Apple CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are a reaction to a changing smartphone market.
"Business has become so
large that this year we are going to replace the iPhone 5 and we're
going to replace it with not one, but two new designs," Cook said. "This
allows us to serve even more customers."
The iPhone 5C was the first phone demoed at Tuesday's event at Apple's Cupertino, California, headquarters.
"It has an incredible all
new design, one that's more fun, more colorful than any iPhone we've
made yet," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for
marketing. In a video, Apple design guru Jonny Ive described the 5C as
"beautifully, unapologetically plastic."
The phone will sell for
as little as $99, for a 16GB version, and $199 for one with 32GB of
storage (each with a two-year mobile contract). In a departure, Apple
will also be making its own cases for the 5C, selling them in a variety
of colors for $29.
Then there's the iPhone 5S, which is the more traditional update to the iPhone 5.
"It is the gold standard in smartphones," Schiller said.