iPhone 5C Could Launch Without Siri

In the past few months we all heard that Apple is working on a low cost iPhone that said to be called “iPhone 5C” and the “C” refers to the color not to China or whatever you will call it.. In a research note published to investors, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster claims that Apple’s anticipated low-cost smartphone – the iPhone 5C – could ship without support for Siri, and may replace the fifth-generation iPhone 4S as the bottom of the company’s iPhone lineup.

According to Munster’s report, the iPhone 5C will replace the iPhone 4S as Apple’s lowest-cost iPhone, $0 on contract. So far, so good.

Likewise, Munster envisions the iPhone 5C as a plastic-bodied smartphone with a 4-inch screen, with less cutting-edge components than the iPhone 5S. It will cost around $300, and he thinks it will cannibalize iPhone 5S sales by about 25 percent.We’re on board with that.

What we don’t understand is Munster’s claim that Apple could be planning on launching the iPhone 5C without Siri. True, the iPhone 4 — Apple’s current $0 iPhone — doesn’t have Siri, but that’s simply because Siri debuted with the iPhone 4S, and Apple never made it backwards compatible with older models. Considering Siri is software, and literally costs Apple nothing to put on a device, I have a hard time believing that Cupertino would consider “cutting costs” by not shipping the iPhone 5C with Siri. It’s one of iOS’s great distinguishing features.

On a final note, Munster agrees with AllThingsD’s Sept. 10 iPhone announcement rumor, and suggests that as a result, we’ll see both handsets become available sometime in October. He also argues for an “Apple HDTV” product to launch before the year’s out, and suggests that a wearable “iWatch” will launch in mid-2014.