As I browse through various social media websites, I am surprised to see the Apple iPhone 5C branded Apple's mid-range smartphone. In reality the iPhone 5C is overpriced despite its misleading $99 price tag as it has taken the rightful place of the Apple iPhone 5 which has mysteriously lost is place in this year's lineup. While expecting Apple to release a budget device to compete with the Nokia Lumia 520 seems far fetched, this is how I think the Apple iPhone 2013 lineup should have looked like.
Apple chose to discontinue the iPhone 5 in favor of the iPhone 5C. Keep in mind that the iPhone 5 would have been priced at $99 on contract if it had stayed around, and its $550 off contract price can be justified with its premium build. Now users have to settle for a polycarbonate (plastic) build, but not at a lower price.
Why discontinue the iPhone 5?
Generally Apple discounts the iPhones by $100 when a new model is released. This means the iPhone 5 which started at $650 unlocked (contract free) would cost $550. Apple obviously has a reasonable profit margin on this device, but its clear that with the iPhone 5C in its place, Apple will make an even larger profit on their middle offering.
Apple iPhone 5S as newest flagship
I am actually happy with the Apple iPhone 5S. Despite looking visually similar to the iPhone 5, the iPhone 5S brings some neat new features to the table. You have a brand new operating system in iOS 7.0 powered by an Apple A7 processor, which is marketed as the first ever 64-bit mobile processor. Well to be honest the main purpose of 64-bit architecture is to bypass the 4GB of RAM limit, and since the iPhone 5S has only 1GB of RAM, we don't expect the 64-bit processor to offer a significant performance boost.
The fingerprint scanner, though a gimmick in its own right, is unique to the iPhone (at the moment) and will help boost the sales of the device. Other improvements like the battery life, camera and the new gold color are enough to justify the flagship stance of the iPhone 5S.
The overpriced iPhone 5C
Lets be honest. Apple's appeal has always been that its devices are built using premium material. Now the iPhone 5C is thinner and fatter than the iPhone 5, and we are still expected to pay the same amount we would have payed for the iPhone 5? Really Apple?
The way it should have been
Apple prides itself at offering its customers with quality, class and uniformity. A great example for its uniformity was the Apple iPad 4, which was released just months after the iPad 3 just to uniform the data ports between their devices. However we are now left with the iPhone 4S which still uses the traditional port and a 3.5 inch display, when Apple claims a 4 inch display is the perfect size.
It wasn't the iPhone 5 that should have been discontinued it was the iPhone 4S. Apple should have left the iPhone 5 as it was meant to be and introduced the iPhone 5C as a replacement to the iPhone 4S.
If Apple had priced the iPhone 5C at $450 (without contract):
- Users would have not be so disappointed,
- All iPhones in the 2013 lineup would have had 4 inch displays,
- All iPhones in the 2013 lineup would have had the same data ports
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