The much-anticipated iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be launching in stores and online on Friday September 20, but you might have an easier time getting your hands on the iPhone 5c.
Many sources are saying that the iPhone 5s stocks are woefully underwhelming, compared to likely demand. So if you can't get an iPhone 5s for a while, would you break down and get an iPhone 5c, or are you willing to wait? Tell us in the (*unscientific) poll below.
Apple may be trying to push the low-cost iPhone 5c more than the iPhone 5s, or perhaps the Cupertino giant is unprepared (the other option is that they aren't, and the reports are just based on rumor). But, according to sources for 9to5Mac and AllThingsD, multiple U.S. carriers and Apple Stores are expecting a bounty of iPhone 5c models, with a dearth of iPhone 5s models on the shelves.
In fact, one carrier source for AllThingsD said, "We will have grotesquely unavailable inventory." Whether the situation on Friday is going to be comically ugly is still to be seen, but all signs point to severely constrained stocks of iPhone 5s's, especially in "Space Gray," which is expected to be the most popular color option. AT&T, according to 9to5Mac, will have stronger stocks of the iPhone 5s in the higher-capacity line-up like the 32GB than Verizon, but the 64GB model is also rumored to be pretty hard to find, in general.
As far as the strategy of getting an iPhone 5s from the source, sources at some large Apple Stores are saying that about 70 to 80 percent of new iPhones stocked for the release date are iPhone 5c's.
If you're planning on getting a new iPhone, will you be deterred if the iPhone 5s is not available immediately? Of course, the iPhone 5c is a new iPhone too, but, as we previously have reported, the iPhone 5c is mostly built on the year-old iPhone 5 hardware. The newest thing about it is probably iOS 7 and the plastic shells. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5s comes with a few big new features, like the fingerprint scanner for security and a tweaked 8-megapixel camera with burst mode and "true tone" dual-LED flash.
Both iPhones are comparable in price, depending on which models you get. For example, the 16GB iPhone 5s costs the same (with a two-year contract) as the 32GB iPhone 5c. But would it be worth it to get an iPhone 5c if the iPhone 5s is really what you want?
Let us know what you think in the unscientific poll below, as well as in the comments.
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