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Why iPhone 5C is not a Better Choice than earlier iPhone 5

At the much awaited event late last night, Apple launched iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. The Rumor mill performed just fine like last time or last to last time. The most unexpected information at the event was that Apple discontinued its last flagship device iPhone 5. The replacement is iPhone 5C and Apple wants us to embrace the plastic! Does it make sense? Let’s ponder a bit on that part.

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Apple has been consistent in its pricing so far. Every year we see a new iPhone and the previous model drops 100 dollars on 2 year contract on carriers. But what is different this time is we have 2 phones launched this year. iPhone 5c is not the budget iPhone we expected and it is not cheap. But still it is plastic! The metallic luster has been compromised and now we have a plastic version of the last flagship phone with minor hardware updates.

If there were no iPhone 5c, iPhone 5 would have been available at the price range of iPhone 5c with almost similar features and a metallic body. So what does iPhone 5c has to offer to make itself a refreshing product which won’t make apple fans miss iPhone 5? Well Apple wants us to believe the answer to that question is 5 different vibrant colors and a slightly upgraded camera.

Most people will agree that moving on from the Metallic body to a polycarbonate one is a downgrade. The consolation you will get is a minor upgrade in the camera features and slight improvement in battery. Let’s take a quick glance at the specs of iPhone 5c and see what exactly we are being offered.

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iPhone 5c comes with A6 chipset similar to iPhone 5 and with the Apples signature 4 Inch Retina Display which has proven to be a very high quality IPS LCD display. The Camera is an 8 MP camera similar to iPhone 5, but it comes with 5 element lens and bigger 1.9 micrometer pixels for better low light performance. The front camera has also been improved. The battery talk time remains same at 10 hrs on 3G. The phone comes with better LTE support which is of not much concern to users in markets like Indian market. You can read detailed specification of iPhone 5c on the linked post.

If iPhone 5c had been cheaper and had replaced iPhone 4s which is now quite old technology, it would have made more sense. iPhone 5c at the end , iPhone 5 in the middle and iPhone 5S at the front would have been a more ideal scenario.

Apple decided to break into something new and refreshing with iPhone 5C which presents vibrant colors which can be customized with latest iOS 7. Have they succeeded? Will the downgrade to a plastic body be acceptable for the refreshing color features? All these questions remain to be answered in the time to come. With so many rumors circulating the web for years, iPhone 5c has been referred to as “Budget iPhone” or “Cheaper iPhone” and it is hard to see the plastic body as an upgrade over the much revered iPhone 5.

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Deepak Singh

The Author spent a significant chunk of his formative years resisting technology. He now keeps an eye on where the world is heading to, and drives a passive pleasure from this indulgence. His passion to write, learn and improve drives him each day. When his day ends, he enjoys the pleasant languor and detoxifies with family. You can connect with him on and Twitter