Apple’s cheap iPhone is actually pretty expensive

CUPERTINO, CALIF. — Apple’s new “cheap” plastic phone doesn’t feel cheap at all. That makes sense when you consider that the colorful iPhone 5C unveiled here this morning actually costs quite a bit of money.

When bought with a new two-year contract, the phone starts at $99, half the price of other new iPhones at launch. Yet the unlocked 16GB version of the phone will sell for $549, while the unlocked 32GB model will be available for $649. In China, the Wall Street Journal notes, the 5C will start at a whopping $733.42.