Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Explain why iPhone 5 is being phased out?
- Thread starter bryanc28
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This sounds about right to me, as much as I hate it.
I'm basically stuck right now. I want to buy out of my android contract (worthless POS) but now it seems like I basically have to decide between a 5S that I can't afford, a 4S that's out-dated and a 5C that looks and likely feels cheap. The 5 would have been a great option for me and likely many others which, as you said, is exactly why apple got rid of it. They want people carrying the 5C, even if it's the same parts as the 5, because it's cheaper for them to make.
5C is similar and easier to produce rather than keep producing 3-4 Iphones.
Keeping the Iphone 5 might distract sales of the Iphone 5C. The larger screen and maybe they never fancied cutting it down to an 8GB version meaning they opted to phase it out?
Iphone 4 > 4S
Still sold loads but many moaned about them being similar.
New home button and gold colour sorted.
Prior to today I was one of the people saying that I didn't think they would discontinue the 5, but now I see that it makes sense. There's not really a place for the 5 between the 5c and the 5s. Unless you really just can't tolerate plastic, the 5c is virtually identical to the 5, and with a better battery life.
So how would they go about pricing the 5? Practically the same specs as the 5c, but made of better materials, so it has to be priced higher, but obviously not as high as the 5s... There's just no place for it.
So how would they go about pricing the 5? Practically the same specs as the 5c, but made of better materials, so it has to be priced higher, but obviously not as high as the 5s... There's just no place for it.
lol, source?
It's identical besides being cheaper to produce because of the plastic body.
Exactly. This is why I hate doing business on craigslist, before are crazy dumb...
The plastic would put me off the cheap Iphone but as many say it's still premium priced.
Anybody confirm if the 3GS was plastic as I never owned one but I'm sure they were?
typical craigslist!
I have to be honest, I'm a little tired of Apple doing this. I bought the 5 and now it's being phased out. I bought the iPad 3 only to have Apple discontinue it. Pretty annoying and makes me hesitant to pull the trigger again.
Yup. I'm holding mine right now, and guess what, it doesn't look or feel cheap! Ironically Apple has spent years convincing people that plastic = crap. Also ironically, I don't even put a case on my 3Gs as it doesn't scratch nearly as easily as the later models.
The 5 is the 5C with plastic. Better profit margin for customers and cheaper price which is what consumers look for. Price matters.
Why does it matter if it's discontinued? It's still supported, and doesn't function any worse just because they stop making them.
Negative.
To increase profit margins.
They make more selling the 5C for what the original 5 would have been reduced to because the C is cheaper to make. The 5 would have also cut into sales of the 5S because it's really not a big upgrade. The 5C makes the decision to get the 5S much easier since they can't get the 5 for cheaper now that it's discontinued. If someone was dead set on getting the cheaper version, now they have colors to pick from and probably don't care that it's plastic vs. metal.
As someone who has dealt with a plastic android, unless apple's plastic is somehow a lot better, I can honestly say that tolerating a plastic phone is harder than you make it sound.
Plus, IMO, all the colors look cheesy except for white but White gets dirty really easy so I would need to buy the black case which is iffy looking at best.