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Well done, Apple rumor mill: you got everything right on the technology front. There was an iPhone 5S and an iPhone 5C — two iPhones launched at the same time, a first in the device's six-year history. There was a fingerprint sensor and a gold iPhone, just as predicted.
What we didn't know was how aggressively Apple would price and pitch the new phones. We didn't know the company would come out swinging at Android with a $99 iPhone (with contract) at the low end. We didn't know the 5C would be described as "unapologetically plastic," or that it would use the same Retina screen as its more expensive brethren. We didn't know the 5S would be twice as fast as its predecessor.
See also: iPhone 5S vs. the Competition
We didn't know that Apple would decide to only include the technology you need in the phone — increasing the size of pixels in photos, for example, and adding a dual LED flash, rather than going for a ridiculous and redundant number of megapixels in the camera.
Security is the watchword here, and not just in terms of the new fingerprint sensor in the 5S. The idea is that when you buy an iPhone, you can feel secure that every bit of technology has been road-tested, every feature is something that will make your life better, and that the battery life will stay solid at roughly 10 hours.
That may not be as exciting or edgy as a Galaxy phablet. It's not meant to be. Apple is betting that consumers just want a smartphone that works, that sits comfortably in one hand, its every feature intuitive — and its price points affordable.
One other thing we didn't know was that Apple had sold an impressive 700 million iOS devices so far. With two iPhones tackling two ends of the market, that number seems set to hit a billion in next to no time.
The iPhone 5S is the aspirational phone. It's the one you buy if you want to show off to your friends, cost be damned. They'll see its gold, silver or "space gray" (only Apple would use those words to cheekily redefine the color "slate") as soon as you pull it out of your pocket. They'll raise their eyebrows when your thumb easily unlocks the phone, no passcode required.
The iPhone 5C is relatively cheap and cheerful; it's the closest Apple has come to making a burner phone. "Finally an iPhone your kid can lose or smash at school," one of the commenters on our liveblog suggested. Well, not quite, unless you have AppleCare Plus and you're happy dropping $99 every time your kid smashes her phone. But the point stands: if you lose a 5C, it won't be the end of the world. (That's even more true of the iPhone 4S, which will now be free with a contract.)
And yet the 5C still manages to be somewhat aspirational. It still looks cool. It's customizable, with more than 20 potential case and color combinations. It's the same old iPhone 5 with an A6 chip on the inside. It will come with Pages, iPhoto and iMovie as standard.
In short, Apple has done a clever bit of marketing jujitsu to make the iPhone 5 look fresh for developing countries and for teenagers, two markets where iPhones were desired but often just out of reach.
If this safe, well-known and unsurprising phone manages to claw back a ton of market share from Android over the next year, don't be surprised.
Apple CEO Tim Cook opens the event.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, demonstrates iOS 7, Apple's forthcoming mobile operating system. Federighi announced it will be available for free Sept. 18.
The new device comes in five colors.
Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, reveals the pricing for the iPhone 5C.
The new device comes in three colors.
Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, reveals the iPhone 5S.
Schiller speaks about the iPhone 5S.
The iPhone 5S can scan your fingerprint.
The musician played his new song "Tripwire."
People arrive for the product announcement.
Members of the press await Apple's product announcement outside the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters
Image: Mashable