iPhone 5S
File photo of Apple iPhone 5S being displayed at an Apple shop in Tokyo's Ginza shopping districtReuters

Apple unveiled the new iPhone SE (Special Edition) in Cupertino, California, Monday, March 21.

Within hours of its announcement, The Verge speculated that Apple might have discontinued the 2013 flagship handset iPhone 5S.

Even in Apple's official device portfolio webpage, iPhone 5S is missing and has been replaced by the new iPhone SE, leading many to believe that the company might have ditched the 2013 flagship model.

International Business Times India, to ascertain the authenticity of the report, contacted Apple's authorised retailer (in India) Imagine. The sales representative informed IBT that they had not received any intimation from Apple with regard to iPhone 5S' discontinuation.

Apple's official distributor Redington (Bengaluru) office also informed IBT that they had also not received any notification from the Cupertino-based company on stopping iPhone 5S sales in India.

From what we have gathered, Apple is expected to slash iPhone 5S' price soon after iPhone SE hits stores in India early next month.

Also read: Apple iPhone SE: Details of India release date and price revealed

Key features of Apple iPhone SE and iPhone 5S:

Models iPhone SE iPhone 5S
Display 4.0-inch LED back-lit retina display (1136x640p)
  • Pixel density : 326 ppi (pixels per inch)
  • 800:1 contrast ratio (typical)
  • 500 cd/m2 max brightness (typical)
  • Full sRGB standard
  • Fingerprint‑resistant oleo phobic coating
 4.0-inch widescreen retina display with 1136x640p resolutionsPixel density: 326 ppi (pixels per inch)
OS iOS 9.3 (update released) iOS 9.3 (out-of-the-box)
Processor 64-bit class Apple A9 CPU with M9 motion co-processor 64-bit Apple A7 processor (up to twice faster than the previous generation chipset-A6), and M7 motion co-processor
RAM 2GB 1GB
Storage 16GB/64GB (no microSD card slot) 16GB/32GB/64GB (no microSD card slot)
Camera
  • Main: 12MP iSight camera with 1.22µ pixels, Live Photos, 4K video recording (3840x2160) at 30 fps, Autofocus with Focus Pixels, True Tone flash, Panorama (up to 63 megapixels), Auto HDR for photos, Exposure control, Burst mode, Timer mode, Æ’/2.2 aperture, Five-element lens, Hybrid IR filter, Backside illumination sensor, Sapphire crystal lens cover, Auto image stabilization, Improved local tone mapping, Improved noise reduction, Face detection, Photo geotagging
  • Front: 1.2MP camera with 720p HD video recording, Retina Flash, Æ’/2.4 aperture, Auto HDR for photos, Backside illumination sensor, Exposure control, Improved local tone mapping, Face detection, Timer mode, Burst mode
  • 8MP camera with Dual-LED flash support called as True Tone, f/2.2 aperture, full HD video recording, 3X zoom
  • Front: 1.2MP camera, HD 720p video recording
Battery Built-in rechargeable lithium‑ion battery
  • Talk time: up to 14 hours on 3G
  • Internet use: close to 12 hours on 3G and up to 13 hours on Wi‑Fi
  • Video playback: up to 13 hours
  • Audio playback: close to 50 hours
  • Standby time: up to 10 days
 Around 1570 mAh;
  • Talk time: up to 10 hours (3G)
  • Standby time: close to 250 hours
Network 4G-LTE 4G-LTE
Add-ons Touch ID fingerprint sensor, always on Siri (digital voice assistant), Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC (Near Field Communication),A-GPS, GLONASS, iBeacon micro-location, FaceTime Wi-Fi (both video and audio) calling, Finger-print scanner on Home button, improved voice-search feature Siri, NFC, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz & 5GHz), MIMO, Bluetooth v4.0,A-GPS, GLONASS, digital compass
Dimensions 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
Weight 113 g 112 g
Colour gold, silver, space grey and rose gold gold, silver white and space grey