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BiggAW

macrumors 68030
Jun 19, 2010
2,563
176
Connecticut
I think they *should* update the SE and make an SE2 with new LTE banding including B14/30/66/71, but I'm not holding my breath. I personally like the form factor of the 4/4s/5/5s/5c/SE, but I recognize that there is a bigger and bigger trade-off to having a smaller device, since most apps are designed for larger screens now.
 

panjandrum

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
709
881
United States
Mock if you will, but it is not about only the iPhone. Apple is simply moving in a direction I do not want to go, both in its iDevices (FaceID) and in its portable laptops. If Apple doesn't provide what I desire/need, then I will look at all of the options which have slowly been moving me back to Windows and Android.

Please also consider that many of us who have switched can switch back AND we have switched others with us who will also switch back when we advise them. You won't see the effect for another 2-3 years, but the biggest crashes are always preceded by a slow fade. Unfortunately, the Apple I chose to join is no longer the Apple I know.

This. Use what works best for you and give-up on the weird worshiping of corporations and products (any of them, not just Apple). Why people's self-worth is somehow tied-up in their purchasing decisions has always eluded me. Well, that's a lie, it has eluded me since as a young man-idiot I kept trying to insist that American-made cars were still the best (a logical fallacy which assumes they ever were the best - but at least they were *good* for a long time), when every single piece of evidence pointed the other way, to the fact that they had turned to absolute ***** (possibly no-longer true; apparently some of them are finally good again). It was a lesson well-learned and I've steadfastly refused to fanboy anything ever again. It's why I absolutely refuse to pretend that Apple hasn't turned 95% to Crapple. When they start making great UIs and hardware again, I'll be perfectly happy to say so, and I will rejoice, but there is no way in-hell I'm going to pretend. The sad thing is that for many Apple is still the best solution. Yeah, it sucks compared to what it used to be just a few short years back, but it's still just barely, just marginally, better than the competition in key real-world usability areas (updates that don't actually *force* you to install them, significantly less malware, etc.)

Back to the topic of this thread, sort of. I also very much dislike large phones. Small phone are best-suited to my lifestyle and my personal preference. The only reason I still have an iPhone? Because the last time I looked for a new phone I *could not find* a good Android phone as small as the SE. I've been wanting to flip for ages because I want to do things Apple won't allow (I'm really tired of keeping my older jailbroken iPhone around just to have a real wi-fi analyzer app! WTF Apple????).

Next time I need a new phone I'll be going with whoever makes a powerful small phone. Brand-name will have zero to do with it, as my sense of self-worth does not depend on either the size of my phone the corporate logo it displays. I simply want the product that suits my needs best. And so should you...
 

turbineseaplane

macrumors G5
Mar 19, 2008
14,681
31,245
@panjandrum

Great post!
I totally agree with all of that.

Honestly, even though I'd like a new SE (or small phone) - I don't need one.
Apple so overpowered and equipped the SE (to their credit) that mine runs like a dream and is everything I want now that I'm back on a jailbreak (11.3.1).

I could probably use this for several more years if need be - the main problem always becomes Apps not supporting older iOS at some point. But, I could also survive (if I have to), with no JB and on the latest iOS.

We already know the SE will work fine on iOS 12 and I'll bet even 13 and probably 14 might still support it.

If they do ever cancel it and there appears to be nothing new in this size, I plan to immediately buy 1, maybe 2, to have in reserve.
 
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AppliedMicro

macrumors 68020
Aug 17, 2008
2,205
2,532
Because you lack fundamental understanding of statistics and proper sampling, you automatically assume the sample is small? Doubling the respondents from 500 to 1,000 would reduce the margin of error
Not getting into a personal argument here. It's not about the sample size. I'd like to know more about its selection. Cause a survey can be anything, really - and on the other hand, I don't quite get why you wouldn't factor in actual sales or channel date into your research.

If anything, your internal sales figures would be automatically discarded due to non-random sampling.
Well, for our customer base, they are comprehensive. And our customer base should be reasonably representative of our (multi-million people) geographic market, from what we know.

@panjandrum
I could probably use this for several more years if need be - the main problem always becomes Apps not supporting older iOS at some point. But, I could also survive (if I have to), with no JB and on the latest iOS.

We already know the SE will work fine on iOS 12 and I'll bet even 13 and probably 14 might still support it.
We also know that iOS 12 should still run on iPhone 5S.

That'd be the first time they did not drop support for the oldest (yet-previously-supported) iPhone since iOS 8 in 2014 (minimum for both iOS 8 and 9 was the iPhone 4S). iOS 11 didn't drop support for the iPhone 5 until they had a successor in the marketplace that would tie in with a two-year upgrade cycle.

I am wondering if they did this as a way of tiding 5S users (who might want to upgrade to a newer phone in similar form factor) over to next year, for an early to mid 2019 release of an SE successor - and then drop 5S support later in the year with iOS 13.

When 5S falls off the cliff, they'd have a successor that's "only a couple of months old" to upgrade to, rather than iPhone which, as a 2016 release is already a bit stale (but, I asume, still steadily selling).
 

BiggAW

macrumors 68030
Jun 19, 2010
2,563
176
Connecticut
I am wondering if they did this as a way of tiding 5S users (who might want to upgrade to a newer phone in similar form factor) over to next year, for an early to mid 2019 release of an SE successor - and then drop 5S support later in the year with iOS 13.

It's possible. The iPhone 5s is a zombie on Verizon now, they won't activate devices without VoLTE, and the CDMA network is shut down for retail customers on December 31, 2019. The AT&T models don't have this problem.

That being said, I wouldn't bet on a new small form factor iPhone.
 

turbineseaplane

macrumors G5
Mar 19, 2008
14,681
31,245
That being said, I wouldn't bet on a new small form factor iPhone.

I just find this insane..

How can a company this large with this much money, not find a way to make a new, somewhat updated, occasionally, maybe, sort of - smaller device that slots in at around $500-700 when new?

This is just easy money for the taking.
I know so many people, guys especially, that have SE's and 5S's.

The physical size is just dynamite for so many types of usage.

What is Apple actually really good at anymore?

So many parts of their product lines have been abandoned, discontinued, not updated or updated with weird compromises and choices..
 

BiggAW

macrumors 68030
Jun 19, 2010
2,563
176
Connecticut
I just find this insane..

How can a company this large with this much money, not find a way to make a new, somewhat updated, occasionally, maybe, sort of - smaller device that slots in at around $500-700 when new?

I agree about the physical size, I love the form factor. HOWEVER, I also recognize that app developers have moved on to larger screen devices and aren't going back, so I don't think that narrow of a screen really makes much sense anymore.

The remaining market for the SE is mostly at the low end of the market on prepaid carriers, and a small but fanatical cult following amongst fans of small iPhones.
 
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scoobydoo99

Cancelled
Mar 11, 2003
1,007
353
For anyone who was holding out for the SE2, check out the 6s, it's a solid phone and great value. With 2GB ram, and still sold new from apple, it will last a long time.

You seem to have missed the point. You are quoting memory specs and "value", when the SE's selling point is SIZE. I don't care if you put 32GB of RAM in a 6 and sell it for a dollar...I don't want it!
[doublepost=1531463984][/doublepost]
Mock if you will, but it is not about only the iPhone. Apple is simply moving in a direction I do not want to go, both in its iDevices (FaceID) and in its portable laptops. If Apple doesn't provide what I desire/need, then I will look at all of the options which have slowly been moving me back to Windows and Android.

Please also consider that many of us who have switched can switch back AND we have switched others with us who will also switch back when we advise them. You won't see the effect for another 2-3 years, but the biggest crashes are always preceded by a slow fade. Unfortunately, the Apple I chose to join is no longer the Apple I know.

It's kind of ironic that those of us who were Apple's biggest supporters when they had miniscule market share and made products that "just worked" are now the ones leaving Apple because they have lost their way. I'm not impulsively shouting "I'm done with Apple!", but i am slowing looking for other options. Apple has become what they used to mock - a bloated mass producer of dull, unfocused products lacking in vision or innovation.
 

turbineseaplane

macrumors G5
Mar 19, 2008
14,681
31,245
Me too. I hope we get that chance if Apple decide to discontinue. I do not want a big phone and I have no interest in switching to a competitor product. When I need more screen space I simply use my iPad or MacBook.

If they go down that path there will be ample opportunity to grab remaining stock I think
 

1440pOG

macrumors newbie
Mar 18, 2018
4
3
I will miss that form factor. The rounded edges from the iPhone 6-on look beautiful but the edges of the SE allow for an infinitely more secure grip.

I agree 100% I'm an outdoor enthusiast and the SE slips in and out of my pocket during hikes and bike trips for quick photos. It fits so snugly in my hand and is light weight. I tried multiple times to own an iPhone 6s and a 6s Plus and they are just too big, heavy and unwieldly to keep. I sold them all and still have my trusty 64GB SE. I wish they would just do a full screen in the current SE form factor.
 

MartyvH

Contributor
Sep 16, 2017
524
376
I'm not impulsively shouting "I'm done with Apple!", but i am slowing looking for other options.

But there are no other options in a form factor as compact as the SE and with the specs and performance.

I keep looking through the displays in shops in vain hope. Dozens of Android models keep being released that are all almost the same as one another: big five-inch to six-inch plastic paddles that serve up mostly the same Android and apps, some with a fingerprint scanner, some without, some have minor differences in camera attributes but it's all the same.

People waiting for the September 2018 iPhone models will get this year's X, X Plus or a 6.1" in-between that will naturally have a few aspects that are superior enough to cheap Androids to desire them, but they are not hugely different.

Yeah, OLED is good. Past that? Wireless charging. I have an adapter on the wall with two USB ports. A Lightning cord is in one of them for my phone and a micro USB for my partner's Android. You pick up the end and plug in. Two seconds involved and it charges from 40% to 80% in half an hour. Wireless chargers can't do that. You are losing something and that's it for new features.

No, there's no innovation happening and no product differences. The apps are very good on iOS. That is where the innovation is. There is a vast amount of room in this red-hot market for compact smartphones and several different sizes and shapes but no one is doing that. No one.
 
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Keirasplace

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2014
4,059
1,278
Montreal
Not getting into a personal argument here. It's not about the sample size. I'd like to know more about its selection. Cause a survey can be anything, really - and on the other hand, I don't quite get why you wouldn't factor in actual sales or channel date into your research.


Well, for our customer base, they are comprehensive. And our customer base should be reasonably representative of our (multi-million people) geographic market, from what we know.


We also know that iOS 12 should still run on iPhone 5S.

That'd be the first time they did not drop support for the oldest (yet-previously-supported) iPhone since iOS 8 in 2014 (minimum for both iOS 8 and 9 was the iPhone 4S). iOS 11 didn't drop support for the iPhone 5 until they had a successor in the marketplace that would tie in with a two-year upgrade cycle.

I am wondering if they did this as a way of tiding 5S users (who might want to upgrade to a newer phone in similar form factor) over to next year, for an early to mid 2019 release of an SE successor - and then drop 5S support later in the year with iOS 13.

When 5S falls off the cliff, they'd have a successor that's "only a couple of months old" to upgrade to, rather than iPhone which, as a 2016 release is already a bit stale (but, I asume, still steadily selling).

People often forget that there are two aspects to a survey, the sampling and the analysis.
The statistics parts is useless if your sample doesn't reflect the underlying population you're purporting to reflect.

Say, you want to hit smart phone buyers and find out if they are interested in smart watches.
If you survey people by land line these days, you're likely to hit an older demo that may not reflect the over population of smart phone buyers (they may want to buy more or less smart watches).
Those that even respond to surveys tend to be older and/or already interested in the survey area. That means they're way different potentially than the actual market.

Self selection is particularly bad in Internet based surveys/polls.

For example, asking people in 2009 if they're interested in a Iphone like (say Android) product probably would get a huge response from tech geeks and a huh response from everyone else. Yet, we know those people when they actually got exposed to the product got very interested real fast. In this case, the questions asked should reflect what they'd want to be doing outside the house (internet, photo, portable gps, email, etc) and not just the product itself.

Also, questions asked and even order of questions can skew surveys and polls A LOT.

I'd argue most surveys are extremely flawed at least in how they're reported, if not in their conception itself and those making them are exploiting this misunderstanding.

Sometimes, you do get great polls/surveys, but they're results are drowned in the sea of mediocre to bad ones.
 
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cocoua

macrumors 6502a
May 19, 2014
915
536
madrid, spain
I'm sick of monster smarthphones, I'm now using my 4S again and love it, but it is slow and outdated iOS... Even love the square edges, it makes a best grip to take the phone...

16:9 screen is enough, there is no need of taller smarthphones, videos are 16:9, pictures 4:3... who needs the new resolutions? those phones are bigger than my pockets, very unconfortables to use with one hand...

don`t understand why there is not an option where the screen reminds the same but the whole phone is smaller...

this would be my dreamed iPhone:

O0gcBPH.jpg
 
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turbineseaplane

macrumors G5
Mar 19, 2008
14,681
31,245
@cocoua I totally agree with you.
I'm so disappointed that they may have canned any smaller "new" phone options.

I think many of us figured that once the home button was gone there'd certainly be room for something sub iP8 physical size, but with a bigger than 4" screen that could become the dream phone for those of us that only want a small phone.
 
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Lioness~

macrumors 68030
Apr 26, 2017
2,945
3,661
Mars
I can't believe I'm saying this, but me too..

I'm all in on macOS and iOS - Have been forever (especially the former)...but they are just continuing to move away from me as a customer right now.
I'm not really worried, yet. I do believe they listen to the market, even under Cook.
I've been into Apple since early 90's. But if they stop listening too customers and skip the SE, they will lose me as a phone customer, for sure. But not just yet, my SE will last a few more yrs.
Earlier I think it would've been trouble to get things to sync. Not today.
I've already skipped part of iCloud sync anyway, as it doesn't work for me. Using my NAS, probably can for more things.

See what they say under next event.
 
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goosnarrggh

macrumors 68000
May 16, 2006
1,602
20
Carriers offer them at a discount. Verizon prepaid has the 32 GB model for $159.
Lol... Here in the Canada, you'll pay almost $20 MORE to buy an off-contract iPhone SE through a carrier (Bell Canada: 32 GB for CAD $487; Rogers CAD $489), than you would if you bought it outright at an Apple retail store (CAD $469).
 

Xiroteus

macrumors 65816
Mar 31, 2012
1,297
75
I'm sick of monster smarthphones, I'm now using my 4S again and love it, but it is slow and outdated iOS... Even love the square edges, it makes a best grip to take the phone...

16:9 screen is enough, there is no need of taller smarthphones, videos are 16:9, pictures 4:3... who needs the new resolutions? those phones are bigger than my pockets, very unconfortables to use with one hand...

don`t understand why there is not an option where the screen reminds the same but the whole phone is smaller...

this would be my dreamed iPhone:

O0gcBPH.jpg
That's exactly what I was thinking. An iPhone 4S sized phone with a larger screen and of course latest internals. (Or at least great) I like the large phones yet since using the SE over the last month it's really nice having a phone I can use with one hand among other things.
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
6,827
11,154
To me the design looks a bit outdated. They should at least look like iPhone 6/7/8.
Why? So they can lose the headphone jack and good, tactile buttons for no reason? It's a great design as-is.
[doublepost=1533670033][/doublepost]
Damn I was hoping Apple would maybe change the back to glass and keep the same body of the SE..maybe Apple will revisit that design down the road
Why the glass? For wireless charging? I like the durability of the metal back, myself. Seriously, as far as I'm concerned they could just update some of the internals and maybe the camera from time to time and I'd be fine.
 
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BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
6,845
8,687
Arizona/Illinois
Why? So they can lose the headphone jack and good, tactile buttons for no reason? It's a great design as-is.
[doublepost=1533670033][/doublepost]
Ugh, I know. I really want mine to be more fragile.

Seriously, as far as I'm concerned they could just update some of the internals and maybe the camera from time to time and I'd be fine.
I think what you’re suggesting is the way Apple will go if they ever decide to update the SE. Same exact case and screen, updated cpu/gpu, camera, 2nd gen touchid and better LTE. I also think if it doesn’t happen for the March event(it’s definitely not happening this year), the SE will most likely join the iPad mini... As far as a smaller phone than the SE, never going to happen. The SE’s future is questionable, no chance a smaller form factor would be taken up.
 
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ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
6,827
11,154
I think what you’re suggesting is the way Apple will go if they ever decide to update the SE. Same exact case and screen, updated cpu/gpu, camera, 2nd gen touchid and better LTE. I also think if it doesn’t happen for the March event(it’s definitely not happening this year), the SE will most likely join the iPad mini... As far as a smaller phone than the SE, never going to happen. The SE’s future is questionable, no chance a smaller form factor would be taken up.

Yeah, I also have an iPad Mini 4, which is a great size. Seems Apple's giant phone syndrome is cannibalizing products I like from both directions.
 
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Freakonomics101

macrumors 68030
Nov 6, 2014
2,739
1,798
@panjandrum

Great post!
I totally agree with all of that.

Honestly, even though I'd like a new SE (or small phone) - I don't need one.
Apple so overpowered and equipped the SE (to their credit) that mine runs like a dream and is everything I want now that I'm back on a jailbreak (11.3.1).

I could probably use this for several more years if need be - the main problem always becomes Apps not supporting older iOS at some point. But, I could also survive (if I have to), with no JB and on the latest iOS.

We already know the SE will work fine on iOS 12 and I'll bet even 13 and probably 14 might still support it.

If they do ever cancel it and there appears to be nothing new in this size, I plan to immediately buy 1, maybe 2, to have in reserve.

Let me tell ya, the iPhone SE runs like a dream on iOS 12 beta.... better than the final version of iOS 11.
 
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