The New iPhones: Should You Upgrade?

5C Specs

  • Plastic shell ·    
  • 5 colors – white, pink, yellow, blue, green ·    
  • 4-inch retina screen (same as the iPhone 5) ·    
  • A6 chip (same as the iPhone 5) ·    
  • Rear- and front-facing cameras (same as the iPhone 5) ·    
  • 16GB $99, 32GB $199 ·    
  • Available September 20th ·    
  • Battery – basically the same as the iPhone 5, with a little added talk time
  • Siri enabled

Finally a Cheap (well… cheaper) iPhone

The 5C feels young: be it the glow-in-the-dark colors that match the new IOS 7 or the “unibody polycarbonate shell” (aka, it’s made from a single piece of plastic). It has much of the same hardware that was in the iPhone 5 – which has been discontinued. This 5C is a way to offer the previous model at a reduced price, but have a shiny new package around it. And to that I say, “Awesome!” The 5C’s $99 price (with 2-year contract) makes it $100 cheaper than previous new iPhones, and it will be a huge seller for those looking to enter the smartphone market for the first time: flip phone converts, consumers in emerging markets, and teenagers. Also, depending on the unlocked price, the 5C could also be a huge hit for consumers who use prepaid phone plans and who had shied away from the iPhone because of sticker shock both up front and on a monthly basis.

Also worth considering: the iPhone 5C will run Apple’s newest mobile operating system, IOS 7. While it will have lots of changes and new features, the real value of any Apple phone is the ecosystem. I have switched back and forth between Androids and iPhones over the last four years, and I personally feel that the biggest benefit of the iPhone is the usability of their software and the ecosystem of iTunes, the app store, and iCloud (okay, iCloud has some issues, but it’s still very user friendly).

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