This Year's Lineup and 2014 Lineup

[cambookpro]

This just popped into my head today.

Let's presume that this year, the iPhone 5S and 5C will be released.
The 4 and 4S are 99% likely to go from the lineup, but whether the 5 sticks around will be interesting. If I had to take my best guess (off contract/on contact pricing):

iPhone 5C 16GB - $450/$0
iPhone 5 16GB - $549/$99
iPhone 5S 32GB - $649/$199
iPhone 5S 64GB - $749/$299

Not sure what would warrant the extra $100 for the 5 vs the 5C.

Then the interesting bit comes next year. If they upgrade the 5C, what would it become? The 5SC?!
I could perhaps foresee a dropping of numbers, so we get an 'iPhone C' and an 'iPhone' or 'iPhone S'.

Or would the 5C be updated biennially so you get 5C/5S -> 5C/6 -> 6C/6S?

I know this is just speculation, but let's see who gets it right for next year, hey

 

[LostSoul80]

I too think the 5S will come with 32 GB storage to help differentiate from the 5C.
Will build quality alone be enough to justify a different price tag?
I don't think so. If the iPhone 5 and 5C differ only for that, I can't see how they would be sold. The 5C's role would be the lower end phone, the 5S the higher end, and the 5? Just a 5C with different build materials?
Software limitations wouldn't be enough either.
What if the 5C gets lower specs than the 5? The 5 would cannibalize the 5C.

I think it's quite clear that the need to have different devices, and to let people have a clear idea of what they're going to buy, implies this kind of tradeoff.

 

[cambookpro]

I too think the 5S will come with 32 GB storage to help differentiate from the 5C.
Will build quality alone be enough to justify a different price tag?
I don't think so. If the iPhone 5 and 5C differ only for that, I can't see how they would be sold. The 5C's role would be the lower end phone, the 5S the higher end, and the 5? Just a 5C with different build materials?
Software limitations wouldn't be enough either.
What if the 5C gets lower specs than the 5? The 5 would cannibalize the 5C.

I think it's quite clear that the need to have different devices, and to let people have a clear idea of what they're going to buy, implies this kind of tradeoff.

I'm starting to agree, I think that the iPhone 5 will be killed off in favour of the 5C.

 

[Small White Car]

Just to throw a monkey wrench in your plans...

I'd bet money on the iPhone C being like the iPod and the iPad and the Macbook and the iMac.

In other words, no number.

I think the regular iPhone (which competes with the Samsung Galaxy line and thus needs to show it's being updated each year) is the only Apple product that will keep having numbers. I would not be at all surprised to find that this iPhone C ends up being put in with all the other non-numbered Apple products.

EDIT: The reason this matters is that it makes it easier for Apple to give the product an irregular update schedule. i.e. The iPad 2 to 3 to 4 timeline.

 

[kilcher]

iPhone 5C 16GB - $450/$0
iPhone 5 16GB - $549/$99
iPhone 5S 32GB - $649/$199
iPhone 5S 64GB - $749/$299

The 64GB is currently $399 on contract. If they follow what they've done in the past and the 32GB becomes the base model that means we should probably get a 128GB at that price point.

I'd bet money on the iPhone C being like the iPod and the iPad and the Macbook and the iMac.

In other words, no number.

I hope it doesn't have a number. Although it probably shares some internals with the 5 this would not be the 5th iteration of this phone. It certainly doesn't look like the 5. I'd rather it be its own device.

 

[Joe HS]

They could do something a little like they've done with the 16GB (5G) iPod touch, where the low end model is different to the higher end model yet shares the same name – so the 16GB plastic iPhone, and "iPhone 5-like" models all come under the "5S" branch.

I don't think the 'iPhone color' will have it's own numerical system just as the iPods weren't marketed as having one. We've yet to see what Apple does with iPad mini. I'd be quite happy to see the numbers drop from the flagship phone too.

I've not liked how they've sold last-gen models for so long. iPad 2 and iPhone 4 in particular have lived long enough. Customers after a year or two of new software will just be left disappointed and unwilling to return to the brand if their gateway/budget device is incapable of running current apps or using new OS features.