The 5C originally shipped with iOS 7, Apple's mobile operating system. The current version of iOS for the iPhone 5C is iOS 8. The 5C uses much of the same hardware as the iPhone 5, with some iOS 7 optimization like slightly improved battery life and software-hardware color coherence. However, there are a few differences from the original iPhone 5; the 5C uses a hard-coated polycarbonate casing instead of aluminum used by the 5 and 5S, along with a standard black glass front (instead of a white glass front offered on silver and gold iPhone models).