Alongside the iPhone 5s has come the iPhone 5c, a colorful new, lower-cost phone that ships with iOS 7.
This is the first time that Apple has launched two iPhone models simultaneously, and many speculate the decision to release the 5c was largely based on an attempt to offer a more attractive price to compete with cheaper phones on the market.
The 5c essentially replaces the iPhone 5 since the 5 is being discontinued.
Unfortunately, the 5c tragically fails to uphold its role as a bang-for-the-buck phone. The phone, sporting colorful plastic encasing and a slightly longer battery life, costs just under a hundred dollars. Besides those two changes and the new iOS 7, the 5c is virtually identical to the 5.
With almost no hardware improvements, save for the plastic backing and larger battery, the 5c seems to be devoid of any sort of the innovation that made Apple successful.
The 5c had so many possibilities, but instead of innovating and pioneering in the field of affordable smartphones, Apple settled.
The variety of colored plastic covers seem to be Apple’s only so-called innovation in the 5c. Sadly it seems that this may have been more a cost cutting production tactic rather than any innovative design initiative.
A faster processor, higher resolution camera, and new display are all usual improvements absent on the 5c. In fact, in what can be seen as a step backwards, the weight and physical profile of the 5c is heavier and larger than its predecessor and 5s counterpart.
With no real tangible reason to get the 5c other that for the colors or its budget minded price, it seems that the main consumers of this particular Apple product will be those with an extreme desire for color, or those who are too cheap to shell out the extra hundred dollars for a 5s and too posh to settle with the now free 4s.
For anyone serious about value or quality, the 5c offers neither.
