iPhone 5C, 5S and iOS7

[Big Kev]

Today they announced iOS7 is launching on Sept 18th, which means it won't be worth downloading until at least the 20th cos the servers will be swamped.

They also showed the 5C and 5S phones.

The 5C is basically a 5 but with a plastic case and priced at a silly £469
16 and 32Gb
Comes in a slightly girly range of green, yellow, blue, white, and pink colours




The 5S has new graphite, silver and gold colours.
£549
The camera is 8MP, F2.2, dual LED flash, can take multiple images and choose the sharpest, it also has a 10 shot burst mode and 120fps slowmo.
A7 chip.
16, 32, 64Gb
Fingerprint unlocking but touching the home button. (brace yourselves for finger-gate!)

[DexterPunk]

Still struggling to see why I'd want to upgrade my 4S. That's fairly uninspiring.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[norbs]

Forward thinking. LOL.

This is actually bad. If Apple can't innovate, we will end up in a non competitive market and everything will slow down. I suppose we still have the Android companies fighting hammer and tongs for the Android people.

And the pricing, FARK!

[w00dsy]

Isn't the 5C $99 in the US? I heard this morning that it'll be $730 here.

[r8response]

Isn't the 5C $99 in the US?

That's on a 2 year contract.

$549 for the 16gb unlocked.

[Bauer]

And the pricing, FARK!

arent the prices similar to say a Galaxy S4 outright?

I find the prices outrageous for a phone but Apple are not any pricier than others are they?

[norbs]

And the pricing, FARK!

arent the prices similar to say a Galaxy S4 outright?

I find the prices outrageous for a phone but Apple are not any pricier than others are they?

I should have clarified my remark. The 5C was what I was really talking about.

From what I read this morning it is basically a 5 with a coloured case. I might have gone off too quick. I will have another look later today.

[r8response]

Coloured plastic case!

[w00dsy]

[Shonky]

NSA will love it!

[NeilPearson]

130 bucks cheaper than a 5s. thats pathetic.

[DarrenM]

Fingerprint unlocking

An unlock system even a monkey could use. Something something something, apple hipsters?

[wabbit]

So no 64bit lovin? First to add 2 types of hardware... yep its an Apple fail again :P

[w00dsy]

Nokia have had their say.

[wabbit]

Nokia should have double checked with Wikipedia. 1st gen iPod mini came out in 5 colours in Jan '04. I guess we shouldn't remember the 1st gen iMacs in '98 either :P

Okay, enough of being silly. What I took away from todays event.

In recent years Apple strategy has been to sell 3 products (1. current gen hardware, 2. last years hardware at $100 less and 3. two year old hardware being capacity capped either free on contract or $200 ish outright). That changed today with the 5C (being mostly iPhone 5 hardware) replacing what would have been normally been the iPhone 5.

The change is in the middle tier (iPhone 5C), it got its own branding (not just being last years gear). Theres a funny saying in marketing... what 'looks' new is new. Which leads into how they demo'd everything about the iPhone 5C first, on their website the 5C is before the 5S... just like the MacBook Air is before the MacBook Pro.

I think todays preso was all about creating a new line of phones (finally I might add). From today their phone lineup mirrors their iPad, Laptop and Desktop tiers.

[Big Kev]

Forward thinking. LOL.

This is actually bad. If Apple can't innovate, we will end up in a non competitive market and everything will slow down. I suppose we still have the Android companies fighting hammer and tongs for the Android people.

And the pricing, FARK!

As I've said before though, I think the innovation is massively slowing down now in this market because there isn't much left to add.
What did samsung put on the last galaxy that was innovative? Being able to scroll by nodding your head? W00p! I wonder how many people actually use that. All the companies have hit a massive plateau now on new features. The biggest new stuff on the 5S (ignoring the fingerprinter) was changes to the camera. That says a lot when they spend a good chunk of the keynote talking about camera features on a phone.

As for Apple's pricing, I think they've really missed the boat here. They had the chance to put the 4S tech in to a cheap plastic case and push it out for sub-£300 and bag a big chunk of that market but they've ended up with 2 phones only £80 apart, one of which looks a lot cheaper than the other.

But then maybe they're playing the longer game? In 12 months they might be able to push the 5C down the market a bit, discontinue the 4S and thus save money by not having to make a smaller screen and the 30pin connector any more, and knock £100 off the price.

[markus]

Nokia should have double checked with Wikipedia. 1st gen iPod mini came out in 5 colours in Jan '04. I guess we shouldn't remember the 1st gen iMacs in '98 either :P

I bet they did

[wabbit]

Awww snap!

[Big Kev]

Was that actually nokia who did those in colours or the case makers? I had one of those in black but I bought a silver cover for it (hey silver was all the rage in those days!!)

[markus]

Was that actually nokia who did those in colours or the case makers? I had one of those in black but I bought a silver cover for it (hey silver was all the rage in those days!!)

It was Nokia themselves. They were called Xpress-on.

[durbster]

I'm puzzled by the fingerprint ID thing and why it hasn't ever been implemented in a big way. The technology has surely been around for ages; I know some laptops have tried it and it never caught on but on a phone it makes a lot more sense. Unlocking is an inconvenience in a device that offers ultimate convenience, so I like the idea.

I think I read that Apple said the fingerprint stuff was only stored locally and not backed up online so (obviously the NSA will still have full access to it ) it'll be interesting to see if users will accept and trust Apple on that.

On that note, why don't Apple introduce a pattern unlock? I tried all the unlocking methods and that seems to be the quickest. Have Google sewn that one up legally?

[wabbit]

Re your last part Durbs. I think they didn't go down the pattern path because their planning on nailing 2 factor authentication correctly for NFC requirements.

Having a device and a password/pass code on the same device actually isn't 2 factor auth. However the fingerprint part and a device is.

[w00dsy]

I'm puzzled by the fingerprint ID thing and why it hasn't ever been implemented in a big way.

The Motorola Atrix used it, but I guess because it wasn't a popular phone no one really noticed it.

[NeilPearson]

My brother just gave me an interesting bit of information regarding fingerprint scanning.

On his laptop when he uses it if his finger has a cut on it, it won't register his print. So he can't use it. He had to register every finger just for when he had cuts.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4

[wabbit]

Apple decided in order to use one or many fingerprints (either one person or multiple), you must first create a pass code. So when you do have a cut or a burnt finger (good examples) you can still unlock the phone.

I've been reading heaps of comments about this feature (pro and cons), the only thing to remember is, the fingerprint sensor doesn't replace a pass code, it's there in addition to the pass code for ease.

Lastly, if the phone is restarted or hasn't been unlocked for 48 hours you must upon first unlock use the passcode. This is for extra security in that an attacker cannot have unlimited attempts to find away around the fingerprint sensor.