At a major press event held at its Cupertino Calif. headquarters Apple Inc. surprised many in the tech industry when it unveiled two new installments in its popular flagship smartphone family instead of just one. The iPhone 5S, the company's latest installment in the line of handheld devices from the company debuted alongside the low-cost, plastic backed iPhone 5C, which will come on the market to replace the now discontinued iPhone 5. The question is, how dose Apple's new low-cost replacement for it's previous iPhone compare to its flashy new model?
One of the biggest differences is the price between the two new smartphones. The iPhone C is touted as the low-cost version of the iPhone. At $99 for the 16GB version and $199 for the 32GB version (with contract), makes the iPhone 5C one of the most affordable smartphones on the market. By contrast, the new iPhone 5S is $199 for the 16GB, $299 for the 32GB and $399 for the 64GB (also with contract).
Color options were another key factor showcased at the press event. The iPhone 5S is obviously on the higher end of the spectrum and to showcase that, the company has made it available in a new gold "champagne" color option with a white trim. There is also a silver with white trim option and the new "space grey" color. The Black colored iPhone has been discontinued in favor of these three new options. Meanwhile the iPhone 5C (Color) sticks to its name by offering users the phone in green, blue, white, pink and yellow.
Both phones offer ten hours of battery life and a 4-inch retina display. The camera on the 5S has been improved a bit. The both sport the FaceTime HD front facing camera and an 8MP camera in back. However, the 5S' camera has 5-element lens f/2.2 aperture and an improved True Tone Flash Amber and White LED flash. The 5S camera can also record in burst mode at 10 fps and slow motion mode at 120 fps.
Finally, the iPhone 5C only has the previous generation A6 processor. The iPhone 5S, on the other hand, is built with the new A7 64-bit processor that promises to make the phone 2x faster than previous models. In other words, while the 5S is more expensive, Apple has offered users a lot more bang for their buck.
Both devices will be available on Sept. 20. Pre-orders for the iPhone C begin on Sept. 13. Unfortunately it seems like those who want to get their hands on the iPhone 5S the day of launch will need to start waiting in line now.
