Apple's 10th September event was a special day for Apple where they announced the next generation of iPhones. It's obvious that when you divide your work, your focus divides too and that's why we haven't seen two iPhones in Steve Jobs's days. Since Apple will be working on two iPhones from now, the updates in terms of hardware will be minimal.
Colorful iPhone 5c and flagship device iPhone 5s are the latest products from Apple and the company has done a good job in adding some new features, like Touch ID and wider camera lens in iPhone 5s. iPhone 5c is almost the iPhone 5 with improved battery life and camera.
This article is for those who are confused which iPhone to order on September 20th, the day when Apple will start to take orders.
The simple buying guide for users, if you are going to buy your first iOS device, then you should probably go for iPhone 5c unless you really want that Fingerprint scanning feature. If you want to upgrade from your iPhone 4, iPhone 4s or iPhone 5, you should be buying iPhone 5s. Since there are only a few hardware additions in 5s, iPhone 5 users should not care upgrading to 5s.
Let's see in detail the difference between iPhone 5s and 5c.
Dimensions
iPhone 5s
- Height: 4.87 inches (123.8 mm)
- Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)
- Depth: 0.30 inch (7.6 mm)
- Weight: 3.95 ounces (112 grams)
iPhone 5c
- Height: 4.90 inches (124.4 mm)
- Width: 2.33 inches (59.2 mm)
- Depth: 0.35 inch (8.97 mm)
- Weight: 4.65 ounces (132 grams)
Colors
iPhone 5s : Space Gray, Gold and Silver
iPhone 5c : White, Pink, Yellow, Blue and Green
This is the first Apple has introduced new colors in iPhone. You get a lot of colors to choose from for 5c, while you have only classic color options for iPhone 5s. While users will love different color options, I was a bit disappointed when they showed the color options in 5c and there was no black color option.
Processor
iPhone 5s
The 5s runs on Apple's all new processor A7. The A7 chip will give upto 2x CPU and Graphics performance. The A7 chip is a 64-bit architecture chip and Apple has redefined the iOS 7 to match with the processor.
Also, there's a coprocessor M7, which is responsible for motion sensing and other such activities. The main purpose of M7 chip is to do specific processes efficiently without the need of the main processor.
iPhone 5c
The 5c runs on the same chip which is on iPhone 5, A6.
Screen
iPhone 5s
- 4 inch Retina Display
- 1136 by 640 resolution, 326 dpi
- 800:1 Contrast Ratio
- Fingerprint Resistant Coating on Front
iPhone 5c
- 4 inch Retina Display
- 1136 by 640 resolution, 326 dpi
- 800:1 Contrast Ratio
- Fingerprint Resistant Coating on Front
Both the phones have same display specifications, same screen size and same resolution. It was expected that Apple will be releasing 5s with 4.3 inch or at least higher screen size. a 4 inch phone is a handy size, but with lot of phablet like smartphones coming, I personally feel that 4.5 inch is ideal screen size.
Connectivity
iPhone 5s : Assisted GPS and GLONASS, Digital Compass, Cellular and Wi-Fi
iPhone 5c : Assisted GPS and GLONASS, Digital Compass, Cellular and Wi-Fi
The connectivity options are same as iPhone 5. NFC was not expected as I read somewhere that Apple already told not to introduce NFC support in the near future.
Camera
iPhone 5s
- 8 megapixel with 1.5µ pixels
- f/2.2 aperture
- Sapphire crystal lens cover
- True-tone Flash
- Backside Illumination Sensor
- Five-element Lens
- Hybrid IR Filter
- Burst Mode
iPhone 5c
- 8 megapixel
- f/2.4 aperture
- LED Flash
- Backside Illumination Sensor
- Five-element Lens
- Hybrid IR Filter
The upgrade to the camera in iPhone 5s is significant. The increase of the lens by 15 percent is good and will produce more crispy, brighter and noiseless photos. The new, True-tone flash allows the camera to throw two color flash for different conditions. The Burst Mode in iPhone 5s capture 10 photos per second.
The improved camera app automatically captures multiple photos in a single click and chooses the sharper and balanced photo for you. The camera hardware and iOS are crafted well to get the most beautiful photos out of your iPhone.
Video Recording
iPhone 5s
- 1080p HD Video Recording at 30 frames per second
- True-tone Flash
- Slo-Mo Video
- Improved Video Stabilisation
iPhone 5c
- 1080p HD Video Recording at 30 frames per second
- LED Flash
- Video Stabilisation
The video recording capabilities in iPhone 5c is same as in iPhone 5. Apple introduced Slo-Mo feature in iPhone 5s which allows you to create slow motion videos. You can choose which part of the video will be playing at normal speed and which part will be playing in slow motion.
You can record slow motion videos in iPhone 5s in 720p at 120 frames per second.
Sensors
iPhone 5s : Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient Light Sensor and Fingerprint Identity Sensor
iPhone 5c : Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient Light Sensor
Apple has done brilliant job in putting the fingerprint sensor right below the Home button. It enhances the security and makes it easy to unlock your phone quickly, without typing the passcodes.
Capacity and Pricing
iPhone 5s
- 16 GB for $649
- 32 GB for $749
- 64 GB for $849
iPhone 5c
- 16 GB for $549
- 32 GB for $649
It was expected that as Apple is entering in China markets, it should be launching cheap iPhone but $549 isn't cheap. Apple may have difficulty giving competition to other companies in China, especially Xiaomi.
The on-contract price of iPhone 5s starts from $199 and $99 for iPhone 5c.
My Opinions
Apple is a company of innovation and solid products. For most of us, Apple haven't shown what was expected. But guys, the features like Touch ID, and the improved camera isn't days a work, it takes time for research and developing and getting the experience you want on the device.
Tim Cook frequently mentioned the word "experience" in the keynote. It is clear from what he meant that he wants to enhance the experiences of normal users. These little features takes a lot of time and hard work to come up as practical functionalities.
While the other smartphone companies believe in bigger screen sizes and bigger megapixels of camera, Apple has proved that there is a standard of everything and we should stick to the standards. The camera in the new iPhones is still 8MP, but the bigger lens will produce much better photos than any other smartphone.
Alike this year's event, Apple's iPhone 6 event is going to be big for sure. Though one more special event is expected later this year for new iPad and OS X Mavericks release. In the end, I just want to say that Apple is doing a good job.