Apple’s iPhone 4S Remains In Lineup As ‘Free’ Model, iPhone 5 Goes Away

Surprise! While the iPhone 5 won’t stick around, the iPhone 4S will still be available for free with a two-year contract. It’s an unexpected move as the iPhone 4S is now two years old. Apple is adopting an iPad 2 strategy for its iPhones.

It will be an important device for developing markets, even though the phone in itself will be very sluggish with iOS 7. Many expected Apple to remove the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S from its lineup to keep the iPhone 5. But it turns out that it could be confusive for customers to choose between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5C.

The major drawback is that the iPhone 4S still comes with a 30-pin connector. Apple will not move to Lightning connectors for all of its devices this time round. Moreover, many software features are not available on the iPhone 4S.

Apple’s strategy is now clear. Instead of keeping the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, the company has chosen to release the new iPhone 5C to cut costs and replace the iPhone 5. The iPhone 4S is still around, as it would have been if the company had adopted last year’s pricing strategy.