How future proof is the 5C?

[JayLenochiniMac]

The iPhone 4 is the only single core device currently running iOS 7. Very poor choice by Apple. A5 should have been minimum spec to run the latest software. iOS 7 is really not optimized fully as is with the dual core CPUs so there's no way it should be running on something as ancient as the A4.

But to answer your question...the A6 is still very powerful and should be able to run the newest updates well enough for the next couple years. 7.1 is going to be a godsend for those on 7.0.4 and that should fix a lot of the problems and issues people are having.

In a few years you'll be posting the following:

The iPhone 5c is the only 32-bit device currently running on iOS 10. Very poor choice by Apple. A7 should have been minimum spec to run the latest software. iOS 10 is really not optimized fully as is with the 64-bit processors so there's no way it should be running on something as ancient as the A6.

The 5c is only as future proof as the iPhone 5.

 

[TacticalDesire]

My guess is that the 1gb of ram in both phones will be the bottleneck long before something like the CPUs start to become a problem. I think you're fine no matter what one you get.

 

[cynics]

My guess is that the 1gb of ram in both phones will be the bottleneck long before something like the CPUs start to become a problem. I think you're fine no matter what one you get.

I tend to agree. However not from a speed perspective but from a user experience perspective.

I'm on an iPhone 4S and the 512 mb of RAM makes it quite frustrating at times with apps reloading. I'm in tapatalk right now and if I were to switch to safari for a webpage or two tapatalk would reload and I'd lose everything I'm doing (sometimes it'll ask me to load a draft but not always).

I'd like to see more RAM in the iPhone 6 so I don't have to worry about that for a long time.

 

[Thomas card]

Yea but the way the iPhones system uses the 1gig of ram is why it only needs 1gig , I think after so much memory is used it just shuts down apps that you aren't using or haven't used in awhile then releases memory for whatever your doing , it runs really smooth on my 5s I love it and I have tried to crash it and I can't get it to crash and I moniter my memory and when there is around 25 mb left the ram seems to shut down all apps not being used and cleans up the ram for new apps or whatever you do , androids on the other hand need 2 or 3 gigs of ram just to run somewhat smooth and even then they need programs like project butter to help them with the jitters , and the ram and processors in android phones don't run as efficient and smooth as ios , apple makes there 5s faster than most by working smarter not harder and androids just toss in the biggest and baddest processors just hoping it's smooth in the end

 

[braddick]

I think the 5C will have a nice, healthy, long run and will satisfy most consumers for years to come.

As complicated some of the future iOS's are bound to be, they're not complex.
Performance is stabilized and the 5C has all the internals necessary to keep up.

 

[cynics]

Yea but the way the iPhones system uses the 1gig of ram is why it only needs 1gig , I think after so much memory is used it just shuts down apps that you aren't using or haven't used in awhile then releases memory for whatever your doing , it runs really smooth on my 5s I love it and I have tried to crash it and I can't get it to crash and I moniter my memory and when there is around 25 mb left the ram seems to shut down all apps not being used and cleans up the ram for new apps or whatever you do , androids on the other hand need 2 or 3 gigs of ram just to run somewhat smooth and even then they need programs like project butter to help them with the jitters , and the ram and processors in android phones don't run as efficient and smooth as ios , apple makes there 5s faster than most by working smarter not harder and androids just toss in the biggest and baddest processors just hoping it's smooth in the end

That's the issue. It shuts down apps in the background. At 512 mb of RAM that's an issue with iOS 7 because that app could be the one you just switched from. 1 gb is a lot better I'm sure and is probably more then enough currently. But just like 512 mb was enough once upon a time apps and the OS will get more RAM hungry and it will pose a problem again.

That's why I'd like to see more in the iPhone 6. Future proofing I guess.

 

[spacemnspiff]

My brother couple of months ago had iP4 and it was excruciating on iOS7. He couldnt do all the things he did with iOS6 because it was too slow, messaging, whatsapp was very slow.
He upgraded to 5s and is happy to use the phone for all that he was doing with iP4.

 

[Thomas card]

Yea I see your point , at the moment though more than 1gig would be over kill with ios , I haven't ever had that issue with apps closing and losing my information because I'm the kind of user that uses the app than closes it I don't really ever multitask . I wouldn't be surprised if the 6 still uses 1 gig cuz that's how apple works they don't put more than what's needed , the iphone 5s is faster than almost every phone out and it's because ios is optimized to run smarter not harder , how else could a dual core with one gig of ram slaughter quadcores with 2 or 3 gigs of ram , and another thing people don't realize is the 1 gig of ram In the 5s is LPDDR3 which has a data rate of 1600 mts and utilizes new technology compared to the iphone 5 LLPDR2 ram that has a data rate of 1000 mts on older technology , this means that even though it's 1 gig it's still transferring and accessing data almost twice as fast as the iphone 5 , why use 2 gigs of ram when you can just use 1 gig of the newest technology and move the data faster

 

[takeshi74]

So seeing that a 5C has similar specs to an iPhone 5, I only wonder if the same thing will happen a few years down the line.

....and that's a good bet. If you want to try to future proof then get the latest and greatest. Nothing's future proof but you can at least mitigate a bit. We can't really tell anyone how future proof anything is. The future is an unknown and we don't know what's coming down the line.

What makes the 5C "glorified"?

glo·ri·fied ˈglôrəˌfīd/
adjective
1. (esp. of something or someone ordinary or unexceptional) represented in such a way as to appear more elevated or special.
"I did the paperwork and was basically a glorified secretary"

I'd say the colored case and the 5c name make it a glorified 5.

 

[Jynto]

What makes the 5C "glorified"?

This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utUPth77L_o

It's pretentious rubbish in my opinion. It waffles on for four minutes without ever actually saying anything. Of course, since it's the "experience" they're selling, none of their rhetoric has to be about concrete facts, or even make sense.

(Read this part in Jony Ive's voice) It is, in many ways, it is the distillation of Apples salesmanship, blurring the boundary between persuasion and sincerity. The result is a very intentional contrast between your expectation and reality. I think it's remarkable when something feels so genuine, and yet it's false at the same time.

 

[cyks]

Yea I see your point , at the moment though more than 1gig would be over kill with ios , I haven't ever had that issue with apps closing and losing my information because I'm the kind of user that uses the app than closes it I don't really ever multitask .

Not everyone uses the phone the same way as you.

If I'm doing something intensive and someone calls or texts, I should be able to answer or reply to them and return to what it was doing without having to wait for the app to reload. That wasn't possible on my 4S.

Granted, it's much better on the 5S, but it's only going to keep getting worse as iOS and apps continue to grow.

 

[cwwilson]

In a few years you'll be posting the following:

The iPhone 5c is the only 32-bit device currently running on iOS 10. Very poor choice by Apple. A7 should have been minimum spec to run the latest software. iOS 10 is really not optimized fully as is with the 64-bit processors so there's no way it should be running on something as ancient as the A6.

The 5c is only as future proof as the iPhone 5.

Your futile attempt at wit failed you horribly but thanks for playing. Please, name me another single core device Apple makes that is running iOS 7. It is ridiculous that they allowed it to happen. The A4 is what powers the original iPad first gen and that thing hasn't been made in years. Yet they still produce the A5 powered iPad 2, iPad mini and as far as I know, the iPhone 4S. The A5 should have been minimum requirement. That's all there is to it.

 

[jrswizzle]

Your futile attempt at wit failed you horribly but thanks for playing. Please, name me another single core device Apple makes that is running iOS 7. It is ridiculous that they allowed it to happen. The A4 is what powers the original iPad first gen and that thing hasn't been made in years. Yet they still produce the A5 powered iPad 2, iPad mini and as far as I know, the iPhone 4S. The A5 should have been minimum requirement. That's all there is to it.

When 7.1 comes out, let's revisit this topic. From what I've read, 7.1 brings a stability and smoothness to even the iPhone 4 that I'm sure Apple meant to be there to begin with.

Just took some additional time with all the changes that went into it.

I, for one, am glad Apple continues to support (as best it can) older devices. Even though I upgrade regularly, its nice to know Apple brings the latest and greatest (as much of it as they can) to older devices.

 

[Thomas card]

Not everyone uses the phone the same way as you.

If I'm doing something intensive and someone calls or texts, I should be able to answer or reply to them and return to what it was doing without having to wait for the app to reload. That wasn't possible on my 4S.

Granted, it's much better on the 5S, but it's only going to keep getting worse as iOS and apps continue to grow.

That's why I said yes I see his point lol , in my opinion ios 7 should have only been released for the 5 up cuz the 4s only has 512 mb of ram , it's not enough because ios 7 uses more memory but your right not everyone uses there phone the same but you would need to have used 700 mb of the 5s ram before you lose any information you were working on , I tested it , right around 25 percent it close apps in the background so your talking about 800 mb of ram being used at once ? I don't know of anything you could be doing that would use that much memory and it should stay this efficient for at least 2 more years

 

[jrswizzle]

This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utUPth77L_o

It's pretentious rubbish in my opinion. It waffles on for four minutes without ever actually saying anything. Of course, since it's the "experience" they're selling, none of their rhetoric has to be about concrete facts, or even make sense.

(Read this part in Jony Ive's voice) It is, in many ways, it is the distillation of Apples salesmanship, blurring the boundary between persuasion and sincerity. The result is a very intentional contrast between your expectation and reality. I think it's remarkable when something feels so genuine, and yet it's false at the same time.

You're upset their marketing video isn't based on statistics, numbers and logic?

I have a 5C and its a wonderful device. If it had been priced at $350 even $399 off contract, it would've been arguably the greatest smartphone release of 2013. As it stands, the 5C is a wonderfully designed alternative to the 5S.

So its got the same internal specs. Not everyone bases their purchasing decisions on spec numbers alone. Perhaps Apple sees equal value in design, look, feel, experience.

It'll never cease to amaze me how upset people get about Apple's marketing strategy. As if it affects them at all.

 

[Howard Ellacott]

Rule of thumb: Never update to latest iOS on iPhones that they no longer sell or are obsolete. Given that they no longer sell the iPhone 4, it follows that you don't update to iOS 7. That said, the 5c will be future proof until the oldest iPhone they sell outperforms it.

They still sell the iPhone 4 on the China Apple Store

 

[spacemnspiff]

That's why I said yes I see his point lol , in my opinion ios 7 should have only been released for the 5 up cuz the 4s only has 512 mb of ram , it's not enough because ios 7 uses more memory but your right not everyone uses there phone the same but you would need to have used 700 mb of the 5s ram before you lose any information you were working on , I tested it , right around 25 percent it close apps in the background so your talking about 800 mb of ram being used at once ? I don't know of anything you could be doing that would use that much memory and it should stay this efficient for at least 2 more years

All this talk about memory being limited without any real investigation, can it be shown how the memory is insufficient and at the same time the software is not able to handle the amount available? Crashing is a symptom and I am looking for the memory to be the cause, which hasnt been established.

 

[Thomas card]

All this talk about memory being limited without any real investigation, can it be shown how the memory is insufficient and at the same time the software is not able to handle the amount available? Crashing is a symptom and I am looking for the memory to be the cause, which hasnt been established.

Actually that's my point , when everyone started complaining about only 1 gig of ram I investigated it thoroughly and I what I found was pretty amazing actually , the 1 gig of LLPDR3dram in the 5s handles almost double the amount of data the iphone 5 does and faster , you literally do not need any more than apple has used and that's why they only used one . I love apple and I love my 5s and the fact it kills quad core crapdroids with 3 gigs of ram that makes me laugh to see samsung use octa core processors and 3 gigs of ram and they still can't figure out how to run their software and hardware as smooth as apple ! Apple has mastered the operating system and hardware side of things to the point they manage to make it run flawlessly with half the effort of an android , I could go on for days cuz I hate when people say oh my note 3 has 3 gigs of ram and a quad core processor they don't understand that Samsung had no choice but to beef up the specs to atleast try and make that phone run smooth and it still don't , I mean when they had to come up with project butter to help it with the jitters I think that told the world what was the superior platform

 

[Retired Cat]

Each generation of iPhone seems to be good for 3-4 years of updates, so I'd guess that the 5C, which has nearly the same internals as the 5, will be good until at least Fall of 2015.

At this point we don't know how quickly 64-bit will be needed, or whether the 1GB of RAM will be enough for future iOS releases and apps to run well.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. The A6 processor in the 5/5C is still very fast.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Your futile attempt at wit failed you horribly but thanks for playing. Please, name me another single core device Apple makes that is running iOS 7. It is ridiculous that they allowed it to happen. The A4 is what powers the original iPad first gen and that thing hasn't been made in years. Yet they still produce the A5 powered iPad 2, iPad mini and as far as I know, the iPhone 4S. The A5 should have been minimum requirement. That's all there is to it.

You're missing the point entirely. While A6 might be sufficient to run the latest software for a couple years as you assert, you'd be saying the same thing about Apple being ridiculous for allowing the latest software on A6 when the time comes and that A7 should be the minimum requirement. Not disagreeing with you, just making a statement that's all. It shows that the 5c isn't as future proof as one might think in terms of being able to run well a couple years down the line.

----------

They still sell the iPhone 4 on the China Apple Store

Interesting. They put iOS 7 on it?

 

[AnorexicPig]

That's why I said yes I see his point lol , in my opinion ios 7 should have only been released for the 5 up cuz the 4s only has 512 mb of ram , it's not enough because ios 7 uses more memory but your right not everyone uses there phone the same but you would need to have used 700 mb of the 5s ram before you lose any information you were working on , I tested it , right around 25 percent it close apps in the background so your talking about 800 mb of ram being used at once ? I don't know of anything you could be doing that would use that much memory and it should stay this efficient for at least 2 more years

Lol what ? iOS7 only on devices with 1gb ram . iPhone 4S,iPad Mini and iPad 2 run almost perfectly with iOS7.

 

[Nismo73]

I got a 5c through work (so it's not my money) which is all I need for what I do with the phone - make calls, text, check mail, surf the web and maybe some dopey little games here and there. Also some pics here and there which would have been nice to have the 5s camera though. However, even two to three years from now I'm pretty sure the 5c will be able to do those things just as good as today, regardless of what iOS is out at the time.

Is the 5s more future proof??? Yes, but to what degree? I think that depends on how much you really push its specs.

 

[C DM]

Nothing, especially in technology, and especially in mobile technology, is future-proof...that's probably as good of a summary of it all as any.

 

[iSayuSay]

They still sell the iPhone 4 on the China Apple Store

Which makes Apple kind of a**hole. How about killing it and sell 4S as bare minimum. Dual core is an absolute borderline for something called smartphone nowadays.

Hell even my 4S looks like a feature dumbphone already due to its display being too small. Now i have an ipad Air my iphone is doing nothing but taking pictures, texting and calling.

 

[haruhiko]

iPhone 4 has a single core CPU (basically an overclocked iPhone 3GS CPU and GPU - although the RAM was doubled to 512MB - mind you there are 4 times more pixels in the 4 then the 3GS) and the 4S has the dual core A5. Night and day difference.