Apple Announces the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s – My Thoughts

image courtesy of The Verge

image courtesy of The Verge

On this side of the world, I stayed up late along with fellow bloggers, tech enthusiasts and Apple fans who waited for the much anticipated announcement of the newest iPhones from Apple. After months of rumors on the web, the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s were finally announced.

Before I go to the new iPhones, here are a few notes I’ve taken down:

  • shipment of iOS devices will reach 700 million this month
  • Siri can now search tweets on Twitter
  • iOS7 will be out on September 18 for free
  • iWork will be free for new iOS devices
  • cases are also available for both models

iPhone 5c

 

iPhone 5c set

 

The rumors about the iPhone 5c were true after all. The body is not made of plastic, but of polycarbonate material with a steel-reinforced frame. Most of the features of the iPhone 5 are found in the 5c except it will now have iOS7 as the default OS. These iPhones come in 5 colors: white, pink, yellow, blue & green. The wallpaper will have the same color of the shipped units.

The prices of the iPhone 5c will be at $99 for 16GB and $199 for 32GB with a 2-year contract with a US network. For off-contract prices, the prices are said to be at $549 and $649 respectively.

iPhone 5s

iPhone5s set

 

The aesthetics of the iPhone 5s may look similar to its predecessor but has lots of big improvements under its hood. It now sports an A7 processor which is the world’s first 64-bit chip, making the iPhone 5s twice as fast than the other iPhones with the A6 chipset. Infinity Blade III was played during the event without any lags for the press to see. By the way, the A7 chip also make the iPhone 5s as the world’s first 64-bit Smartphone.

Another major inclusion is the M7 motion coprocessor.  It is designed to handle motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass efficiently and intelligently.

Noticeable in the home button is the rumored fingerprint scanner which is now known as Touch ID. As of the moment, the only functions of Touch ID that I know of is to unlock the iPhone or confirm purchases on iTunes, iBooks and App Store. It is not yet known if third party apps and websites will also be supported.

explanation of the iSight camera of the iPhone 5s. Photo taken by Mashable

explanation of the iSight camera of the iPhone 5s. Photo taken by Mashable

Another huge improvement is the iSight camera. It still has 8 megapixels but the improvement here is the setting of the aperture to f/2.2 and the active sensor area is now 15% larger. The Truetone flash is another welcome addition to adjust the flash intensity and color temperature of the photo.

Lastly, the battery life is said to be longer than the iPhone 5. I do hope it’s true.

The prices of the iPhone 5s is set at $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB) and $399 (64GB) with a 2-year contract with a U.S. network. There is no 128GB version as speculated by some and we do not know yet the prices of off-contract iPhone 5s. Btw, it now comes in 3 colors: Space Gray, Gold and Silver.

What Do I Think?

I was right with my predictions about the off-contract prices of the iPhone 5c. It is still quite expensive and I am not sure how they will get more sales out of this in developing countries. It may be possible with a contract, with the Telco heavily subsidizing the cost to make it more affordable to the subscribers. I will have to wait for the next month or 2 and see how this plays in these countries. Also, the price difference between the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s is like a $100 apart. The behavior of some people is if it’s just a $100 difference (roughly around Php 4,200) then they’ll just pay that difference and go for the premium offer. In the end, who’s going to buy the 5c?

Would I Get One?

The new iPhones will be available in our shores this December in time for Christmas. Would I get one by then? I currently own an iPhone 5 and thought of not biting an upgrade. After checking out the specs, it seems to be a worthy upgrade but I would study it first, if possible play with someone else’s unit to have a closer look. The camera is my biggest interest as of the moment and I do not really care about the processor as I don’t play graphic intensive games that much.

If ever I decide to get one, of course I’ll get it from my favorite network – SMART!

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