Apple has officially introduced the iPhone 5c, the long-rumored affordable addition to the iPhone lineup.
The iPhone 5c ditches the aluminum and glass construction of its iPhone 5s and iPhone 5 siblings in favor of a polycarbonate enclosure, which helps lead to a lower cost of entry than its flagship iPhone model. The plastic body also enables Apple to offer the iPhone 5c in a number of bright colors, including green, white, blue, pink and yellow.
Speaking of cost of entry, Apple says that the 16GB iPhone 5c will be priced at $99 with a two-year commitment, while the more capacious 32GB model will be available for $199 on contract. Apple's online store shows that T-Mobile customers will be able to buy the 16GB iPhone 5c for $549, while the 32GB model will set them back $649. The device will be available from all four major U.S. carriers.
Apple also plans to sell a hard polycarbonate case for the iPhone 5C for $29 each. Available in blue, green, pink, yellow, black and white, the cases include several circular cutouts on the bottom of their backsides in order to let the color of the device itself show.
So what kind of features did Apple manage to cram into its lower-cost iPhone? The iPhone 5c features a 4-inch Retina (1136x640) touchscreen and FaceTime HD camera on its face, as well as an 8-megapixel shooter on its backside. Inside of the device is the same A6 SoC that powers the iPhone 5 as well as support for more 4G LTE bands than any other smartphone around. In all, the iPhone 5c will include support for 13 LTE bands.
Also included with the iPhone 5c is a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, nano-SIM card tray, Lightning connector, Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. The device itself measures in at 124.4 x 59.2 x 8.97mm and weighs 132 grams.
A gallery of images that show the colors of both the iPhone 5c and its cases can be found below. Meanwhile, Apple has posted a brief promo video for the iPhone 5c, which you can watch right here. The company has also put up a replay of today's event in its entirety that can be viewed here.
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