New iPhones plastic and fantastic
The “C” must be for cheap.
Ap♚ple Tuesday introduced a line of less expensive, candy-colored phones it boasted are “♋beautifully, unapologetically plastic.”
Dubbed the iPhone 5C, the phones start at just $99 with a two-year-contrac🎉t — a bargain compar🍷ed to Apple’s other newly-unveiled model, the blinged-out iPhone 5S.
The 5C — available in white, yellow, li𒅌me green, bright blue and pink — is essentially the old iPhone 5 in a polycarbonate shell.
“The entire back and sides are made fro🌜m a single part,” crowed Apple senior worldwide marketing Vice President Phil Schiller at the company’s much-hyped unveiling in Cupertino, Calif., adding that the new design “is more fun and colorful.”
The phone is expected to hel♑p Apple boost sales in China and other areas where people don’t have as much money to spend on new gadgets as they do in the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, the 5C’s sleek, souped-up 5S cousin — which 💯comes in gold, silver and a🍰 new “space grey” — is “the most forward phone anyone has ever made,” Schiller gushed.
The 5S boasts Touch ID, a security device that reads a user’s fingerprints to unlock the phone, instead of requiring a 💟pass ෴code.
“Your fingerprint is one of the best passes in thಞe world,” Apple design guru Jony Ive said in a video promo at the launch. “It’s always with you, and no two are exactly alike.”
Apple said the fingerprint tech — which can a💛lso be used to make iTunes purchases — will not store data in company servers.
The 5S also hasꦬ a “blazing-💟fast” new processor, longer battery life and an “SLR-quality camera” with a slow-motion feature, execs said. The new phone also runs health and fitness apps that track exercise routines, sleep patterns and calorie intake.
The 5S starts at $1🐎99. Both phones go on sale🎃 Sept. 20.
Apple also✤ showed off its new iOS 7 operating system, which will run on both new phones and all Apple devices that are iPhone 4 generation or newer.
“It’s like getting an al♑l new device,” said Craig Federighi, head of Apple software.
Despite all the fanfare, A🌊pple stock fell $11.60, or 2.3 percent, Tuesday, closing at $494.88.