Apple goes plastic and colorful with new iPhone line

CNBC ^ | September 10, 2013 | Cadie Thompson , Eli Langer

[Cementjungle]

I’m glad my wife and I switched to the Galaxy S3.

My S2 is still just fine for me after a few years of use. Samsung makes nice stuff. I love my Galaxy Tab 10.1" too.

[montag813]

STILL no Pay-As-You-Go plans for ANY iPhones? Seriously?

[quimby]

Not only has innovation slowed after steve jobs passing, it seems apple can't even keep a secret. Everything was leaked leaving no surprises today.

The ultimate judgement, apple stock fell after the announcement.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks SM.

[kevkrom]

STILL no Pay-As-You-Go plans for ANY iPhones? Seriously?

Not if you want the subsidy. If you buy an unlocked iPhone at full price, you can use pay-as-you-go. I'm pretty sure T-Mobile has a no-contract option, as well as several of the lesser-known entities.

[kevkrom]

Not only has innovation slowed after steve jobs passing, it seems apple can't even keep a secret. Everything was leaked leaving no surprises today.

Innovation has slowed? By whose metric? Bringing a usable biometric sensor system that integrates with the API and seamlessly in the form factor is pretty innovative, considering we're talking about a new model of an existing product. They're also making the jump to 64-bit CPUs before anyone else - maybe that isn't "sexy", but it will likely keep them in the lead over their competitors for some time.

With so many people involved in the supply chain, it's practically impossible to keep hardware secrets.

The ultimate judgement, apple stock fell after the announcement.

Apple stock falls after every announcement. It has no bearing on what future sales or success will be. (Classic case of "buy the rumor, sell the news, IMO.)

[kevkrom]

What happens when you get a cut on your finger, or have on a band-aid? That CHANGES your fingerprint! You might be locked out of your own phone. And in an emergency, no on else could use it, either.

You can program multiple fingers . . .

And I'd be shocked if it didn't have passcode or apple ID + password options to override in case there's a problem with the sensor or your finger.

[kevkrom]

But, there's only a $100 difference between the 5C and the 5S, and you give up a lot of features and performance.

$200 difference, if you're looking at the same storage capacity.

The 5C is simply an iPhone 5 in a different case, with the extra dimension required for the plastic vs. the metal casing used to slightly increase the battery size. I don't see what everyone would be expecting otherwise - this is simply going to take the place of the original iPhone 5 (which is now discontinued) as the entry-level phone for people who, frankly, are bad at math, forgetting how much of their monthly bill is going to pay for that "cheap" phone. (This isn't Apple-specific, of course, it's how the cell companies do business - a "cheap" phone that costs several hundreds more over two years...)

[justlurking]

$200 difference, if you're looking at the same storage capacity.

No, it's $100:

$99 for a 16GB iPhone 5C, $199 for a 16 GB iPhone 5S.
$199 for a 32GB iPhone 5C, $299 for a 32 GB iPhone 5S.

That's with a two-year contract. Without a contract:

$549 for a 16GB iPhone 5C, $649 for a 16GB iPhone 5S.
$649 for a 32GB iPhone 5C, $749 for a 32GB iPhone 5S.

The 5C is simply an iPhone 5 in a different case, with the extra dimension required for the plastic vs. the metal casing used to slightly increase the battery size. I don't see what everyone would be expecting otherwise - this is simply going to take the place of the original iPhone 5 (which is now discontinued) as the entry-level phone for people who, frankly, are bad at math, forgetting how much of their monthly bill is going to pay for that "cheap" phone.

There are some slight improvements in the iPhone 5C over the iPhone 5, but not significant. The entry level iPhone will actually be the iPhone 4S with 8GB, at $0 with a 2-year contract, and $450 with no contract.

The hope was that Apple would get the manufacturing cost down low enough and set the price so that the 5C would be the true entry level phone (at no cost with a contract). It would also have made it more affordable in the rest of the world where contract subsidies are not typical, and buyers have to pay the full price upfront (or finance it).

[kevkrom]

Thanks for the correction - for some reason I had it in my head that was straight $100 increments from 5C-16 to 5C-32 to 5S-16.

[dangerdoc]

Appl stock down 20 pts overnight on the news. I think investors were hoping apple was going to be more aggressive in opening emerging markets.

[justlurking]

Thanks for the correction - for some reason I had it in my head that was straight $100 increments from 5C-16 to 5C-32 to 5S-16.

If it had been, I think it would have been better received:

5C-16: $0
5C-32: $99
5C-16: $199

It will be interesting to see how many people buy the 5C, given the small price differential. The only thing going for it is the color, but there may be enough people that buy on that basis -- then cover it all up with a case. :-)

[dangerdoc]

This is not the same tech as you saw on csi

[PapaBear3625]

The new function is essentially a fingerprint identity sensor in the home button on the phone that enables users to unlock their device. However, it can also be used as a substitute for passwords when making purchases, including in Apple's iTunes Store.

I'm reminded of this 2005 incident in Malaysia. Carjackers took a guy's $75K Mercedes. The car had a fingerprint anti-theft system. So the carjackers cut off the guy's finger and took it with them.

[kevkrom]

I honestly thought they would ditch the 4S altogether to get off the 30-pin connectors once and for all. The “free” phone being an 8GB 4S is pretty much for the person who wants an “iPhone” but really doesn’t want to use it as such. (I say this as a 4S user who likes his 4S very much, but who also uses a lot more storage than that for apps alone, let alone music, movies, photos, etc.)

As someone likely to upgrade this winter/spring, I’ll certainly take the 5S over the 5C - I agree I don’t see the appeal of it, but then, I never saw the appeal of buying the “lesser” phone available at any given time. Still, the 5C is the least expensive LTE option in the lineup.

I, for one, welcome the fingerprint scanner in the 5S - I have to use a passcode in order to enable push email from my office, and the scanner would be easier and quicker, and likely allow me to set the lock timeout to a shorter values (I use the longest possible time right now, just so I can meet the requirement.)

As for the cases, certainly if you’re going to just put it in a concealing case, there’s little point to caring about color, or even plastic vs. metal. Apple’s case, though, will likely spawn a variety of “cutout” style cases, allowing the underlying color to come through to produce different visual patterns.

[itsahoot]

I think investors were hoping apple was going to be more aggressive in opening emerging markets.

I think that no matter what Apple does, it is never enough.

[dfwgator]

Apple is a victim of their own success. Their products are so good....people are in no hurry to upgrade from the Apple products they bought several years ago. They are still “good enough.”

[kevkrom]

I plan on upgrading from the 4S to the 5S for LTE capability when my contract is up this winter. The rest of the upgrades are just a plus. If I already had an iPhone 5, I wouldn't bother with the upgrade, but especially in the U.S., most folks are on a 2-year contract cycle anyway, so iPhone 5 owners would be waiting for next year.

Of course, that assumes I stay with the phone. I rarely use my phone as a phone, but more as a mobile computer that occasionally makes/takes calls. I might switch to an iPad with cellular data and use some form of VOIP for my limited "phone" use, depending on the service plans my wife an I can work out with one of the major carriers.

[Revolting cat!]

... and we mean literally!

[itsahoot]

They are still “good enough.”

I just cranked up 2005 model of Mac Mini G4 processor to run HyperCard and AppleWorks 5.0, bought it on eBay for $95.00, similar systems still sell for up to $200.00, or about the price of a new commodity PC.