Apple launches cheaper 8GB iPhone 5C from today

Last week it was rumoured and leaked that Apple would be releasing an 8GB variant of the iPhone 5c with a £50 price drop. Today it was confirmed and released on O2’s site, with the iPhone 5c 8GB variant only available on O2 in the UK currently.

The new iPhone 5c 8GB will set you back anywhere from £0 to a full upfront payment of £429 depending on the contract you opt for, and as per usual the less you spend up front the more you pay monthly. If you want to buy SIM-free however, it’s £429 directly from Apple. By comparison, the 16GB model costs £469.

There is no word yet as to whether the 8GB iPhone 5c will appear from other retailers and so far Apple has remained quiet as to whether it will be sold on other networks or solely on O2, but we suspect that everyone else will get on board soon enough. The iPhone 5c 8GB model comes with identical spec to the previous iPhone 5c models, except for the smaller storage capacity.

On Monday, a report suggested that Apple could introduce its iPhone 5c in an 8GB cheaper model via mobile carrier O2, due to poor sales of the device.

Apple launched both the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s globally in September 2013. The 5c was intended to attract the lower end of the market, as the typical price tag of new iPhones had previously put many people off. This resulted in the Cupertino company releasing two phones: the 5s with a metal body and upgraded parts compared to the 5, and the 5c which features a plastic case and comes in a variety of colours and was almost identical inside to the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5c features a hard-coated polycarbonate body and is a bit thicker and heavier than the iPhone 5. It sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and runs Apple’s latest iOS 7.1 software.