Apple has been offering iPhones and entry and mid-level prices for years… but usually by continuing to sell a year-old model at a price cut every time a new phone was ready to launch. Now Apple is taking a new approach by introducing both an iPhone 5C and an iPhone 5S.

The company says the iPhone 5C has all the technology of the original iPhone 5, but it comes in more color options (green, white, blue, pink, and yellow).

Apple’s iPhone 5C replaces the iPhone 5 in the company’s lineup… but if you’re looking for a premium phone with an improved camera, a metal case, and other goodies including a fingerprint scanner, you’ll want to check out the new iPhone 5S.

Apple iPhone 5C

The phone doesn’t have a metal case. Instead, it’s covered in a polycarbonate material, although the insides are steel-reinforced. The steel also works as an antenna.

You can also dress up the phone in a custom case with a silicone-rubber case to change up the colors.

The iPhone 5C has an Apple A6 processor, a 4 inch Retina display, an 8MP camera, a FaceTime HD camera on the front, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and support for 4G LTE wireless.

A 16GB model will sell for $99 with a 2-year contract, while a 32GB model runs $199. Bargain hunters can also pick up an 8GB  iPhone 4S for free with a 2-year contract, but it sounds like the company is phasing out the original iPhone 5 altogether and replacing it with the iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5C goes up for pre-order September 13th, and it’ll be available in stores on September 20th.

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7 replies on “Apple introduces the iPhone 5C: The first budget iPhone”

  1. But $99 is not cheap in the developing world or for poor people in US and in western europe today!

  2. Looks like they took a page out of Nokia’s Lumia playbook with the colors. I don’t see how $99 on contract is a budget phone? If it were $99 unlocked and off contract then that would be something (and an iPod touch replacement). If Apple can get people excited over this I’ll be sad. I like colors, but seems like they took the 5, made it cheaper for Apple to produce, but priced it the same as the 5 might have been once the 5S is released.

    1. Apple is still making and selling the 4S, which is as close as they get to a budget phone.

  3. (not that I would get one of these at all over Android). Exactly, why would I pick this plastic iPhone over a discounted Aluminum A5 based iPhone (with the same innards as this one, per Apples own admission)?

    1. Apple isn’t selling last year’s phone anymore, so you won’t have the choice much longer.

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