Apple Announces New iPhone SE With A15 Bionic and 5G Connectivity

[Rom-Cool]

How is “midnight” and “Starlight” different from the current Black and White options? Also is it basically the same camera, just with improved software?

If it's the same Midnight as on the iPhone 13 models, then it's more "blue" ish than the current black iPhone SE. Starlight is a more "off-white", a bit of the color that the iPhone 8 in gold had on the back cover, but more of white. The current iPhone SE is clear white.

I wish they had kept the SE in the same colors, am not a fan of Apple's new color variants.

 

[deliboi]

Honestly, yeah. The OLED screens have such better blacks and punchier colours that I couldn't go back to LCD. Processor-wise, you won't be able to tell a difference, but the SE 3rd Gen will likely be supported by iOS updates longer down the road. I'd get the Mini, personally.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll probably be on to the next iphone by then. It also seems like the non SE iphones hold their value better too.

 

[winxmac]

iPhone - Compare Models

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Really interested if the battery capacity is closer to iPhone 12 mini or iPhone 13 mini or neither but just bigger than iPhone 8/SE 2020

YouTube iPhone SE 2022 Tear Downs where are you?

 

[bassexpander]

Android user here, waiting for the right time to jump to Apple.

The battery life tests of the 2020SE on Youtube were so off-putting, I decided to wait for this model. The #1 thing I was looking for in this model was confirmation of a bigger battery, at least an a14 chip, and maybe 4gb memory. 5g is of zero importance to me (in fact, it forces a more expensive service price bracket with KT/SK/LG Telecom, here in Korea). Now I'm exploring other options, after this lackluster announcement. Perhaps this is just not the time to go Apple. We'll see. I might just keep saving and pick up a slightly-used Iphone13 from someone who wants to upgrade to a 14, later. Or stay Android, as a barely used a52s (lots of people bought them before s22 upgrades) is going for $100 less than this new SE. if I do this, it'll buy time before they change the notch out for a pill on base 14 or 15 models, anyway.

The correct combination for entry-level consumers with a phone like this would have been: Much better battery, A14 chip, 4g connectivity only, 4gb ram, same or lower price.

To be fair, Samsung is also releasing the a53, which is turning out to be a dog (based on leaks). The a52s has better specs. Both of those phones are real competition for grabbing Android users. This week has been a real downer for phone announcements.

People at this price point and screen size don't care about having an A15 chip, as they will never approach its capabilities in this form factor. Should have gone A14, added much more battery, and not raised the price past that psychological $399 number. This phone will fail, sadly. Anyone who chooses this over a used Mini, for example, is making a bad move.

 

[lkalliance]

They mentioned redesigned internals, so maybe a bigger battery too.

Looks like it's a bit of both. They talked about the efficiency of A15 and also told something about internal design changes.

it uses the same chassis, I would expect the same physical size of the battery. They mentioned the more power efficient chip and new battery *chemistry*. I would expect better battery life than the 2020, but not a lot more.

 

[aditya22]

Hate to be that guy, but doubt this will be a hit in sales. Should have just kept the 4 year schedule.

 

[mattspace]

If they were changing the display why not give it the iPhone 12 Mini shell and notch front?

No Notch = persistently visible VPN Status indicator.
TouchID = Better Apple Pay purchasing experience than FaceID.

There's no way I'd consider buying an iPhone without those two features, this one might tempt me off my OG SE.

 

[bluecoast]

Why would anyone buy an iPhone that doesn't include the revolutionary, definitely-not-a-gimmick Cinematic mode for video?

That’s a really good point.

I upgraded my parents to the iPhone 13 (from the XR) and when I explained what was new & I realised that things like cinematic mode were basically power user features that they’ll never use (they won’t even really use the wide-angled lens).

So I said:

‘It’s basically the same iPhone that you know, with the things you use it for - screen, cameras, calls quality, general speed - all being better.

So it made me think that (nearly all of) the future features should really just be ‘automagically’ making existing features work better.

 

[bluecoast]

Really solid update. A new form factor would’ve been nice. But the SE is for people who:

* Don’t care about such things (and who don’t post on forums discussing Apple )
* And/or are price sensitive

It’s Apple’s cheapest iPhone so there are going to be compromises. Want a good all round modern iPhone? Get the 13.

And no-one outside of the USA uses the sub mm 5G thing, people!

It’s obviously a premium feature with a more expensive additional modem component & increased power draw, so that’s why they haven’t included it.

 

[iGeek2019]

Noticed that omission too, kind of a deal breaker to an otherwise solid update.

According to the tech specs page there is Night Mode for Time Lapse videos on the front & rear cameras. Was this the case for XR/SE2?

 

[DFZD]

No Notch = persistently visible VPN Status indicator.
TouchID = Better Apple Pay purchasing experience than FaceID.

There's no way I'd consider buying an iPhone without those two features, this one might tempt me off my OG SE.

There’s no reason Apple couldn’t bring the power button touch ID from the iPad Air to iPhone SE.

 

[super chimp]

Honestly, yeah. The OLED screens have such better blacks and punchier colours that I couldn't go back to LCD. Processor-wise, you won't be able to tell a difference, but the SE 3rd Gen will likely be supported by iOS updates longer down the road. I'd get the Mini, personally.

Yeah well not everyone gets on with OLED, there is a sufficiently big thread on this forum showing that.

 

[super chimp]

Android user here, waiting for the right time to jump to Apple.

The battery life tests of the 2020SE on Youtube were so off-putting, I decided to wait for this model. The #1 thing I was looking for in this model was confirmation of a bigger battery, at least an a14 chip, and maybe 4gb memory. 5g is of zero importance to me (in fact, it forces a more expensive service price bracket with KT/SK/LG Telecom, here in Korea). Now I'm exploring other options, after this lackluster announcement. Perhaps this is just not the time to go Apple. We'll see. I might just keep saving and pick up a slightly-used Iphone13 from someone who wants to upgrade to a 14, later. Or stay Android, as a barely used a52s (lots of people bought them before s22 upgrades) is going for $100 less than this new SE. if I do this, it'll buy time before they change the notch out for a pill on base 14 or 15 models, anyway.

The correct combination for entry-level consumers with a phone like this would have been: Much better battery, A14 chip, 4g connectivity only, 4gb ram, same or lower price.

To be fair, Samsung is also releasing the a53, which is turning out to be a dog (based on leaks). The a52s has better specs. Both of those phones are real competition for grabbing Android users. This week has been a real downer for phone announcements.

People at this price point and screen size don't care about having an A15 chip, as they will never approach its capabilities in this form factor. Should have gone A14, added much more battery, and not raised the price past that psychological $399 number. This phone will fail, sadly. Anyone who chooses this over a used Mini, for example, is making a bad move.

It sounds more like you’re listing your own personal preferences and then just assuming that everyone has the same as you, which is obviously not the case.

 

[mattspace]

There’s no reason Apple couldn’t bring the power button touch ID from the iPad Air to iPhone SE.

Sure, but the ergonomics of it suck for Apple Pay. With home button touchid, I pull the phone out of my pocket, and the place I naturally grasp it to do so, where my thumb naturally falls, is the home button, so it's straight from my pocket, to the reader, beep , then back to my pocket.

Apart from a couple of weeks travelling Japan, I've used cash on only two occasions since the middle of 2018, when I changed banks to get an Apple Pay enabled debit card I could put into the the wallet app.

 

[svish]

$30 more than the outgoing model, but it offers solid value. A great entry level iPhone.

 

[lkalliance]

There’s no reason Apple couldn’t bring the power button touch ID from the iPad Air to iPhone SE.

If they do that, then they’re no longer making an SE but what amounts to a brand new product, creating a much higher development cost. Perhaps there is no reason they couldn’t engineer it, but there is probably a good reason it makes no sense to do so for this model.

 

[DFZD]

If they do that, then they’re no longer making an SE but what amounts to a brand new product, creating a much higher development cost. Perhaps there is no reason they couldn’t engineer it, but there is probably a good reason it makes no sense to do so for this model.

Wouldn’t the higher orders for a more modern looking device offset any R&D costs?

 

[lkalliance]

Wouldn’t the higher orders for a more modern looking device offset any R&D costs?

You're assuming higher orders. I would argue they wouldn't be that much higher: your most common SE buyer is probably more price-sensitive than design-sensitive. Or, put another way, if a customer cares about the design, then s/he probably also cares about other functionality that would be missing from the SE. You wouldn't agree, and that's fine, neither of us has enough data to know.

Either way, Apple knows way more about this than either of us do.

I think you're under-estimating the amount of engineering required. The power-button-mounted Touch ID lives on only a couple of models of iPad. It has different mechanics for holding it. iPads have no water-resistance rating, that might mean that among other things the button itself isn't water resistant. It's a physically larger button at current, which means the chassis itself would have to be redesigned to fit it, which means re-machining the production of the chassis, which is a non-starter I'd imagine. It probably means redesigning the internal arrangement of components.

There were those that expected the iPhone 12 to integrate the Touch ID power button, but it didn't, and nor did the 13; we're three years since it came out on the iPad Air, I think, and it's still not on iPhones...there must be a reason for that. Heck, it's not even on the iPad Pro, and there has to be a reason for THAT too.

And this just isn't the raison d'être of the SE. New features, new designs...if they're working on this kind of thing, then it's already slated for the iPhone 14 or it's being worked on for the 15 or 16. The SE doesn't roll the dice on new features.

 

[ian87w]

Android user here, waiting for the right time to jump to Apple.

The battery life tests of the 2020SE on Youtube were so off-putting, I decided to wait for this model. The #1 thing I was looking for in this model was confirmation of a bigger battery, at least an a14 chip, and maybe 4gb memory. 5g is of zero importance to me (in fact, it forces a more expensive service price bracket with KT/SK/LG Telecom, here in Korea). Now I'm exploring other options, after this lackluster announcement. Perhaps this is just not the time to go Apple. We'll see. I might just keep saving and pick up a slightly-used Iphone13 from someone who wants to upgrade to a 14, later. Or stay Android, as a barely used a52s (lots of people bought them before s22 upgrades) is going for $100 less than this new SE. if I do this, it'll buy time before they change the notch out for a pill on base 14 or 15 models, anyway.

The correct combination for entry-level consumers with a phone like this would have been: Much better battery, A14 chip, 4g connectivity only, 4gb ram, same or lower price.

To be fair, Samsung is also releasing the a53, which is turning out to be a dog (based on leaks). The a52s has better specs. Both of those phones are real competition for grabbing Android users. This week has been a real downer for phone announcements.

People at this price point and screen size don't care about having an A15 chip, as they will never approach its capabilities in this form factor. Should have gone A14, added much more battery, and not raised the price past that psychological $399 number. This phone will fail, sadly. Anyone who chooses this over a used Mini, for example, is making a bad move.

Not sure why you put A14 as a requirement. A14 is actually not that great in terms of efficiency (see iPhone 12). If you want a taste for an iPhone today on a budget, the best route is to get the iPhone 11. It gets all the flagship features like FaceID and night mode, and it has excellent battery life, and the A13 is no slouch.

 

[lkalliance]

Not sure why you put A14 as a requirement. A14 is actually not that great in terms of efficiency (see iPhone 12). If you want a taste for an iPhone today on a budget, the best route is to get the iPhone 11. It gets all the flagship features like FaceID and night mode, and it has excellent battery life, and the A13 is no slouch.

I get what he's saying: he is willing to trade off the newer chip against other improvements, which at least is a sane way to look at it compared to those that would prefer just a better phone with no compromises.

But I think we sometimes underestimate how much engineering is required. The A14 has only ever been used with the iPhone 12. Though the 12 looks similar to the 13, it is still unique, particularly its camera array. To use an A14 instead of an A15 with the iPhone 8's camera would take just as much engineering. I don't know the difference in production costs of the A14 compared to the A15, but they might be negligible: the 12 was still being produced up to now, is that right? So the manufacturing assets to create the A14 still exist, just like for the A15. It really might not make much difference in cost.

 

[lkalliance]

Hate to be that guy, but doubt this will be a hit in sales. Should have just kept the 4 year schedule.

You know, I semi-agree with this. I wasn't chomping at the bit for a new SE just yet, and I think until recently I was in the target demographic. Or, put another way, if I hadn't upgraded to the 13 mini and still had the SE 2020, I don't think there was anything here to make me regret having gotten the 2020 and not waited two more years.

BUT...one of Apple's philosophies appears to be to get as many users in position to use as many advanced services as possible. If the SE pulls in more price-sensitive buyers, then Apple at least wants those buyers to be in a position to enjoy (and pay for) more advanced services. Perhaps Apple (and it wouldn't just be Apple) knows in its roadmap some things that will really require 5G to be useful, or something in the A15 chip, or whatever. That might be the best reason to come out with this model.

 

[Huracan]

Looks like the consensus is that this is a nice performance upgrade and filling up the need of a 5G budget iPhone, but not a lot beyond that. Still a nice phone. I just wish they had added the U1 ultra wideband for spatial awareness chip. It cannot be that costly or need that much space inside the device if they added this to the AirTag. Assuming the decision to not add it was mostly due to marketing (leave it as a feature for more expensive models, or not worldwide demand for it justifying this). Despite what I said earlier I might end up buying one of these and then upgrade to an iPhone 14 or 15 in the future.

 

[super chimp]

I get what he's saying: he is willing to trade off the newer chip against other improvements, which at least is a sane way to look at it compared to those that would prefer just a better phone with no compromises.

But I think we sometimes underestimate how much engineering is required. The A14 has only ever been used with the iPhone 12. Though the 12 looks similar to the 13, it is still unique, particularly its camera array. To use an A14 instead of an A15 with the iPhone 8's camera would take just as much engineering. I don't know the difference in production costs of the A14 compared to the A15, but they might be negligible: the 12 was still being produced up to now, is that right? So the manufacturing assets to create the A14 still exist, just like for the A15. It really might not make much difference in cost.

It’s probably because the A15 is compatible with the latest 5G modems the A14 probably isn’t.

 

[NightFlight]

What were you expecting though?

An "SE" is never revolutionary. It's always used an older iPhone's body design but with an updated A series processor.

We won't see an "SE" with the newer iPhone notch body until the next (4th?) iteration.

I was never expecting anything revolutionary, especially with the least expensive iPhone. I was just expecting more than this, using the same body for years on end is just.... disappointing.

 

[lkalliance]

I was never expecting anything revolutionary, especially with the least expensive iPhone. I was just expecting more than this, using the same body for years on end is just.... disappointing.

I don't understand your disappointment either. You can go onto the Apple site now and choose from among three different body types: the SE, the 11, or the 12 family. There is absolutely nothing disappointing about this SE. Apple did what it had to do to create a ~$400 US phone that runs iOS, has its latest chip, 5G, biometric authentication, and its toughest glass. And at that price you get a phone that will probably run the next four or more versions of iOS as well. I call that an unqualified win.