Apple's iPhone 5s & 5c available for purchase unofficially in India, priced over Rs 1 lakh

Unveiled earlier this month, the new iPhones from Apple are now available for purchase in the Indian market. While the company is yet to announce an India pricing or launch date for the smartphones, they are already available in the grey markets and a number of e-commerce sites in the country.

We checked the smartphones prices in the grey markets of Mumbai, and here is what we found.

iPhone 5c: Rs 49,000 for the 16GB version, but the device is only available in one or two colour options (that too depending on the availability).

iPhone 5s: Rs 64,000 for the 16GB version.

Gold iPhone 5s: Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.15 lakh, but the device is very rarely available.

Similarly, according to reports, in Delhi, the iPhone 5c was initially selling for prices up to Rs 90,000, but have now stabilised to around Rs 75,000 for the 16GB model (if you can call that stable).

The iPhone 5s and 5c are also available for pre-order on the e-commerce marketplace eBay India. While the iPhone 5c is has been priced at Rs 47,500 for the 16GB model, the 16GB version of the iPhone 5s is available for Rs 69,990. The site is also offering a limited offer discount coupon as of now, applying which results in the prices coming down to Rs 46,900 (iPhone 5c) and Rs 68,990 (iPhone 5s). Both the models are factory unlocked and come with six months of seller guarantee (note no manufacturer guarantee). The devices will be shipped starting October 1, 2013, and EMI payment options have also been provided by the seller (for banks like ICICI, Citibank, HDFC, Standard Chartered Bank and Axis Bank).

A popular daily deals provider was also offering the smartphones for Rs 51,999 (for iPhone 5c) and Rs 66,495 (for iPhone 5s) a couple of days back, but last we checked, the deal has ended.

According to Apple, the company has already sold 9 million iPhone 5s and 5c models in the first three days post their launch. But our suggestion, skip these overpriced iPhones and wait for their official launch (should happen by December this year), no point spending a fortune just to be the first ones to get it. And if you are an exiting iPhone owner, simply update to iOS 7, it should keep you happy for a few months. Also, here is a quick look at specifications of the devices.

iPhone 5s

The device sports a 4 inch widescreen multi-touch retina display (1136×640 pixel resolution) with 326 ppi pixel density. It is powered by the next-generation A7 chip with 64-bit architecture and a M7 motion coprocessor. As far as internal memory goes, Apple has stuck to the same 16, 32 and 64 GB combination. The smartphone features an 8 megapixel autofocus rear camera with True Tone Flash that can record full high definition videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second and a 1.2MP front-facing camera that can also record HD videos (720p).

As for connectivity, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G LTE. It measures 123.8mm x 58.6mm x 7.6mm and weighs 112 gm. According to Apple, the battery will provide up to 10 hours of talk time on 3G, 10 hours of video and Wi-Fi browsing, 40 hours of music and over 10 days of standby time. The device supports a Nano-SIM and hence will not be compatible with existing micro-SIM cards. Apart from the usual silver and space grey colours, Apple has also added a gold version of the iPhone. A new feature addition in the form of 'Fingerprint identity sensor' has also been done by Apple.

iPhone 5c

This one also has a 4 inch widescreen multi-touch retina display (1136×640 pixel resolution) with 326 ppi pixel density. It is powered by the A6 chip and in terms of internal memory, users will only have a choice between 16 and 32GB versions (no 64GB). The smartphone features an 8 megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED Flash that can also record full HD videos at 30 fps and a 1.2MP front-facing camera that can also record HD videos.

As for connectivity, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G LTE. It measures 124.4mm x 59.2mm x 8.97mm and weighs 132 gm. According to Apple, the battery will provide similar talk time, video playback and stand by time as iPhone 5s. This one also only supports a Nano-SIM and will be available in a number of colours that include red, white, yellow, blue and green.

Read here to know about the detailed specifications of iPhone 5s and 5c.