Apple is attempting to boost sales of the iPhone 5c by slashing its storage, if not its price.
The new model of the iPhone 5c comes with a paltry 8GB of storage – half that of the previous base model – yet still bears a premium price tag of £429 SIM-free, only £40 less than the 16GB model (all prices in this article are inc VAT).
That’s not enough memory for such a powerful device
At that price, it’s still £65 more expensive than better specified rivals such as the 32GB HTC One, which can be bought SIM-free for £365 from third-party resellers on Amazon.
Some have questioned whether 8GB of storage is sufficient for a modern smartphone, with games such as FIFA 14 and Call of Duty Strike Team consuming more than 1GB of storage by themselves.
“That’s not enough memory for such a powerful device,” tweeted our colleagues from MacUser magazine.
“Is 8GB 5c a ‘cloud phone’?” they added. “iCloud doesn’t store your photos or videos; iTunes can’t stream apps, magazines, TV or films. Always be swapping.”
PC Pro’s iPhone 5c review concluded that the phone was “too expensive to be a low-cost option”, and the pricing of the new model does nothing to alter our opinion.
Apple is clearly hoping consumers take a different view. In January, Tim Cook admitted that demand for the iPhone 5c hadn’t reached the sales levels Apple was expecting.
iPad reshuffle
Apple also reshuffled its iPad line-up. The iPad 2 is finally dead, while the iPad 4 with Retina display now starts at £329 for a 16GB model. That’s only £10 more expensive than the latest iPad mini at £319.
The iPad Air remains the premium device in the tablet line-up, starting at £399 for 16GB of storage.
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