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iPhone 5c

327 'iPhone 5c' stories July 2013 - August 2013
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Announced alongside the iPhone 5s in September 2013, the iPhone 5c ($0 on contract from the Apple Store) is currently Apple’s entry-level iPhone. Made with a plastic rear shell and a glass face, it is effectively a repackaging of the iPhone 5, seemingly designed to create differentiation with the highly similar-looking iPhone 5s.

The iPhone 5c continues to use the A6 chip, 8 megapixel camera, and 4-inch Retina display found in the iPhone 5, but modestly improves the front-facing FaceTime HD camera, adds support for more LTE bands, and increases the color choices from two to five. Apple chose a basic white, as well as somewhat faded green, blue, pink, and yellow tones. Every version has a black front.

One thing that the iPhone 5c’s new shell offers is durability: the glossy plastic rear shell is not as easy to accidentally scuff or shatter as the metal and glass iPhone 5 it replaces. On the other hand, Apple only offers it now in an 8GB capacity, which is too little space to store apps, music, and video at the same time. As it’s currently sold, the iPhone 5c is designed to be a very basic phone for first-time iPhone users, as well as something to get people in the doors to choose something better. We wouldn’t recommend it over any other current-generation iPhone unless you only plan to use it for communications, very small apps, and video streaming — not storage.

Apple said to have tested 64-bit ‘A7’ chips for iPhone 5S, 31% speed increases reported

Avatar for Mark Gurman Aug 25 2013 - 8:32 am PT
25 Comments
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As Apple’s iPhone 5S event approaches, some new details about the new device’s internals are emerging. Clayton Morris has claimed on Twitter that the iPhone 5S’s A7 processor is “running at about 31% faster” than the iPhone 5’s A6 chip. The iPhone 5’s A6 chip is dual-core, and it seems like the iPhone 5S will also remain dual-core.

However, there could be a major differentiator: 64-bit. We’ve independently heard claims that some of the iPhone 5S internal prototypes include 64-bit processors.

It’s unclear if 64-bit will make the cut, but it’s been in testing. We’re told that the 64-bit processing will assist the A7 chip in making animations, transparencies, and other iOS 7 graphical effects appear much more smoothly than on existing iOS Devices…


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Picture of iPhone 5Cs leaked by Pegatron employee

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Aug 24 2013 - 6:02 pm PT
18 Comments
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A quality control employee at Pegatron posted the picture above to her Weibo profile (gone now), appearing to show a large amount of iPhone 5Cs in testing mode, as noted by Nowhereelse/Engadget. The following quote was attached to the image:

“The low-end iPhone 5C to be launched for Chinese consumers in September doesn’t look much different than the Xiaomi Phone 2, right?”

It’s odd that the manufacturer does not have a better setup for testing the devices, but Engadget notes that this kind of testing setup has been seen before during factory tours.

The phone looks the same as other leaked components and mockups, and we expect it to be announced by Apple at their September 10th event.
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Approvals process will delay iPhone 5C launch in China until end of November – rumor

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 23 2013 - 5:18 am PT
6 Comments
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An earlier prediction by KGI’s Mingchi Kuo that the iPhone 5C would go on sale in China by the first week in October has been contradicted by a report in First Financial Daily claiming that the approvals process needed would push the launch date back by almost two months, to 28th November …


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Survey suggests iPhone 5C could make Apple the top-seller in the world’s largest market – China

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 20 2013 - 4:48 am PT
4 Comments
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If the iPhone 5C is launched in China at $400, and Apple’s partnership with China Mobile for a TDD-LTE version of the handset proceeds as expected, Apple’s market share in China could jump by a massive 19.3 percent – enough to make Apple the number one seller.

The prediction, reported in Fortune, was made by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty on the back of an AlphaWise survey of 2,000 mobile phone owners in China. Full details below … 
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Apple gears up for expansion in China with more than 200 senior job openings

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 16 2013 - 4:29 am PT
2 Comments
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Photo of Beijing Apple Store: news.cn

Apple appears to be preparing for increased focus on the Chinese market, with more than 200 (mostly) senior job openings appearing on LinkedIn, reports the WSJ. Some of these were added in the past three weeks, many within the last few days. Digitimes reported yesterday on Apple also seeking senior engineers in Taiwan.

With the developed market close to saturation point, the BRIC markets – Brazil, Russia, India and China – are key to Apple’s future expansion. Worldwide, smartphones represent only just over half of the total cellphone market, generating massive potential for future growth.

Apple’s challenge in China is as much a political one as it is marketing-based … 
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Smart finally beats dumb, but while smartphones rise Apple’s share falls

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 14 2013 - 4:48 am PT
7 Comments

Image: digitaltrends.com

In the circles most of us hang out, it might seem incredible that featurephones – aka dumb phones – were still outselling smartphones until recently, but that was indeed the case right up to the first quarter of this year. The latest Gartner figures show that smartphones finally broke ahead in Q2, achieving 51.8 percent of worldwide phone sales.

Smartphones accounted for 51.8 percent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe exhibited the highest smartphone growth rates of 74.1 percent, 55.7 percent and 31.6 percent respectively, as smartphone sales grew in all regions.

The news wasn’t quite so good for Apple, with its year-on-year marketshare dropping more than four points to 14.2 percent.

This does, however, reflect a period in which market leader Samsung launched a flurry of new handsets. Apple’s position is likely to improve substantially when the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are launched, likely next month.

Via TechCrunch

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Some good iPhone 5C packaging/presentation mockups hit the web

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Aug 14 2013 - 1:44 am PT
13 Comments

We’re about three and a half weeks from Apple’s September 10th iPhone event and that means folks are mocking up what they think Apple will present. The most popular subject? The iPhone 5C, which we first mocked up in April. While we don’t necessarily believe some of these mockups below from Martin Hajek represent what Apple will release, they do present interesting fodder for discussion.

Definitely head over to Martinhajek.com for many more and full-sized galleries.

(updated to reflect rightful creator)

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Analyst suggests unlikely possibility of no Siri on iPhone 5C to reduce cannibalization

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 13 2013 - 7:27 am PT
26 Comments
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Image: tested.com

One of the big question marks around the iPhone 5C – the rumored name for the mid-market plastic iPhone – is how Apple will prevent the lower-cost phone cannibalizing sales of the iPhone 5 and 5S.

One possibility is to limit sales of the 5C to emerging markets. Apple could make it available in India and China, where price is a much bigger barrier to iPhone acquisition, and withhold it from North America and Europe. That would make a great deal of sense, but is extremely unlikely and an approach Apple has ever taken before.

Analyst Gene Munster has another theory, though one just as unlikely: that the 5C will omit a key feature of present-generation iPhones: Siri.

Additionally, we believe that Apple may exclude some software features, such as Siri, which we note was not an option on the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 upon launch … 
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Bloomberg: Thinner iPad 5, Retina iPad mini this year & Sept. 10 iPhone event

Avatar for Mark Gurman Aug 12 2013 - 3:41 pm PT
1 Comment

Bloomberg has corroborated multiple reports regarding Apple’s next iPad and iPhone models.

Apple also plans to introduce a new iPad mini, the first with a high-resolution screen, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the development is private. The new iPad models are set to be introduced in the last three months of the year, one of the people said.


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New iPhone production spurs huge growth for Pegatron even as PC decline continues

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 12 2013 - 4:22 am PT
1 Comment
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Photo: vr-zone.net

Apple supplier Pegatron is forecasting up to a 50 percent growth in its Q3 revenues despite its PC business continuing to decline, with the bulk of this growth likely to come from the iPhone, reports Reuters. Pegatron made the announcement after failing to hit analyst expectations in Q2.

“We expect revenue in the non-computing segment to grow by 40 to 50 percent in Q3 due to new consumer products. Q4 will also be higher,” said company CEO and President Jason Cheng in an investor conference.

Pegatron has been pretty much confirmed as making the iPhone 5C – the plastic iPhone – with some Digitimes-based rumors suggesting it may also be a secondary supplier for the 5S, whose production is being led by Foxconn. Both handsets are expected to be announced by Apple on 10th September … 
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‘iPhone 5S’ (plus gold model), ‘iPhone 5C’ will actually be names of next iPhones?

Avatar for Mark Gurman Aug 11 2013 - 11:32 am PT
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<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/10/new-mockups-claim-to-show-iphone-5s-and-iphone-5c-designs-gallery/">iPhone 5S/5C physical mockups</a>

Apple’s next two iPhone models will be named iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, according to a report from Japan-based Macotakara. With repeated reports and rumors of the next-generation iPhone retaining the same design as the iPhone 5, the “iPhone 5S” name has long been claimed and regarded as the name of the new flagship iPhone. Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPhone 3GS retained the designs of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G, respectively.

However, because of Apple’s surprise naming scheme for the third-generation iPad (The new iPad), an outright claim of the name “iPhone 5S” may be important to some interested in the upcoming device.

As for the “iPhone 5C,” this name gained attention when purported packaging materials for the upcoming, lower-cost, plastic iPhone surfaced in photos online. It is unclear what the “C” in “5C” could stand for, but speculation and logic points to the “C” standing for “color.” Like recent iPod touch models, this plastic iPhone is rumored to come in a series of colors…


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Apple will reportedly unveil the next iPhone on Sept. 10

Avatar for Zach Kahn Aug 10 2013 - 4:42 pm PT
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According to a report by AllThingsD, Apple will debut its latest iPhone lineup during a special event on September 10th, just a month from today. The report doesn’t specify as to which models will be announced at the event, but if rumors are to be believed, we may see the highly anticipated iPhone 5S as well as a new, low-cost iPhone 5C.

There’s been much speculation as to when exactly Apple will unveil its latest lineup as the company has been unusually quiet about new products over the last year. Many are also wondering whether or not Apple will break its traditional iPhone lineup (introducing a new iPhone and shuffling older models down to lower price points) or if it will in fact produce a cheaper, plastic iPhone to cater to demands for Apple to enter new, lower-cost markets.

We’re excited to see what the company has in store for this event as well as what they’ve been planning for new product categories. While the report doesn’t postulate the appearance of an entirely new product category, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has expressed a deep interest in both wearable technologies, given credibility to the rumored iWatch, as well as the television.

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New mockups claim to show ‘iPhone 5S’ and ‘iPhone 5C’ designs [Gallery]

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 10 2013 - 7:23 am PT
18 Comments

Vietnamese website Tinhte, which has a solid track record of getting its hands on pre-release Apple products and accurate mock ups,today posted what it claims are mock ups of two next-generation iPhones. One is the full-fledged “iPhone 5S” upgrade, while the other claims to show the much rumored low-cost “iPhone 5C” that we’ve been hearing a lot about recently. It’s worth noting that Tinhte says the source of the images, Vietnamese accessory supplier PhukienGiare, also supplied the publication with accurate pre-release mock ups of the iPad mini leading up to its launch.

For the iPhone 5S, the design of the mock up appears to be largely the same as the current iPhone 5. Most rumors seem to agree with that much, and the site notes its report from earlier this year that claimed the device will pack in a new 12-megapixel camera. The mock up also shows the dual LED flash that is rumored to make an appearance on the device.

The second mock up shows what the site is referring to the “iPhone 5C“, and shows the all-plastic design that we’ve seen several times in other alleged leaks. The site notes that the Lightning connector looks slightly smaller on the mock up, but it’s unsure if this is just on the mock up or if Apple is experimenting with tweaked connector designs. (The iPhone in the images with the leather skin is an iPhone 5 for comparison).

Earlier this week photographs leaked showing the iPad mini-like design for the next-generation 9.7-inch iPad that we posted of photos of back in January.

Tim Cook visits China again hoping to entice local carriers with upcoming iPhones

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Jul 30 2013 - 12:35 am PT
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January File Photo

According to a local Chinese report, Apple CEO Tim Cook was recently back in China hoping to jumpstart relations with Chinese carriers this week. Cook met with China Telecom, already a strong Apple partner. The topic of conversation wasn’t revealed but likely on the plate is Apple’s lower cost plastic iPhone, perhaps called the iPhone 5C, and overall flattening growth in Apple’s second biggest market.

The article speculates that he probably met with the other local carriers including partner China Unicom and the world’s biggest carrier, China Mobile who has around 700M subscribers – none of which have direct access to Apple’s iPhone yet.

It is Cook’s third known trip to China since he took over as CEO almost two years ago. Other things that may come up include Pegatron’s supposed worker violation issues and perhaps even another Beijing scalping problem.

Rough translation below:
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