iPhone 5S vs. iPhone 5C

iPhone 5S vs. iPhone 5C: how the specs compare

Finally, the rumors can be put to rest — Apple has officially announced the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5 upgrade (the 5S) and the plastic-clad iPhone 5 (the 5C) are coming out this week, on September 20th. Pre-orders are not yet available, but all signs point to these phones being verified hits and successful attempts at carrying on the iPhone brand for another 12-18 months. Initial iPhone 5S reviews confirm the functionality of the news features as well as the simple most important box that must be checked off with any new release: the iPhone 5S and 5C are the best iPhones ever released.

It’s worth noting that the iPhone 5C isn’t really a new phone. It’s essentially the iPhone 5 with an array of colorful polycarbonate shells. The internals — on paper anyway — remain unchanged.

So how does the iPhone 5S compare to the 5C?

SoC and storage

Like it did with the iPhone 4S, Apple is debuting a new SoC with the 5S. The A7 is the first 64-bit smartphone processor, and Apple’s claiming that the new chip and 64-bit iOS 7 combine for a 2x performance increase. Over what, exactly? The 32-bit A6 SoC and iOS 7 on the iPhone 5C.

The 5S also includes Apple’s M7 chip which continually monitors motion information. It can tell the difference between walking, riding a bike, and driving and tell Maps to adjust its display accordingly. Likewise it can tell your iPhone to stop looking for wireless access points if it knows you’re in a moving vehicle. If your phone hasn’t moved in quite some time, it can even make iOS ease up on network activity to conserve power.

One area where the 5C comes out on top is personalization. iPhone 5S owners don’t have quite as many colors to choose from. Then again, they can opt for a lot more internal storage. While the 5C tops out at 32GB, the 5S comes in a 64GB model (sorry, that 128GB model is still just a rumor).

Display

Both the iPhone 5S and 5C feature 4-inch displays  with native resolutions of 1136×640. That’s unchanged from the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5S uses a Sharp IGZO display, so while the contrast ratio and brightness are similar its panel should use quite a bit less power — as much as 90% less than a traditional LCD.

Camera

The iPhone 5S and 5C also both have 8MP camera, but as you’ve heard before, megapixels don’t tell the whole story. The 5S has a larger aperture and its CMOS sensor has a 15% larger active area — individual pixels measure 1.5µm compared to 1.4µm on the iPhone 5. In this context the thing to know is that bigger pixels mean better pictures. The increase in size allows each pixel to capture more light, so you can expect much better low-light performance on the 5S than the 5C.

The updated sensor will also yield superior dynamic range and a reduction in noise. Remember, though, that the 5C is using the iPhone 5 camera… so it’s still quite a good shooter.

The new iSight camera on the 5S is also surrounded by two flashes — a second, amber-colored one along with a white flash like the 5C  –  which should make for more accurate colors when you can’t avoid artificial illumination.

You can also shoot slow-motion video with the iPhone 5S, which you can’t do with the 5C. To do that, the 5S records 720p video at 120 frames per second. During playback you can use scrubbers to adjust the playback speed all the way down to 30FPS.

Dimensions and weight

Apparently 64-bit software doesn’t weigh any more than 32-bit, because the iPhone 5S is a full 20 grams lighter than the 5C. At 112g, it weighs the same as the iPhone 5 and its measurements haven’t changed either. The 5C is slightly chunkier, though not by much. It’s about half a millimeter taller and wider, and 1.3mm thicker. The upside is that the 5C is housed in a tough plastic which has a steel sleeve inside of it. As a result, the 5C should be notably tougher than the mostly-glass iPhone 5S.

The Touch ID sensor

Apart from the new chip, display, and camera, the iPhone 5S has one other feature the 5C doesn’t: the Touch ID sensor. If you’re a stickler for device security — and you probably should be in 2013 — the biometric sensor in the iPhone 5S home button is a major selling point.

It doesn’t replace passcodes completely. Touch ID makes it so you don’t have to constantly tap your code in every time your device locks. You can use your fingerprint instead of re-keying for up to 48 hours, at which point you’ll need to enter your code again.