Opinion: Seeing Through Apple's "New" iPhone 5c Illusion

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If Apple's idea behind introducing the 5C was for any reason other than improving their profit margins, they would have just brought out the iPhone 5 in a similar range of colours, like they've done with pretty much every iPod of recent
 
Apple simply responded to what it saw as an available market niche. People like to be "seen" with their phones..... it's a statement about them. I can't help laugh when I see people sitting in a hotel lobby thumb typing on their new phone, when the business center is 40 feet away stocked with no charge full size computer access or they have a laptop sitting in their room. They are quite happy to sacrifice their time and efficiency of a full size screen and KB for the opportunity to "be seen" using their new gadget.

It's called market analysis and Apple simply saw that having colors was a feature that the public wanted ..... they responded ..... it doesn't get any more complicated than that.
 
look at the bright side..... you get entertained.......... by all those who give too much **** and started debating. lol
 


I'm not saying it's inferior, but it's not really superior either. It's a couple of tradeoffs, and it is roughly equal to the iPhone 5 overall. That's my biggest issue with it here - they're marketing it as the "new" 5c, but it's really the same rehash strategy like always.

Also, it IS about cost savings. They're much cheaper to build. When you sell millions of these, you'll make more money regardless of the slight R&D costs on the plastic body (camera was developed for 5s et al, so doesn't count).

Now, for me personally, if someone sets an iPhone 5 next to a 5c and says they're both $100 on contract? It would be no contest. The iPhone 5 looks better and is slimmer. Same guts. I don't care about the front camera, and the battery is negligible.

That doesn't make the 5c a bad device. It just isn't really any better than last year's model. Oh, and the overpriced cases are ugly as sin.
 


I have fully read the article. The author is complaining that Apple is marketing this as a new product, but they really aren't. They are marketing it as a lower price iPhone.

Here's the problem with the author. Had Apple not made a 5c, they would have, as in previous years with the prior model, put the 5 at the exact same price point the 5c is at, and with no further investment on their part and the author wouldn't have said a word.

Well in this case, Apple has put in money for R&D for the new cases, put in an improved front facing camera and an improved battery and the factory to make these had to have money spent to retool to make the 5c since it's made different from the 5.

So Apple has put investment dollars into the product and still aren't charging for it anymore than what they would have for the 5. So where exactly is Apple doing any deception or something unethical or anything else to screw over the consumer?

Have they tried to say this is a different phone than the 5? Not at all. They have said from the beginning, it's the same SoC, the same memory, the same storage, same display, just with the minor differences. Yet for some reason they are criticized for it.

But yet people heap praise on Motorola for releasing the MotoX which is twice as much on contract as the 5c, yet has older hardware in it. Somehow Apple isn't allowed to have a lower tier product and aren't suppose to market it.

The funny part is, the 5c will likely still be getting iOS updates long after HTC stops putting out updates for the One or many other Android OEM's stop doing them for their current flagship phones. As an Android owner, I know very well how spotty Android updates come out.

This criticism makes no sense. And I stand by my original comment that the author comes off as nothing more than an Apple hater.
 


I did read it. So what? You still ignore the fact that Apple did put in investment dollars to make improvements to the 5.

Would you have come out and criticized Apple had they done in previous years and just sold the 5 at the same price point as the 5c is at? Somehow I doubt it.

Money had to be spent on R&D for the new case. Money had to be spent on the improved camera. Money had to be spent on the improved batter. And finally, money had to be spent retooling the factory to make the 5c since it's different than the 5.

Has Apple in anyway tried to tell people that this phone is something new than the 5? And I mean like completely different? No, they haven't. They have been very open that this is the same processor as well as most of the other internals being the same. Yet they are criticized anyway by your and others when they aren't charging a single dollar more than they would have for the 5.

It's funny how the Moto X can have praise heaped on it, how people say, well it's ok that it was released with slightly older hardware and should still be considered a flagship phone. Well the Moto X with it's slightly older hardware in a brand new phone is twice as much on contract as is the 5c.

And does anyone have any doubt that the 5c will receive iOS updates for longer than a lot of brand new Android phones being released right now? Only the most closed minded of Apple haters would try to deny Apple's history of long term support for their devices.

Sorry, but I still see your article coming across as "Apple shouldn't be allowed to change an existing product to do new marketing on it".
 
Reluctantly bought my daughter a 5C to upgrade her 4S with a cracked screen for $377 not eligible price for upgrade not cheap by any means. Shes real happy with it and it seems to be better than her 4S but I refuse to buy another until there is a much bigger leap instead of just a shady marketing deal like was said above. There is more to the new iphones than meets the eye.
 


What's the shady marketing? In what way has Apple deceived you? Would you have paid the exact same money for an iPhone 5 and not complained? If not, why complain about the 5c?

I'm really not understanding why people are so critical of Apple's marketing of the 5c. They are not trying to rip anyone off. They made minor improvements and have openly stated, it's the same CPU and such and still aren't charging anymore for it than if they had just marked down the 5.

 
@flong777

I am not ignorant, I dedicate at least 2 hours of my very busy work day reading tech websites. A better word might be 'informed'.

As for you flaunting your "at a killer price ($100)" as if expecting us to become temporarily blinded by your superior knowledge? Your "killer" 100 dollar price tag is only a monthly cost, read: ongoing cost. If you sign up for contract you will in fact pay 1200 dollars.

Or off contact, $549. Not 100 dollars. And let's put that into perspective.

The iPhone 5 32GB was $549,
The (cheaper to make) iPhone 5c 16GB is $549.

So.. your price is still 'Killer' there champ?

So despite the fact that Apple have gone for cheaper components with the plastic shell, they are are even shafting consumers further by cutting the storage in half.

So it's not 'Killer'! It's freaking shit. And Apple may think they have the wool over everyones eyes, but not most of the commenters in this article, not me, and certainly not the OP of this exmplary example of journalism news piece.
 


Actually, you are very wrong. The 16GB was $649, the 32GB was $749...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2012/09/12/the-real-cost-of-an-iphone-5/

"...If you purchase an iPhone 5 off contract, a 16GB model will cost you $649, the 32GB model $749, and $849 for the 64GB iPhone 5 (according to AT&T’s website.)..."

I notice people like you who bash Apple over this still ignore a couple of points...

1 - Had they not done the 5c and just lowered the price of the 5, the price point would still be the same.

2 - They still made minor improvements on the 5 to the 5c and had to have the factory retooled to make the 5c, yet another expense.

As for the case, it really goes to show the hypocrisy and how Apple will get bashed no matter what they do. When they went metal, people were bashing them left and right for the metal case, how it was all about looks and how it could interfere with the radio signal. Now that they put it in a nice plastic case, and make no mistake, it is a high end plastic, they get bashed for that.

You also ignore the fact that this is made for people to buy on contract, not off. Yes, a person can buy it off contract, but it's point is for people to walk into a store, see a 16GB MotoX, or similar 16GB Android phone, for $199 and then see the 5c for $99.

And how do they have the wool over anyone's eyes? They have not claimed that the internals, except for the front camera and the battery, is any different from the 5. It is people like you who are trying to pull the wool over people's eyes by trying to make it seem Apple is doing something shady when they aren't. They did some minor updates to a 2 year old product and are marketing it as a lower cost alternative. And that is exactly what it is.
 


OK, lemme answer both the first and last sentences with a single image. I've added a new image mid-way through the article. It was cropped from this screenshot taken right off the Apple Store website from my primary production PC, which is running... GASP... OS X!

As to the middle, I addressed the R&D/manufacturing issue earlier from patrickboyle's comment. And as far as this continued obsession with Motorola goes, you need to get a grip, nobody here is playing up any of their phones. In fact, I never even mentioned anything Android at all. And I've already related my personal opinion of the Moto X, Motomaker, and AT&T in my replies to you. So whoever these "people" that keep praising Motorola are, it's not me, therefore no contradiction has occurred here. You are the one injecting it, and then fighting with yourself about it.
 


LOL I'm not sure if you're actually for real, or doing like a Stephen Colbert bit here, but that's funniest thing I've heard anyone say in weeks. Oh, man! Thanks! LOL
 
I’m always surprised by all the Apple haters that criticize Apple for not doing what they think it should be doing, but also claim they would not buy an Apple product even if Apple does what they want.
To be clear, the iPhone 5c is not at the same price as the 5 used to be, it is $100 lower.
Is their problem not Apple’s, if they expected that, because of previous pattern, when launching the 5s Apple would be discounting the 5.
Criticize Apple for launching the 5c instead, which some people considers an inferior product, at the prize they were expecting for the 5, should be reserved only for Apple shareholders, because if that is a mistake, the market will penalize Apple and the value of their holdings would suffer.
 
This is a courageous review on the part of Mr. Overa and it addresses not just how Apple treats its clients but how our lazy tech press does its job. Just about every other tech writer out there has his mind parked on Appletopia and is pretty much conditioned to Apple's R.D.F. type of marketing tricks. There will be people commenting here who will only see this as an attack on their beloved Apple, but that reaction, also, is a matter of marketing conditioning by Apple.
It is a lot easier for a lot of our so called tech journalists to give Apple a free pass solely based on passed performance instead of doing the hard work as Mr. Overa has done here.
Here is an example: Remember when their iPhone iteration with the maps fiasco hit the market that, that iteration of the iPhone got universal high praise from the tech press. There were reviews all over about how flawless that particular iteration was done by Apple.
It wasn't until Apple's own enthusiasts and hackers started finding these and other problems that the tech press caught on. That is the problem with many tech writers. They are just "tech savants" who are pretty much conditioned by the phenomenal advances in marketing techniques that are used by a lot of these manufacturers- especially Apple.
That is a disservice to the consumer because it does not inform the average consumer at all with solid information about these products.
Apple is a very good company, but it has no respect for the intelligence of its customers. You cannot fault Apple for wringing as much profit as possible from its consumers, but we expect the tech press and watch dogs of the industry to be on the consumers' side first.
 
@wildkitten

Thank you for correcting me, that's completely my bad for not checking my sources properly.

however, I bash Apple because I'm sick of them. No other company in the world would survive by being so arrogant, so set in their ways.

for instance, the new connector, forcing you to buy their 50 dollar cables (and then introducing a check whereby only Apple made cables well charge your phone) that price hasn't dropped for a whole year!

other companies would get anti-trust lawsuit.

it's the same with their phone. they made such a big deal their phone was metal, and now doing an about turn. and flogging the iPhone 5c as new? that's just spitting in people's faces and telling them to lick it up.

they don't give a shit about consumers, I mean people are clamoring for a bigger screen, but Apple are laughing all the way the bank they only have to buy 1 type of LCD monitor.

if Samsung released a galaxy s5 which was largely identical to the s4 I would be equally angry with them, but they won't. no other company would.

there's still no nfc, no unified connector, no screen variation..

I mean the competitors are doing all the above for years.

no, it's arrogance they think they can produce shit and consumers will lap it up. I say enough is enough.
 


I'm talking about the cell phone community as a whole when it comes to the Moto X. I have yet to hear any criticism from it on the part of the Android fan kiddies.

And so what if they call it the new 5c. It is in fact newly designed. That still doesn't answer the question if they have hidden in anyway that the internals are the same as before except for the battery and the front camera. The answer to which is, no.

And let's assume for a moment that they are completely unethical for calling it new. Are they ripping customers off? If the 5 had not been redesigned and had some new parts and sold as is, would it not have been sold for the exact same price?

I could understand your opinion if Apple was selling the phone say for $149, but they aren't. They are still keeping the price the same as in previous years when it comes to where they price the prior model.

All they have done is tried to capitalize on the fact that right now, color choice is in. You can complain all you want that they took a "premium feature" away with the metal case, but many people do not want a phone with a metal case. Metal doesn't flex and absorb shock the way plastic does if the phone were to be dropped.
 


Every phone, and really every electronic device, I have bought I have had to have a new connector. The only device I have had where I didn't have to have a new connector was my iPods. From my iPod Photo to my iPod Classic to my 4th gen iPod Touch I was able to use the same connector. Complaining about the change in connector is like complaining PC's went from serial and parallel ports to USB. At some point increases in data rates require a change in port design. It's called progress. And if I do have to get an iPad for my classes, it will use the same connector and cable as my iPod Touch 5th generation. I can't say the same with my Android bases Asus TF300T tablet. It has it's own cable.

Even my Droid Bionic phone, I had to use an OEM cable even though it was a mini USB. There was report after report that using anything else could potentially harm the device and there were many stories by Bionic owners who used 3rd party cables to back those claims up. I have heard similar stories with other phones as well.

As for NFC, have you considered this is more a carrier issue? One of the reasons they didn't have an LTE iPhone sooner had more to do with the carriers. Not to mention, NFC really isn't catching on, at least not for it's original intent. It seems much more popular to use stickers to bump your phone against to make certain preprogrammed events happen with the phone than for making payments. I have an S4, the NFC may as well be a gimmick and I have yet to have a compelling reason to use it.

And once again, you say they are spitting in people's face with the 5c, but you don't say how? By not charging them anymore than they would had they just lowered the price of the 5 and not done a 5c at all? You do realize the price point is the EXACT same as they have done in previous years right?

Let me ask this. Is the 5c IDENTICAL to the 5? No, it's not. It has a new case (whether you like plastic or not, money was still spent to redesign it), it has a new front camera and a larger battery. The camera may be the same as in the 5s, but the factory that made the 5's still had to be retooled, which means money spent, and yet they are still selling the 5c's at the $99 price point that they have always sold the previous model phone for. So in this regards, it is a new device.

The question comes in, has Apple tried to make people think that there is some sort of noticeable performance boost of the 5c compared to the 5 and the answer would be no. I watched video of their event on The Verge and they were very honest that it's the exact same A6 CPU. It's the same amount of RAM, it's the same storage. It's the same display.

Like I responded to the author about, I could see the complaining if Apple tried to charge more than $99 for the phone, but they aren't, so it really comes off as people just jumping on a chance to complain about Apple with no real substance to back it up.
 
I see your point, I disagree with it, but I do see it.

The other argument you could use against mine, is that there's a market for NFC, large screens etc because the competitors have made one by catering to those markets. But Apple understands people just want a camera, a phone, and a small (inner) child distraction device. Nothing more, nothing less.

On the other hand, as Apple's finding, the world has near hit saturation point in regards to high end technology.

The iPhone 5c is a last gasp effort to stay relevant in what has become an overwhelming flood of same and same phones.

Whereas Sammy, HTC and others rely on a largely 'spray and pray' method of producing devices, Apple have gone to the other extreme.

Make, sell and they will come.
The problem with this is that due to this, you have an army of like devices, all of which are clones of the last one, with the same offerings: camera, phone and small (inner) child distraction device.

It's an identical device in that it's what their largest customer base is after. You are looking at their latest phone like a g33k, focusing on the small changest.

What the OP is saying, is that Apple's biggest customer, Mr and Mrs Jo Bloggs, earning above average wage, younger, and consider themselves 'hip', on the other hand won't notice the difference at all. As I said, to them it's an extra 20 minutes of Angry birds on the Subway.

This ^ is what we are trying to get at, we're not trying to lie or bullshit you by saying it's precisely the same phone, it's that we know the vast majority of customers see if this way.

Whereas Samsung's customers by and large know what they want, they want a large screen, with NFC. Or a smaller screen, and just wifi enabled.

Apple are smart, cunning, and extremely devious. They know their most common customer won't want colorful childs toy, these are young, hip people who hang out with the right crowd. They want stylish, they want sleek, they want the iPhone 5S.

So what was the most sought after phone at all the releases? And what was the least available?

They want the iPhone 5. But they can't have it cause you can bet your left arm that Apple will make sure iPhone 5's don't hang around for very long, and their customers sure as hell aren't going to be caught dead with a childs play toy. So Apple are forcing them to buy the more expensive 5S. Thus 'gently' forcing people to upgrade.

They don't need an iPhone 5s, but they want a camera, a phone and a childs play toy.

And we can see it. And we are angry.
 
iPlastic is fantastic.
Balls on apple to release same phone as year ago, cut back at production costs, and ask same money. I was talking a two weeks ago with cellphone shop worker who would praise apple build quality that they would never release plastic phone in premium market hahaha... week later I am laughing my ass off. (also 30$ rubber protection nice XD)
 
well its not the first time a downgrade in product has happened with an increase in price, Verizon famously did that with their share everything plan and Comcast did it with Xfinity. Well, Comcast's Xfinity was the SAME rebranded product with an increase in price and better marketing.

Dry
 
I'm not getting what Adam Overa issue is. (I'm not an iPhone owner - I'm Android & Windows 7 user) He's bitching that the C is for Cheap, but its not cheap. Apple never said the C was cheap. Yes, its cheaper than the S.

Okay... so Samsung has their usual cheap plastic phones going for $200 with the Galaxy S3 & S4... In which you can also buy the metal body iPhone5s for $200 as well. And everyone is selling the iPhone5C for $100 (These are contract prices, which is what MOST people in the USA get) and its a rip-off?

The 5C pretty much has the innards of the 5 and 5S. So its not a downgrade from a 5... so the problem is... he doesn't like the colors?
 
THe advancements in the 5s were not enough for me to spend another 100 dollars on it. I just got a 5C and I am very happy with it, coming from a 4. Still apple has a lot of catching up to do.
 
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