What if it wasn't the same old design ? And the price was cut in half ? AppleCare for 3 years included. Apple would still have more than enough money coming in from sales
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'iPhone SE 4' Rumored to Be Named 'iPhone 16E'
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Because it was:
1) Priced too high for the people who wanted a small light, phone or companies
If it had been released with a single camera, Touch ID and kept it close to $500 it would have been successful. Apple unfortunately kept the SE design around for a few more years so folk upgrading had no choice in the matter.
2) Was Released during a global pandemic.
Few people were leaving the house on a daily basis and WFH became the norm - bigger screens make sense if you are sitting on the couch on zoom calls.
By the time the 13 came around it would have been very difficult for most users to go back to a small screen despite the convenience. Anyone who wanted a small, low budget up-to-date phone was forced to go with the updated SE.
I guess that depends where you were located. Most offices were either completely closed or had staggered hours (many still do).
People were not leaving the house nearly as much as they used to - many schools and colleges were closed, which is a big part of the small / cheap market.
The plus model is a flop too and apple is dropping the ball on themselves too GET A GRIP to those people who just let apple be.
Nope.
The average consumer by then was aware of what a smaller battery means: less power throughout any given day, which leads to more frequent charging, which leads to the battery wearing down faster and having to pay for a battery replacement sooner rather than later.
And most do prefer typing on a bigger display and viewing content on a bigger display.
-With other brands, consumers predominantly opt for smartphones that are as large or larger than iPhone Pro Max.
It's simply a matter of people (increasingly) doing everything on their smartphones and looking at content more and more hours every day. And needing the smartphone to have great battery life throughout the 2-3 years before it's replaced.
This massive spike in screen time is what made phablets a no-brainer and killed the light and portable ones.
-iPhones <6.1" would only sell well in a lineup without >6.1" iPhones.
We live in a consumer culture where more is always more.
-If McDonald’s is selling a small, medium and XL milkshake most of us won’t even think about what amount XL is or if we can even drink that amount. We’ll get it just because it offers the lowest $/ounce price.
It’s the same reason why Costco and Walmart do all the bulk shopping deals.
On average, we buy as much as we can of almost everything as long as it’s within our budget.
Better safe than sorry, better more than less.
And regardless of our hoarding nature. The bigger price you pay for a larger smartphone is in fact a wiser choice as you do get a markedly higher value/$ and will postpone the costs associated with a battery replacement significantly.
A bit in the weeds, but I have a few thoughts:
The milkshakes analogy made me think. I understand where you're coming from, but that isn't how the XL menu works in fast food places; it was added to increase the middle option. Most people won't order the largest option, no matter what it is, but they will order the one below it, because it fits their cost/value benchmark. More for less money, but not overly costly. It makes me wonder if making the larger sized iPhone increased (or was meant to increase) the popularity of the regular Pro, over the regular iPhone?
I think the larger screen is just what you said, more people are doing more things on their phone. I'm not, so I don't care for it, but I understand that most people feel differently. The bigger priced phone is not a wiser choice if you actively dislike using it and carrying it around, which would be the case for me. Why pay more for something you don't want to use?
I think Apple is planning to remove the numbering altogether and just go with model names as they do with the iPad and Mac:
iPhone SE
iPhone Air
iPhone
iPhone Pro
iPhone Pro Max
Screen size won't change much (except for Max) but thickness, weight, colors, materials, and SOCs will, and camera features will differentiate the models along with the price. Apple Intelligence will work across all models. I think older models from previous years will still be available, but primarily through the carriers and other retailers (like Best Buy.)
This will allow Apple to stagger the upgrade cycle for the various models so they don't feel compelled to upgrade everything every year at the same time, while featuring the latest and greatest phones in their stores and online.
iPhone SE
iPhone Air
iPhone
iPhone Pro
iPhone Pro Max
Screen size won't change much (except for Max) but thickness, weight, colors, materials, and SOCs will, and camera features will differentiate the models along with the price. Apple Intelligence will work across all models. I think older models from previous years will still be available, but primarily through the carriers and other retailers (like Best Buy.)
This will allow Apple to stagger the upgrade cycle for the various models so they don't feel compelled to upgrade everything every year at the same time, while featuring the latest and greatest phones in their stores and online.
Starting to understand why some americans are the size of small cars..
Not enough bought the smaller iPhone. Too much of a niche now. Not going to happen
Naa, the numbering won't go anywhere. There is too much marketing tied up in the iPhone to have the same name year after year.
I think this would be really cool and make buying into the ecosystem more streamlined. More importantly, they can make more meaningful upgrades every few years and focus on stability in between releases.
"Fixed Focus Digital" doesn't have a very established track record with Apple rumors yet.
Who does?❗❗️Oh, wait! I guess several people do if you take the phrase to mean “any old record”.
But in common parlance, “an established track record” implies consistent success and I know of no analyst with that — certainly none who outperform even a good hitter in baseball, and they usually fail!
The Plus models also were not a success. Does that mean that people don’t want big, non-flagship phones?
I’d say no, it just means that people tend to go for both the most expensive Pro Max, and the most basic base model.
Id argue that since the 17, 17 Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max are ALL going to be 6.3+ inches, that they could keep at least one product in the lineup that’s less than 6in.
Maybe in the next few years they’ll try the mini again… hopefully
I don't think the 16E is the real name, otherwise, they would have a problem, if they continue to keep it around and all the numbers will advance than the 16E which will make it seem old. SE had the benefit of just not implying that and still giving it the
Also here wish for a mini, despite the taunting from some forum members, but alas, currently I hold on to my 13 mini for now. All that AI stuff does not make me want to upgrade anyway and apart from that the new iPhone entries have not a lot for me to offer, other than gimmicks, like the dynamic island.
Also here wish for a mini, despite the taunting from some forum members, but alas, currently I hold on to my 13 mini for now. All that AI stuff does not make me want to upgrade anyway and apart from that the new iPhone entries have not a lot for me to offer, other than gimmicks, like the dynamic island.
16E would obviously be a one-off name... and no it wouldn't be confusing or look old next to the rest of the lineup.
"16E" places the phone between the iPhone 15 and 16 in the lineup. Next fall you'd see the iPhone 17, 16, 16E, 15, and maybe 14 for sale. The next year it would be 18, 17, 16, 16E, 15. The year after that could be 19, 18, 17, 16, 16E and then the 16E would be due for a refresh and Apple could go back the the SE naming convention...
The mistake everyone keeps making is assuming that the SE4/16E is going to be Apple's cheapest phone when it launches, even though the rumored specs clearly suggest otherwise. 16E makes so much more sense than SE once you consider the possibility that this won't be the cheapest iPhone come March.
Apple cancelled the Mini after the 12 Mini. The 13 was already in the pipeline at that point so they released it as originally planned. That was only one chance, not two. If there was a second chance at a small phone, that would have been the original SE through to gen 3, and those were all successful.
Small cheap phone - proven success
Small standard phone - did not succeed (had critical flaw stemming from Apple design decision)
Small pro phone - Not tested (and I'd buy in a heartbeat)
On that critical flaw: When Apple released the 12 Mini, they made a decision that it would be the same thickness as the iPhone 12 even though this would dramatically hurt battery life. If they made it a little thicker, this could have been avoided. The 13 mini's battery life is actually ok due to chip improvements, but its reputation was already established (and Apple had already cancelled the mini) by that point. Frankly this is also part of the reason why very large screens are so popular. As companies chase thinness, the only way to provide true multi-day battery life (which is a strong selling point) is with an extremely large screen. Obviously some people simply want a large screen, but battery life (impacted by design decisions that consumers don't control) also plays a major role.
But that is assuming the SE were successful because they were small. The alternative explanation was that the SE were successful because they were [relatively] inexpensive, independent of their size. Or it could be a combination of both. But in any case, the updated SE (or 16E) will settle the dispute, since it won’t be small but it will be [relatively] inexpensive.
I suspect it is price, not size, that is the primary appeal of SE phones
