Apple to Mark iPhone 5c as Obsolete Next Month

[Mrjoedot]

well
if the device is un-updatable, then it's obsolete

 

[Whathappened]

:looks at the iPhone 14 Plus:

Nothing has changed in 2022. Lol.

The 14 is a great phone for anyone who is not a complete nerd.

 

[one more]

I had it in white for a few years, it was a great compact phone with a very good grip when used without a case. Sadly, because I was not using any protection for it, one day it slipped right out of my pocket while I was getting out of the car and the screen was shuttered. I still have very fond memories of it, though.

 

[DMG35]

Still have one from back in the day. Its in awesome condition and while I never really used it I loved the blue color and just wanted one to keep.

 

[Dented]

Pretty sure Apple only made this because they weren't sure people would think the 5S was worth the upsell over the 5, so they had to create this to give to the market that would typically buy last year's model for cheaper. People didn't know if the fingerprint scanner was a gimmick or the future.

There was never any mystery about this, they made the 5C to replace the 5 as “last year’s phone” because the 5 didn’t support all the 4G bands that carriers wanted (the 5 was immediately dropped when both the 5C and 5S launched). My guess is the plastic case offset the cost of the additional R&D for what was only ever intended to be a cheaper phone.

 

[joshdammit]

a lot of people are mean about these, but I cant think of the last time (aside from the new iMacs) that technology was allowed to be this cute and fun.

And defective. They had numerous flaws and a simple drop could cause the screen to dislodge from the casing. Verizon phones would randomly lose cellular service… permanently. Allowing “cute and fun” caused a lot of problems and the 5C deserve all the ire it invoked. NEXT!

 

[Greenmeenie]

I never had one. My first iphone was the 11 Pro Max… but these look indestructible. 👊🏼 💥 I know the front screen needs to be glass on a phone, but I kinda wish Apple would go back to not using glass on the back. The back of my iphone 11 pro max totally shattered… WITH a case on it!

 

[deevey]

Wish they'd bring back polycarbonate versions of their phones and laptops, they are so much more durable without needing to baby them. My white iBook 12" was my favorite laptop ever and it took heaps of 4+ foot drops onto very solid surfaces. Unfortunately I only got two years out of it before the Intel macbooks (with the cracking palmrests) came out.

If I buy a macbook now I'd have to use it with an external keyboard due to my "acidic skin" which pitted my old 2010 MBP so badly and so fast that I needed a replacement top case twice while I owned it. Never mind the dent on the corner due to a very moderate fall onto carpet.

 

[incoherent_1]

$99 for that much tech. Those were the days.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

$99 for that much tech. Those were the days.

With a 2 year contract of course, there was never an iPhone for $99 retail

 

[azentropy]

Always found it interesting that when Apple released the budget SE they used the 5s design instead of the 5c design.

 

[MauiPa]

After 9 years, for a phone? Wow, who knew phones could last that long and still work? Probably not a lot of them out there

 

[hirsthirst]

loved the 5C - I still have (and very occasionally use as a stand-in) my daughter's blue one & my Dads white one.

a great design, especially the 'drilled' silicone case.

 

[Kar98]

I actually want these colour on newer iPhones. Catchy and fresh looking, I'm getting tired of muted colours. Silver, Metal, Midnight, White. Even the green and purple dark muted.

Goes for cars too. I know I know, distributors, resale value in mind, blah blah.
But for instance I saw a very nice looking shiny pastel gray car yesterday and got mildly annoyed when I realized that GRAY made for a nice change of color in a sea of silver, black and white.

 

[webkit]

These were always lemons because they had 8GB of storage (for the one everybody I know bought as they wanted the cheapest iPhone) and it wasn't enough for anything other than the system. As such, they were laggie and always told people they were 'out of storage', even when they weren't storing anything.

The minimum available storage on the 5c when it launched was 16GB. I don't believe an 8GB 5c version came out until the following year after the new 6/6 Plus were released and the 5c (and 5s) had become last year's models.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I liked the look of the 5c. Especially with the Apple case. The multi-holes in the back, showing the color of the device. It was almost kind of 'retro', but playful too. I knew several people that bought that design. I think Apple needs to come up with a more playful design again. Something more colorful. *shrug*

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Goes for cars too. I know I know, distributors, resale value in mind, blah blah.
But for instance I saw a very nice looking shiny pastel gray car yesterday and got mildly annoyed when I realized that GRAY made for a nice change of color in a sea of silver, black and white.

I kind of liked Toyota's new 'Lunar Rock' color, but have seen it everywhere, and it's now showing up on 'domestic' brands too. And I'm now getting kind of sick of it. It looks a little too much like 💩 to me now.

I saw a copper looking small Jeep, and it looked pretty amazing. I think Apple needs to come up with a 'mineral look' color scheme. Do a copper look or a mica look. A carbon fiber case?. I think a copper look would sell huge. I'd buy one.

The 14 Pro Max's colors are rather washed out, expect for the not really purple purple. But whatever...

 

[thenahon]

High on the list of my favorite iPhones. I had the green one until I dropped it in water. Ended up upgrading to the 5S that same year.

 

[Fraserh02]

iPhone 5c was bright, colorful, and appealing. RIP! 🪦

You are the iJustine of MacRumors 😅

 

[magicschoolbus]

Ah yes the most hated iphone next to the iPhone XR and iPhone 14

 

[reggavegga]

My FNL had one and the case was not wanting to stay on it. I started looking at it and the battery had become bloated. He took it to Apple back then and they replaced it. I now use it as my Ipod because I do not want to run my battery down on my 13 pro. Because it was replaced and then hardly used when he upgraded it has great battery life.

 

[Greenmeenie]

Next to the iPhone 4, the 5c was one of Apple’s cooler more fun designs for the iPhone. I know there’s only so much you can evolve a rectangle… but i hope Apple mixes it up a bit with the design of the iPhone 15 pros next year. New materials Perhaps? Whatever happened to LiquidMetal? The amorphous alloy Apple was suppose to use? 🤔

 

[iBreatheApple]

At the time, I didn’t realize how reminiscent of the 3G these were.

 

[Premium1]

They should bring back the colors and plastic for the non pro models since they are gimping them so much compared to the pro models. Would really differentiate the models.

 

[David1964]

I remember everyone either getting a 5s or a discounted 4S. Nobody wanted the 5c because of the bright plastic and the lack of new features compared to iPhone 5.

And honestly, next to glass and metallic/aluminium of the flagships, the 5c almost looked like a smartphone from another brand.

One of the few (the only?) iPhone that ever really failed.

The iPhone 12/13 mini are failures according to sales figures, but I love them as a spare iPhone.