iPhone SE (2016) Apple has gone old school and affordable with 2020, refreshing

[thadoggfather]

SE has that perfected Touch ID gen 2/Haptic Touch from 7/8, and small size introduced in 2014 and continued until 2017.

Macbook airs too that came out a few weeks ago, no Touch Bar (hoorah, always preferred my 2016 pro was the no Touch Bar one) and reliable scissor old school keyboard with more much needed key travel.

The old apple feels back. Hitting a certain market with both (budget, education, corporate, smaller device and basic needs)

You can get both for $300 more than just a Pro max. $200 if you get a $900 air with edu.. what value.

Not knocking the Pro max too, eventually I will fork over for a $1000-1100 upgrade, but wanna be extremely tactful about it

 

[DiCaprioAngel]

It’s good that Apple are giving people options to choose what they would like to purchase instead of saying this is all you’re getting with the flagship models. They recognize that not everyone can fork out the cash to get the most expensive device but would still like to have an Apple product. There are also a few that don’t like the new design, so it’s good that they are still selling phones that have that form factor. I, personally, don’t like the older design with the home button, but that’s just my preference and that is why I chose the Pro Max for my usage. They’ve come a long way since they started and it’s good to see that they offer a lot of choices for their consumers.

 

[now i see it]

They made their untold billions $$ in the past with this design - it made them who they are today

then they abandoned it

then someone over there thought.... Maybe that wasn't a smart move...

 

[planteater]

High end device sales are not accelerating as the have in the past and Apple is increasingly deriving income from services. It seems logical from a business standpoint to offer devices at a lower cost point to get more people into the ecosystem. Inclusion is a good thing. Quality does not necessarily need to be expensive. Good business move by a Apple.

 

[Mikeyt1818]

Excellent decision by Apple. If Google can sell a mid ranger Pixel (3a, 4a) there is no reason for Apple to not sell this high end mid ranger+ imo. This really is the perfect phone at the perfect time.

 

[QCassidy352]

Totally agree. Think about this: you can get a laptop (MacBook Air), iPad (2019), iPhone (SE), Apple Watch (S3), and AirPods (v2, wired case), all brand new from Apple for $2,085 US (full retail, before tax). And only the Watch is a prior generation now sold at discount; everything else is a 2019 or 2020 release.

 

[44267547]

‘Old School‘? Yeah, not even close.

But I do think that they have divided a segment in terms of making certain products affordable below their more ‘top-tier‘ products like the Pro-Max, MacBook Pro, AirPods Pro, Ti/ceramic Apple Watch models, etc. Apple is doing a good job diversifying the iPhone lineup, not just for ‘budget‘ conscious consumers, but for other market segments across the world where certain phones are not affordable. The SE seriously surprised me when Apple came in at $399. I thought for sure this phone would start at least $450 for a base price. It’s the second time they surprised me in the last year, when they also reduced the price of the iPhone 11 by ~$50 dollars from what the iPhone XR started at.

 

[parker5011]

Totally agree. Think about this: you can get a laptop (MacBook Air), iPad (2019), iPhone (SE), Apple Watch (S3), and AirPods (v2, wired case), all brand new from Apple for $2,085 US (full retail, before tax). And only the Watch is a prior generation now sold at discount; everything else is a 2019 or 2020 release.

Absolutely. $2000 for all that is a great deal.  has stepped up in 2020 for sure

 

[JSRinUK]

Coming from the 1st Gen iPhone SE, the 2nd Gen iPhone SE doesn’t feel “old school” to me. It feels and looks more modern, and LESS dated. I feel like I’ve moved up to something new, not “old school”.

It feels odd to use the home button that isn’t a physical home button. Not sure how soon I’ll get used to that. I liked the physical button on my previous Apple devices. But the change makes it feel more modern, not “old school” at all.

 

[limesmoothie]

Absolutely. $2000 for all that is a great deal.  has stepped up in 2020 for sure

Imagine being a student trying to get a study setup together - an iPad, SE, and Watch will set you back £949 in the UK. That's about what I paid for a Macintosh Classic II and Stylewriter in 1992 (i.e. more than my car cost), and I couldn't carry that to my lectures.

 

[parker5011]

Imagine being a student trying to get a study setup together - an iPad, SE, and Watch will set you back £949 in the UK. That's about what I paid for a Macintosh Classic II and Stylewriter in 1992 (i.e. more than my car cost), and I couldn't carry that to my lectures.

The fact that you can get the new MacBook Air and an iPhone SE at cost for $1300ish is really good. When you look at the MacBook pros they run around close to $2000 just of themselves then if you went with an iPhone 11 that’s an extra $700. It almost cuts it in half of what you would pay and you would get the latest hardware and software

 

[eyoungren]

SE has that perfected Touch ID gen 2/Haptic Touch from 7/8, and small size introduced in 2014 and continued until 2017.

Macbook airs too that came out a few weeks ago, no Touch Bar (hoorah, always preferred my 2016 pro was the no Touch Bar one) and reliable scissor old school keyboard with more much needed key travel.

The old apple feels back. Hitting a certain market with both (budget, education, corporate, smaller device and basic needs)

You can get both for $300 more than just a Pro max. $200 if you get a $900 air with edu.. what value.

Not knocking the Pro max too, eventually I will fork over for a $1000-1100 upgrade, but wanna be extremely tactful about it

I think 'old school' is quite relative.

I say this while typing this message on a 2008 MBP running Mojave while sitting in a room occupied by a PowerMac G3, two PowerMac G5s, a 17" PowerBook G4, a early 2009 Mac Pro, an iPhone 4s, an iPhone 3Gs, an iPhone 6s and an iPhone 6s+. And oh yeah, a 6th gen iPad.

Old School. Check.

 

[thadoggfather]

Yeah when I mean old 'school,' I mean in relation to the past few years: pricing wise, notches and face ID and swipe up gestures, bigger phones than big, and butterfly keyboards

anyone coming from an SE1/6/6s or a pre-2016 MBP / pre-2018 MBA will certainly wonder whats 'old school' about no headphone jack and all ports gone except USB-C

its all relative

 

[eyoungren]

Yeah when I mean old 'school,' I mean in relation to the past few years: pricing wise, notches and face ID and swipe up gestures, bigger phones than big, and butterfly keyboards

anyone coming from an SE1/6/6s or a pre-2016 MBP / pre-2018 MBA will certainly wonder whats 'old school' about no headphone jack and all ports gone except USB-C

its all relative

Hey I'm modern!

I've got a few of those USB-C to USB-A adapters plugged in to my Macs!

 

[freeagent]

No need to get bent out of shape because people call it old school. If you have been using the original se and only that phone then yeah it will be new to you, and quite dapper. But if you owned a 6,7,8 then it’s going to be an old look for you. Old is gold too..

 

[now i see it]

It feels odd to use the home button that isn’t a physical home button. Not sure how soon I’ll get used to that. I liked the physical button on my previous Apple devices

You'll get used to it but it'll never be as nice or as functional as the original mechanical button. Guess what? The new home button design (with no moving parts) can not be actuated when wearing gloves - any gloves- even thin touch screen compatible gloves. So it sucks big time in that respect. Glove has to come off to use the phone... or a finger tip of the glove needs to be snipped off to be able to expose your finger tip.

Not an option if wearing thin nitrile gloves when shopping during this CoV pandemic. With nitrile gloves on - you can't use the phone (iPhone 7, 8 and new SE).

And with the newer iPhone's that use FaceID- you can't wear a mask to log in (but at least you can enter a passcode with gloves on).


I use my iPhone 6 for this very reason - mechanical home button can be actuated with gloves on.

 

[limesmoothie]

The fact that you can get the new MacBook Air and an iPhone SE at cost for $1300ish is really good. When you look at the MacBook pros they run around close to $2000 just of themselves then if you went with an iPhone 11 that’s an extra $700. It almost cuts it in half of what you would pay and you would get the latest hardware and software

The value across all types of setups from budget to top end is improving massively, hopefully we're moving back towards sensible mass market pricing.

 

[jimmy_uk]

You'll get used to it but it'll never be as nice or as functional as the original mechanical button. Guess what? The new home button design (with no moving parts) can not be actuated when wearing gloves - any gloves- even thin touch screen compatible gloves. So it sucks big time in that respect. Glove has to come off to use the phone... or a finger tip of the glove needs to be snipped off to be able to expose your finger tip.

Not an option if wearing thin nitrile gloves when shopping during this CoV pandemic. With nitrile gloves on - you can't use the phone (iPhone 7, 8 and new SE).

And with the newer iPhone's that use FaceID- you can't wear a mask to log in (but at least you can enter a passcode with gloves on).


I use my iPhone 6 for this very reason - mechanical home button can be actuated with gloves on.

Any reason why you might think you couldn't enter a passcode when wearing gloves with the 7, 8, SE 2020?

 

[kazmac]

If old school means better ease of use and more consumer/user friendly: then yes, I agree with the SE (I do not have an Air).

I haven't enjoyed an iPhone this much since my iPhone 5.

 

[oilers780]

Offering lower cost products is a must. Look at OnePlus. They sold their products super affordably in the beginning. Now? There will be less demand at their price points because for a few $ more, you can get the iPhone or a 5g Samsung phone.

Imagine being Toyota? You have a reliable economy car (Corolla), a mid-range sedan (Camry), and then your luxury cars (Lexus). Gotta be able to offer a reliable product people want to buy at different segments, but don't compromise on the brand integrity at the same time. It's hard. The iPhone SE does not do this, which is why people will buy one.

 

[Steven-iphone]

You'll get used to it but it'll never be as nice or as functional as the original mechanical button. Guess what? The new home button design (with no moving parts) can not be actuated when wearing gloves - any gloves- even thin touch screen compatible gloves. So it sucks big time in that respect. Glove has to come off to use the phone... or a finger tip of the glove needs to be snipped off to be able to expose your finger tip.

Not an option if wearing thin nitrile gloves when shopping during this CoV pandemic. With nitrile gloves on - you can't use the phone (iPhone 7, 8 and new SE).

And with the newer iPhone's that use FaceID- you can't wear a mask to log in (but at least you can enter a passcode with gloves on).


I use my iPhone 6 for this very reason - mechanical home button can be actuated with gloves on.

The button is probably capacitance activated - bare finger needed