5
price up to $300 seemed like a bad move, hopefully the 5c-based iPod will get
that price back down again.

Then again, the phoneless-smartphone (pocket tablets? Media/app players?)
market seems to have been eaten by tablets and cheaper smartphones, in spite
of its popularity with the kids.

------
ulfw
Johnny Ive: "It's quite remarkable when something feels familiar and yet is
new at the same time."

~~~
_random_
He obviously meant Lumia 620 :)

[http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/phones/phone/lumia620/](http://www.nokia.com/gb-
en/phones/phone/lumia620/)

------
ekanes
Now with fingerprint sensor, so when the NSA politely asks Apple for it,
they'll be able to send them your fingerprints, a log of all activity and
voice print (siri). Such a cool technology (harder to steal phones), just wish
it didn't come with this catch.

~~~
lttlrck
Send _all_ your fingerprints? How many fingers do you need to unlock your
phone?

~~~
ctdonath
I'd actually want it to have at least several fingerprints. Fingers get
injured, bandaged, [shudder] removed...

------
bdz
Can anyone explain to me that how can Apple make a 459 USD cellular iPad mini
but not an iPhone? I guess they could go as low as 399 or 349.

549 is not cheap just cheaper. Btw that's more the fault of the tech
journalists and sites, not Apple.

~~~
jasomill
Because the $549 price of the iPhone is typically subsidized, and can
therefore command higher margins than the unsubsidized iPad without
sacrificing too much volume?

------
patrickg
iPhone 5c + 5s require 'nano sim'. What will be next? I still remember using a
full size sim card (the left one here:
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/GSM_SIM_...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/GSM_SIM_card_evolution.svg))

~~~
mikeash
This is nothing new, as the 5 also takes a nano SIM.

~~~
patrickg
Thanks for the info, I am obviously far behind ...

~~~
mikeash
Apple's been continually pushing this issue. The original iPhone had a mini
SIM, which is the one we generally think of as the standard size. The iPhone 4
moved to a micro SIM, which is the next smaller one depicted in your picture,
and the 4S shared that. The 5 then went for the nano SIM. Presumably they're
short enough on internal space that shrinking the SIM card actually makes some
noticeable difference to them. The downside is that us users get to play games
with getting (or cutting to size!) the right kind of SIM card for our
particular model of phone.

I recall talk of purely internal, reprogrammable "SIM cards", so maybe that's
the next step for Apple.

------
veesahni
Does anybody but apple embedded quicktime on their site?

------
AznHisoka
No thanks Apple. I don't struggle to get my ass out of bed, go through a
torturous 2 hour daily commute, sit on my ass and do something I dislike 8
hours a day to waste $500+ on a colorful iPhone.

~~~
kalleboo
Sounds like you need a new job more than you need a new phone...

------
rodedwards
That is a category killer cheap phone right there. EDIT: What makes it a
category killer is the brand/price point combination.

~~~
krschultz
Then what do you think about $199 for a smart phone that is in every way as
capable?

[http://www.google.com/nexus/4/](http://www.google.com/nexus/4/)

~~~
gareim
Technically $249 since they're out of the $199 8gb and have said that they
don't plan on restocking.

~~~
sahaskatta
The 16GB Nexus 4 is just 45% the cost of the 16GB iPhone 5C.

The new Nexus 5 will likely start at $300 as the Nexus 4or5 did when it first
went on sale a year ago. I'm not sure what market the iPhone 5C is targeting.
On contract, you might as well buy the 5S.

~~~
gareim
I'm not disagreeing with you; I also think the Nexus line is a great buy off
contract but that the iPhone is better subsidized ($400 value for $200 on
contract or $650 value for $200? The Nexus 4 on contract was stupid).

I'm excited about the Nexus 5, but if the rumors are true that it'll be based
off the LG G2, I have a hard time seeing how it'll be offered for $300 when
the G2 is the fastest phone on the market.

~~~
wmf
Wasn't the Nexus 4 exactly the same situation last year, also being based on
the fastest phone?

~~~
JTon
Yeah I remember this as well. Specs per price at the time blew everyone away.
Corners were still cut though (I'm looking at you camera and battery life).

