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? But I don’t know those few million people... I have two original SEs myself, as I am a small phone user, but like I said, I’ve only ever met a few other people who owned one. Nobody else I’ve met has even heard of it because Apple did not advertise them (I believe).

I'm sure Apple didn't intend to have desire for the "old" 5/5S-sized original SE cannibalize its later and larger offerings the 6, 6S, 6s+ models. Tim Cook said in that keynote in March of 2016 that it was largely because of clamor for a smaller one again that caused the SE to be brought into the product line "even though the vast majority" of customers preferred a larger phone.

Cook was basically saying ok look we're not turning away part of a brand-loyal customer base just because most of that base has moved on and likes the larger ones. So we're adding a smaller phone back into the lineup.

So to me it made sense they didn't emphasize that model especially in the US. It was never meant to be their flagship phone in the then current lineup. But the smaller phone's pre orders exhausted whatever they had figured was the US market immediately since the ship dates slid out very fast... and it later sold like hotcakes in Asia, particularly to Chinese customers for whom the SE was their first iPhone.

I can see why keeping a slightly smaller phone alive now as the "SE 2" in the current lineup can have similar prospects, just generally due to the lower cost. It represents Apple's iconic smartphone very well at a great price to a market that may upgrade in the future. It may be especially fortuitous considering the coincidental occurrence of the economy-bashing coronavirus. People do still need smartphones even if they're laid off from work; their older models eventually croak or their kid drops the hand-me down model that's out of warranty.
 
Apple.... just ...advertised... TouchID as a reason to buy the the iPhone SE. Did they get the message?!!?
 
I want it, but I gave up my iPhone 7 for a reason: it's big.
I’ll never understand how removing the protective film is satisfying.

The go-to saying for tech youtubers 🙄

Unboxing Apple stuff is really fun. My kids got to do it once, when my wife got her Xs. They were all "wow, this is really fun."
 
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Am I the only person that smells the box...maybe I'm oversharing

Based on likes I’d say we’re not alone. My Mrs thought me weird when I tried to explain ‘Apple Smell’ to her.

Have you noticed that newer products aren’t the same. My first iPhone filled the room with new smell. My iPhone X I could barely notice.
 
I'm sure Apple didn't intend to have desire for the "old" 5/5S-sized original SE cannibalize its later and larger offerings the 6, 6S, 6s+ models. Tim Cook said in that keynote in March of 2016 that it was largely because of clamor for a smaller one again that caused the SE to be brought into the product line "even though the vast majority" of customers preferred a larger phone.

Cook was basically saying ok look we're not turning away part of a brand-loyal customer base just because most of that base has moved on and likes the larger ones. So we're adding a smaller phone back into the lineup.

So to me it made sense they didn't emphasize that model especially in the US. It was never meant to be their flagship phone in the then current lineup. But the smaller phone's pre orders exhausted whatever they had figured was the US market immediately since the ship dates slid out very fast... and it later sold like hotcakes in Asia, particularly to Chinese customers for whom the SE was their first iPhone.

I can see why keeping a slightly smaller phone alive now as the "SE 2" in the current lineup can have similar prospects, just generally due to the lower cost. It represents Apple's iconic smartphone very well at a great price to a market that may upgrade in the future. It may be especially fortuitous considering the coincidental occurrence of the economy-bashing coronavirus. People do still need smartphones even if they're laid off from work; their older models eventually croak or their kid drops the hand-me down model that's out of warranty.
Small correction: SE came out after 6 and 6S, not before.
I understand why Apple didn’t advertise the original SE. My question is more why they’re advertising the new SE when they didn’t advertise the original. But it may be due to the coronavirus’ effect on overall sales—they want to boost any sales they can get, even from their “cheap” phone. Not too worried about it cannibalizing their more expensive phone sales this time.

In my experience, the original SE was and is largely unknown by the majority of the people (like I said, the only people I knew who even heard of it were the few people I knew who, along with myself, owned it). And I believe it was precisely because Apple didn’t advertise it, as they‘re doing now for this SE. In the current situation, it might make sense for them to do so. But I wonder if they had advertised the original SE, how many more people who don’t necessarily want to use their phone as a main consumption device would have bought it. Perhaps they wouldn’t have moved onto bigger phones with everyone else and forgotten that small phones were ever an option. Perhaps there’d be bigger demand for small phones than there is now. But it was what it was, and we’ll never know. Very interested to see how the popularity of this SE unfolds, what with it being advertised this time around. Though it will be difficult or impossible to make any conclusions with so many factors—size, features, price, and timing.
 
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^^ yeah with respect to your early comment in that post, I had just meant that in bringing out the SE after the flagships had become the larger ones, Apple certainly didn't mean to have the SE cannibalize sales of those bigger ones just because some folks had signalled they did want a phone the size of the earlier 5-sized models.

For a smartphone, I liked my 4S and then the 5C a lot so I had skipped the whole 6 line upgrades and only upgraded when the SE finally came along. I do think my assessment of my XR as too big to be "a phone" is partly because of owning some iPads. I admit I like the larger real estate on those for reading newspapers and certainly magazines. The XR screen is fabulous for reading books. I think I'll just never get used to what I still think of as a cellphone much bigger than the SE.

I don't use the SE for surfing and I keep far fewer news apps on it, just wire services mostly for notifications. Past that it just has stuff like weather, music, podcasts, some reading apps like Books, Kindle, Libby. To me it's basically "my phone" and the other stuff on it has been for when I'm out and about and waiting on line or sitting in a dentist's office and the guy is running late on his appointments.

Like you I wonder if advertising would have switched up the buy rate in the US on the SE. No clue how the SE 2 will fare with or without advertising in the current economic climate. But it's not that much smaller than the flagship phones really and the pricing is attractive. People have heard some disparaging talk the past couple years about "thousand dollar smartphones" and suddenly there's an iPhone out with pretty good specs and you can get one for like 350 bucks (and a base of 64GB).

I think Apple can advertise the SE 2 in some clever ways and that it will do pretty well, expanding the market share without eating into the high end sales. Most people who already have a larger phone are not going to go back. Most folks who liked the SE might go for one sized like the SE 2 if Apple keeps that option in the smartphone line going forward. And newbie to the smartphone market who pick up an SE 2 might decide to stay with that size in future phone upgrades if they have a tablet already. Sounds like a lot of winning to me.
 
I want it, but I gave up my iPhone 7 for a reason: it's big.


Unboxing Apple stuff is really fun. My kids got to do it once, when my wife got her Xs. They were all "wow, this is really fun."
Yeah the unboxing is cool.
 
This ad from Apple is unbelievably stupid in 2020.
[automerge]1587192564[/automerge]
I’ll never understand how removing the protective film is satisfying.

The go-to saying for tech youtubers 🙄

I think Apple needs to remove the protective film due to the stupidity of its ad
 
Nothing new here. They covered this on Big Bang Theory 8 years ago, season 5 ep 14. If you watch make sure to stay to the end when Raj meets Siri.
 
This ad from Apple is unbelievably stupid in 2020.
[automerge]1587192564[/automerge]


I think Apple needs to remove the protective film due to the stupidity of its ad
Maybe, but there is something about the ad that resonates with some people, at least according to some comments here.
 
Short story: when I bought my iPhone 4, back then the cell provider had to activate it for you by getting the IMEI number and punching it in their system. He came from the back with the box and quickly opened it and peeled off the screen film. I think I walked around with a pissed off face for the rest of the day. 😒
 
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