iPhone 5C, a Slightly Cheaper and Redesigned Version of iPhone Gets Unveiled

The iPhone 5C was undoubtedly the more anticipated version of the iPhone in today’s event. The cheaper model of the series replaces the iPhone 5 (4S will continue though) and features an all new design which waves goodbye to the usual design language.

Design and Display

The iPhone 5C features the first plastic design in an iPhone for years. While the front is still glass, of course, the back is a single piece of hard-coated polycarbonate plastic, made stronger by a reinforced steel structure. iPhone 5C will be available in White, Yellow, Green, Red and Blue.

The Retina display measures 4 inches diagonally, the same as the iPhone 5 and 5S, having resolution of 640 x 1136 pixels. The 5C is also made of compounds which are Arsenic-free, Mercury-free and “Android-free”.

Hardware

The iPhone 5C is powered by an Apple A6 processor, the same breed in the line of processors which ran on the iPhone 5.

Software

The phone will come with iOS 7 pre-installed which will definitely match the colorful identity of the device it’s running on.

Apple claimed that iPhone 5C will be vivid realization of hardware and software together in one device.

Apple’s own productivity-boosting software, i.e. iWork, iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote and Pages and Numbers will also be free for this device.

Camera

The camera on the iPhone 5C is also an 8 megapixel BSI sensor with 5-element lens. It does 1080p Full HD videos at 30fps too. The front-facing camera is also improved to perform better in low-lighting conditions.

Miscellaneous

The battery of the iPhone 5C is not-disclosed right now but can last 10 hours during 3G talk-time and 250 hours on standby. Bluetooth 4.0, Lightning Port, dual-band Wi-Fi, LTE and headset jack is used for connectivity.

Pricing and Availability

The price of the iPhone 5C is set at $99 and $199 on contract for 16 and 32 GB versions. At launch, it will cost around 70,000 PKR in Pakistan but that figure will settle down later. Optional cases will cost $29.

As you might’ve noticed, the iPhone 5C is a lot like the phone it’s replacing. It does bring a new design however and maybe that will be one of its key selling factors. Being an Apple product, it is priced highly and of course, you can buy a 4S or a used 5 for much cheaper but for those who are buying an iPhone and planning to keep it longer, the 5C is probably your safer bet.

Apple Announces New Macbook Air and Mac Pro for 2013

Apple must’ve been very busy at their famed WWDC event of this year again. And for good reasons, among the important announcements done by Apple was that of the new Mac laptops and systems for this year.

Apple has updated the MacBook Air with the new Haswell CPUs and improved battery life. The Mac Pro desktop system has been updated with a considerably trimmed down design for the first the first time in its life cycle.

MacBook Air

The new MacBook air features the same design as its predecessors. As said earlier, it comes with the new 4th generation Intel “Haswell” chips which promise up to 40% faster graphics and power efficiency. They’ll be available in i5 & i7 flavors with 4 GB RAM and Intel HD 5000 graphics.

They also come with the new 802.11ac Wifi which is said to be 3 times faster than normal ones. USB 3.0, Thunderbolt port, Facetime HD camera and dual-microphones are included as well.

Battery life is improved too. The smaller, 11 inch model sees its battery life improve to 9 hours and the larger 13 inch one, to 12 hours. The standby time is also over 30 days now. They also wake up faster from standby mode, in 1 second.

The two models will be available in 128 and 256 GB SSD storage options which will be 45% faster too. The two models of the 11 inch laptop will be available for $999 and $1199 respectively while those of the larger model will be available for $1099 and $1299 respectively. The new MacBook Air will start shipping today.

Mac Pro

This is the first redesign that the Mac Pro has seen in its lifecycle. The new Mac Pro comes in a new cylindrical design which, according to Apple, is just 1/8th the size of its predecessor. It will now come with an AMD GPU and Intel XEON processors.

The Mac Pro also features 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports and 4 USB 3.0 ports (both of whom have been missing until now), along with HDMI out, Gigabit Ethernet and Motion Sensor. It will be available this fall but its price is still kept in the dark. I for one have some doubts though, that Apple might’ve just redesigned the Mac Pro just like the failed Power Mac Cube again but we’ll see.