Apple is a luxury brand, recently named the No. 1 valued brand in the world, on top of ubiquitous brands like Coca-Cola and Google.

Every single year, its new phones, tablets, computers and overall upgrades are the go-to Christmas gift for many. “Many” is an understatement actually. This luxury brand seems to be king of producing products that people like, with a reported net profit of $8.2 billion just in 2012.

While it can be exciting, it can also be exhausting to hear of all of the new products it releases on what seems like a weekly basis. What happened to one great quality product that lasts you a few years?

If technology were like a high-quality winter jacket, with no new technological advancements to come, then this would be simple. But, as Apple keeps up with the changing face of technology, its iPhones are changing too.

This is why the iPhone 5c is exceedingly different from its next of kin. Well, not really.

The pale yellow iPhone that I was presented with this past weekend left a lot to be desired.
While all of the specifications of the iPhone 5c are almost identical to the iPhone 5 and not that much different from the iPhone 5s, what is immediately noticeable is its make up – it’s built into a polycarbonate casing, the likes of which one can get in any neon-candy color that suits them.

The phone felt almost toy-like and plastic compared to the aluminum casing of the 5 and 5s phones.

Retailing at Best Buy for as low as $100, with a 2-year contract of course, this phone is relatively inexpensive, and on the hierarchy of iPhone luxury products this one seems to be lowest on the totem pole.

It is comparable to an iPod shuffle in regards to how expendable and easily breakable it seems.

While the phone’s make-up is not great, FaceTime  seems to be a lot more clear and the battery seems to last a bit longer, in comparison to the iPhone 5. Everything else is pretty much the same, which basically makes it a repackaged iPhone 5.

GizMag.com reports that the “iPhone 5c did get one internal hardware upgrade from the iPhone 5. The 5c’s battery holds five percent more juice than last year’s model did.”

A feature I noted as I was more-than-content when late into the night, the 5c still hadn’t hit the dreaded 20 percent battery mark.

The site continued, “In our standard test, where we stream video and brightness set at 75 percent, it lasted six hours…with regular use, you should have no problem getting through a full day on one charge.”

As a commuter student who walks around with a charger close by, this is an attractive feature, considering that the iPhone 5 has the tendency to drain itself of battery quickly.

While Apple’s website describes the 5c’s ideal buyer as someone who is expressive, fun-loving and colorful, one can be all of these things with an iPhone 5.

One does not miss out on the fun just because iPhone 5’s come in black or white – fall-proof, waterproof and foolproof cases that are also expressive are heavily used by iPhone 5 owners.

Mine, for example, features a kaleidoscope of butterflies, which I suspect is tantamount to the degree of “fun” that the neon-candy iPhone 5c colors are offered in.

With  that said, I don’t think that the 5c has anything new to offer. The phone seems like it would be a good choice for a younger audience. I see its appeal in the following scenario: parents want to buy their child an iPhone because it is popular and their kid wants it, but don’t want to spend as much on it because their 10-year-old will probably drop it often and maybe even break it. So, they decide to buy it for them, and even give their child a choice in the color they want, making them feel like they have got what rival-company Microsoft calls “the next best thing.”