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Apple Discontinues iPhone SE

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Apr 12, 2001
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After introducing the iPhone 16e today, Apple has discontinued the third-generation iPhone SE.

iPhone-SE-Cosmopolitan-Clean.png

As a result of the iPhone SE being discontinued, several individual iPhone features have also met the end of the road. Apple no longer sells any iPhone models with a a Home button, Touch ID, LCD screen, a sub-6-inch screen size, or Lightning.

Apple also discontinued the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus today.

The lineup now consists of the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 15, and iPhone 15 Plus.

There is a bit of a quirk in Apple's current iPhone lineup. The iPhone 16e has an outdated notch, yet it has Apple's latest A18 chip and Apple Intelligence support. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have the newer Dynamic Island, yet a two-generations-old A16 Bionic chip and no Apple Intelligence support.

Apple will likely discontinue the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus when the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, and iPhone 17 Pro models launch in September.

Article Link: Apple Discontinues iPhone SE
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/19/apple-discontinues-iphone-se/
Last edited:
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The “SE” makes much more sense than the new “16e”, how will it look like next to the iPhone 19 for example. I guess they just needed an excuse to price it at a much higher price than the SE.
 
xiJulian_ said:
The “SE” makes much more sense than the new “16e”, how will it look like next to the iPhone 19 for example. I guess they just needed an excuse to price it at a much higher price than the SE.
Click to expand...

They copied Samsung's "FE" mid-cycle release cadence, basically. Wouldn't be surprised if the "##E" is a yearly release now.
 
xiJulian_ said:
The “SE” makes much more sense than the new “16e”, how will it look like next to the iPhone 19 for example. I guess they just needed an excuse to price it at a much higher price than the SE.
Click to expand...
it is nice to be able to better track what chip/age it is. I couldn't remember if my kids had the same SE or if a generation apart.
 
My SE3 is the best - and best looking - iPhone I have ever had, and does everything I want & need it to do, and nothing that I don't want or need it to do.
Will keep using it until it is no longer supported.
 
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brofkand said:
They copied Samsung's "FE" mid-cycle release cadence, basically. Wouldn't be surprised if the "##E" is a yearly release now.
Click to expand...
They barely add new features for their flagship iPhones every year, I can’t imagine how they’d do it here. But we’ll have to wait and see I guess.
 
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While I love the bigger screens, I find Touch ID more intuitive(?) I think that's the word. Shame it's gone from the phones now.
 
Squeak825 said:
Has anyone seen a place to still buy one that is new?
Click to expand...

If you are near a local Apple Store, try giving them a call. Usually when a product is discontinued, it may be available for purchase at the store for a short period of time, possibly with at a small discount.

Alternate solution is to search on the Apple website for authorized iPhone reseller/retail locations near you and call them up. There may still be the 64gb models around (or possibly 128gb version), depending on your region. In Canada, the 256gb version was only available through Apple. Was not available in that storage capacity at any authorized retailers.

I checked early this morning before the Apple online store went down and iPhone SE was still available to order online and there was availability for a couple configurations (64gb and 128gb) in a nearby store to me, so it is possible the same may be the case for you. I ended up ordering 256gb midnight online as it wasn't available near me.

As a last resort, ebay or amazon.
 
MacRumors said:
There is a bit of a quirk in Apple's current iPhone lineup. The iPhone 16e has an outdated notch, yet it has Apple's latest A18 chip and Apple Intelligence support. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have the newer Dynamic Island, yet a two-generations-old A16 Bionic chip and no Apple Intelligence support.
Click to expand...
A quirk? That’s a generous word. It’s a mess!
 
Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have the newer Dynamic Island, yet a two-generations-old A16 Bionic chip and no Apple Intelligence support.
Click to expand...
And it's more expensive than the new 16E. I was disappointed with the price point. The 16E should have been $499. Now every iPhone is priced from $600 and up. I wouldn't exactly call that affordable.
 
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I still have my Product Red SE, maybe it's time to dust off the cobwebs, it'll be needed in the spring for wearing shorts; if all else fails I also saved my purple 12. Not much of a camera bump on the 16e, so it's got something to offer. 🤷‍♂️
 
brofkand said:
They copied Samsung's "FE" mid-cycle release cadence, basically. Wouldn't be surprised if the "##E" is a yearly release now.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t say they copied anything.

Apple has released refreshed models kid cycle with new colors multiple times.

The entire SE line were always mid cycle releases since 2016.
 
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