No Siri on iPhone 5C; No Fingerprint Purchases with iPhone 5S, Analyst Predicts

One of the big questions surrounding the so-called iPhone 5C has focused on how Apple plans to keep the device from cannibalizing its high-end smartphones, and the discussion’s traditionally centered on speculation that the Cupertino company will limit the sale of the device to overseas markets. But Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has a different idea. According to him, the iPhone 5C may simply not have Siri.

In Munster’s message to his investor clients (as reported by MacRumors), he said, “Additionally, we believe that Apple may exclude some software features, such as Siri, which we note was not an option on the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 upon launch.” Fair enough, but the problem is that the iPhone 4S does, in fact, offer Siri, and when the new iPhone models go live, it’ll be a full two generations behind.

Source: Sonny Dickson

Munster also doesn’t believe that the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5 will serve much use beyond authentication. “We expect the iPhone 5S to include a fingerprint sensor with a basic unlocking feature, but do not believe the sensor will be built into iOS 7 enough to introduce a feature like secure payments as we believe that Authentec has only been a part of Apple for less than one year. We believe that payments could be a key feature of the next version of iOS in 2014.”

And those of you who’re on the lookout for the “iWatch”? Munster believes that it’ll appear around the middle of next year along with the iPhone with a bigger screen. Whatever happens, it’s good to see some discussion about upcoming Apple products again, even if none of them (aside from the iWatch) bring any potential for significant changes in the industry.

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