Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 6, 6s, & 7 vs. iPhone SE: Should You Upgrade?

NickName99 said:
I’m surprised you guys didn’t bring up TrueTone displays. They really make the screen look a heck of a lot better as you use the device throughout the day in varying lighting situations. The iPhone 8 was the first iPhone to have it. If I was stuck with an iPhone 7 Or older, I’d be dying to grab something newer with a TrueTone display like the new SE.
Click to expand...
The iPhone 7 was the first iPhone to have the P3 wide color gamut display along with 625 nits of max brightness. Whereas, the 6,6S and even the 2016 iPhone SE was lacking P3 wide color gamit and max brightness was only up to 500 nits. Although the SE 2016,6,6s,7,and 8 retained the same 326 PPI.
[automerge]1587775297[/automerge]
now i see it said:
Should you upgrade?

Only if you don't mind dropping $399 plus tax
Click to expand...
Order from red pocket to avoid the sales tax.Not sure how long they'll do that for but all last week they charged $349 for 64gb iPhone SE 2020 model 64gb with no sales tax and you got 6 months free red pocket service, but there a contract to keep service for 1 year.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: SantaFeNM and brucemr
Currently under this economy I'm using my iPhone 6 with iOS 12 for Grubhub for 8 hours a day. I'm wondering how much difference in speed and experience an iPhone SE would be.
The iPhone 6 has some lag between jumping between map, messages and various screens and functions in the Grubhub app.
Example: When I press the text the customer option in the Grubhub app on my iPhone 6 it can take a few seconds before I can start typing. With the iPhone SE would that task be nearly instant or still delayed?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Locke Cole, SantaFeNM and travelsheep
Like many others here, I don’t think there is really much point for most people in upgrading from an iPhone 7 or 8 to an SE, esp. if that 7 or 8 has had its battery upgraded. Hell, Apple just released a new iPad in 2019 with the same A10 that’s in the iPhone 7 and performance is just fine. Granted, that iPad 7 has 3 GB RAM, but it’s an iPad with desktop browser whereas the 2 GB iPhone 7 is a phone with a mobile browser. Hell, even the 6S isn’t too bad, for the same reasons, although it doesn’t have the wide colour gamut of the iPhone 7. In contrast, the memory limitation and the SoC performance limitation are pretty noticeable on the iPhone 6, and iOS support for the 6 already ended a while back. So, overall, I’d say the only true compelling upgrade here is from the iPhone 6 to the SE.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScooterComputer, Locke Cole, okieoutwest and 8 others
kittycat40 said:
The iPhone 7 was the first iPhone to have the P3 wide color gamut display along with 625 nits of max brightness. Whereas, the 6,6S and even the 2016 iPhone SE was lacking P3 wide color gamit and max brightness was only up to 500 nits. Although the SE 2016,6,6s,7,and 8 retained the same 326 PPI.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 7 didn't have TrueTone, which is what I was talking about. TrueTone is where the phone detects the color temperature of ambient light and, in real-time, adjusts the screen to match it. Without it, you end up with a blueish looking screen indoors most of the time, it looks awful.
 
NickName99 said:
The iPhone 7 didn't have TrueTone, which is what I was talking about. TrueTone is where the phone detects the color temperature of ambient light and, in real-time, adjusts the screen to match it. Without it, you end up with a blueish looking screen indoors most of the time.
Click to expand...
I know you were referencing true tone. I just wanted to point out how neat it was to get the p3 wide color gamut in the iPhone 7 and later models. But as I said regardless if someone has the 6,6s,7, or 8 moving up to the iPhone SE 2020 edition is just better all around.

Yup I know what true tone is. You can also turn true tone on or off in settings if you have the iPhone that has that feature. Which only the iPhone 8 or later got that feature as you know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SantaFeNM
kittycat40 said:
I know you were referencing true tone. I just wanted to point out how neat it was to get the p3 wide color gamut in the iPhone 7 and later models. But as I said regardless if someone has the 6,6s,7, or 8 moving up to the iPhone SE 2020 edition is just better all around.

Yup I know what true tone is. You can also turn true tone on or off in settings if you have the iPhone that has that feature. Which only the iPhone 8 or later got that feature as you know.
Click to expand...

No one cares enough about True Tone or 'p3 wide color gamut' to justify spending another few hundred dollars. That's why iPhone sales have been falling YOY now because there's no reason to upgrade a 6S or 7. Just because a newer phone has newer features doesn't mean the market will feel compelled to upgrade. In reality, there is no real reason to upgrade from a 6S or 7 to a newer unless you have unlimited amounts of money to waste.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sideshowuniqueuser, Locke Cole, Ramchi and 8 others
Does anyone know how by mail trade in works? In the past I'd do trade-ins in store, but obviously the Apple stores are closed.
 
Chad Johnson said:
No one cares enough about True Tone or 'p3 wide color gamut' to justify spending another few hundred dollars. That's why iPhone sales have been falling YOY now because there's no reason to upgrade a 6S or 7. Just because a newer phone has newer features doesn't mean the market will feel compelled to upgrade. In reality, there is no real reason to upgrade from a 6S or 7 to a newer unless you have unlimited amounts of money to waste.
Click to expand...

MacRumors should hire you on to write editorials just to mix up. Maybe use a profile pic of Clint Eastwood from the last few years though
 
  • Like
Reactions: Locke Cole and ateslik
Chad Johnson said:
No one cares enough about True Tone or 'p3 wide color gamut' to justify spending another few hundred dollars. That's why iPhone sales have been falling YOY now because there's no reason to upgrade a 6S or 7. Just because a newer phone has newer features doesn't mean the market will feel compelled to upgrade. In reality, there is no real reason to upgrade from a 6S or 7 to a newer unless you have unlimited amounts of money to waste.
Click to expand...
if at how cheap the iPhone SE 2020 edition is priced at?

I mean if someone has a 6,6s,7,8 they can use the trade in credit to further reduce the cost of this iPhone from $399 to much less. It is a steal in my view.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SBlue1
kittycat40 said:
if at how cheap the iPhone SE 2020 edition is priced at?

I mean if someone has a 6,6s,7,8 they can use the trade in credit to further reduce the cost of this iPhone from $399 to much less. It is a steal in my view.
Click to expand...

Because a 6S/7/8 work perfectly fine for 99% of users. No one wants to spend money for things that don't make any meaningful difference in use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sideshowuniqueuser, Locke Cole, dnsp and 7 others
Regarding this graphic:

iosbenchmarkssinglecoremulticore.jpg


In my experience for web browsing on an iPad (which is more CPU intensive than on an iPhone) in the top graph:

~1000 (iPad 5 and iPad Air 2) = acceptable
~1400 (iPad 7) = quite good
>2200 (iPad Pro 10.5) = excellent
>4500 (iPad Pro 2018) = outstanding

My personal cutoff for good browsing performance is 1300-1400, but others would be fine with 1000. Many would complain at 600 though. I say that as an owner of the iPad Air 2 (1050), iPad 7 (1400), and iPad Pro 10.5 (2300). We also own the iPhone 6s (1000), iPhone 7 Plus (1400), and iPhone XR (2700).

It should also be noted that my 2017 12" Core m3 MacBook scores 1500, and it surfs very, very well, even though it's running the much more CPU-intensive macOS Catalina. My MacBook has 16 GB RAM though. ;)

JosephAW said:
Currently under this economy I'm using my iPhone 6 with iOS 12 for Grubhub for 8 hours a day. I'm wondering how much difference in speed and experience an iPhone SE would be.
The iPhone 6 has some lag between jumping between map, messages and various screens and functions in the Grubhub app.
Example: When I press the text the customer option in the Grubhub app on my iPhone 6 it can take a few seconds before I can start typing. With the iPhone SE would that task be nearly instant or still delayed?
Click to expand...
The iPhone 6 was crippled at launch with its 1 GB RAM. The reason I upgraded to a 7 Plus back in 2016 from my 5S was because of memory related refreshes and occasional lag. This has just gotten worse over time with the 1 GB iPhones. The upgrade from the 1 GB 6 to the 3 GB SE will be a very good one, but if you spend a lot of time on your phone, you may also want to consider a larger phone like the iPhone XR. Personally, I'd rather have a XR at $599 than an SE at $399, but I happen to like big phones like my current 7 Plus.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Locke Cole, SantaFeNM and JosephAW
verito81 said:
wow when did you buy it?
Click to expand...
I said launch. It arrived first week of October 2016. JB 128GB. It’s been the best iPhone I’ve had. I had the 4,5,6 and now 7. I’ve had the battery replaced once also in September of 2018. I do want to upgrade eventually but this phone is working just fine and is still plenty fast and does what I need it to do.

The SE would be a boring upgrade for me. I’ll be going to the smallest PRO available when I do eventually upgrade. Maybe this year. Maybe not. Really love my 7!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Locke Cole and Jovijoker
I see no need to upgrade yet. Mostly because my 7+ is doing great still, takes pretty good pics and because upgrading a phone to run slightly faster and take slightly better photos is ridiculous consumerism. No wonder the world is drowning in e-waste, plastic, toxic chemical residue. Ultimate respect to those who who still lock and load a 4s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sideshowuniqueuser, Locke Cole, dnsp and 6 others
If people think they can afford it, with the issues we are having with the economy, it will probably be a good upgrade for older phones.
 
Tubamajuba said:
If you're using any of those phones, you should upgrade.

7 may be good for another year, but the original SE, 6, and 6s are likely going to be left behind with iOS 14.
Click to expand...

A better question to ask is, if the battery on your 6, 6S, 7 or 8 needs to be replaced then the answer is Yes. If not you can hold off a little longer. Or even any physical damage effecting usability.

Everything else is icing on the cake.
[automerge]1587785079[/automerge]
now i see it said:
Should you upgrade?

Only if you don't mind dropping $399 plus tax
Click to expand...

Minus trade-in if you have one.
 
MacRumors said:
Trade-Ins

If you have an iPhone 6s, 7, or 8 (or their Plus versions) you can trade them in to Apple when purchasing a new SE to get a discount.
Click to expand...
You can get up to $30 for a 1st gen iPhone SE (I guess that's the official name!).

Screen Shot 2020-04-24 at 8.28.56 PM.png


I so want to get one for the speed improvement, but I don't like the size and the slippery body. What am I going to do?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back