New iPhone SE Offers Improved Battery Life Compared to Previous Model

Well that didn’t take long.
 

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Don’t buy the Mini. This late in the season, I would just wait it out and to see what Apple releases in September. I’m telling you, ‘buyers remorse’ is a very real thing. Unless you need to upgrade now, I certainly wouldn’t invest in the Mini.

Well, we do know that anything Apple will release this year will be having 6.1” screens and larger. The only reason not to buy a “small” iPhone now would be hopping that Apple would continue selling mini 13 past September 2022.
 
Buy a XR if you can find one. Or the 11 is still available in many brick and mortar retailers. If you still find the 11 a little pricy, then consider the Samsung S20fe5g on the Android side. It’s still a very capable phone.

Apple still sell iPhone 11 themselves. ?
 
Yeah I remember the exactly same spiel after the iPhone 2020, new power efficient processor means improved battery life. Didn’t work that way in real life. Battery life was the worst of all current iPhones. And the constant charging means battery health was at 80% in a year or less. It needs more mah not and improved processor
 
speaking from 6s owner, Was very keen to upgrade to SE3 until apple add touch ID and type C.
Based on the SE3 release, I rather replace my battery and wait further.

ps: really wish apple added 120hz to iPhone mini then they won't have problem selling them and keep normal 13 with 60hz. That would be a good balance don't you guys think?
 
Yeah I remember the exactly same spiel after the iPhone 2020, new power efficient processor means improved battery life. Didn’t work that way in real life. Battery life was the worst of all current iPhones.
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That must be a subjective sentence, because that was not the case for me at all with the ‘worst of all iPhones’ with the battery life. As a matter fact, that was my work phone and I was more than pleasantly surprised how good the battery life actually was. So the argument goes both ways anecdotally.
 
View attachment 1970047Exact same as iPhone 12 mini. Interesting! So… what is that…. 3hours of screen on time?

Around 5 hours.

The 12 mini has a slightly larger screen than the SE 3 (5.4 inch vs the SE's 4.7), and a more power hungry processor, A14 vs A15. Given that it uses more power with more inefficient hardware but is rated the same runtime as the SE 3, that tells me the battery is bigger, obviously. The 12 mini uses a 2,227 mAh battery. The previous gen SE had a 1,821 mAh battery. And given that the Apple announcement said "new battery tech" and nothing about battery size, and the form factor for everything else is exactly the same, the SE 3 will have an 1,821 mAh battery.

In theory, it *should* perform slightly better than the iPhone 13 mini (proportionally!), given that they will use the same chip, but the 13 has, again, a larger screen and more performance/power hungry tech (e.g. 4x mimo radios instead of 2, ultra 5g instead of standard, etc.). BUT, the 13 mini has a 2,406 mAh battery. The SE3's battery is ~75% of the size of the 13 mini.

The 13 mini lasted 6.43 hours (6 hours 26 minutes; Source: youtube iPhone 13 Pro Max vs 13 Pro / 13 / 13 Mini / 12 / 11 / SE - Battery Life DRAIN TEST). 75% of that is 4.825 hours, but then add in a little bit for smaller screen and less power hungry, and you're likely sitting at barely above 5. The 13 mini's battery is fantastic. I wish they'd put that battery in the SE 3 but I guess they have to hamstring it a little bit so they don't hurt their more premium offerings. These are both incredible phones for someone who wants a small phone and not a phablet in their pocket 24/7. I will be buying one of the two, probably the SE 3, depending on how the battery tests and actual hands on reviews look.

I prefer touch ID over faceID, I don't like the notch, I don't care about the extra camera stuff, I DO want 5G, the price is way more attractive on the SE 3, and so on. As a current SE 2 user, really my only major complaint is the battery life. It's quite poor. Everything else, though, it's a fantastic little phone. I used to be an Android guy, but I was won over. I buy my phones in cash and the way apple does it now is just great. My SE was 399 cash. I remember the "olden days" where you had to go in to Verizon, sign a 2 year contract, wait for upgrades, early termination fees, and all that nonsense. Buying a 400 dollar phone in cash with no contract or payments is a VERY attractive offering in this space. Not to mention that it packs the same processor as the flagships, 5G speeds, the Apple ecosystem, and all the other great features. I don't need EVERY bell and whistle. I want VALUE. And the SE wins in value. The 13 mini costs about 60% more than the SE 3. Does it provide 60% more value to you? If so, buy it. If not, buy the SE 3. We will see.

Don’t buy the Mini. This late in the season, I would just wait it out and to see what Apple releases in September. I’m telling you, ‘buyers remorse’ is a very real thing. Unless you need to upgrade now, I certainly wouldn’t invest in the Mini.

The age old "wait for the next thing to drop". They're ALWAYS "just about to drop" a new piece of tech. Can't go your whole life holding out for an upgrade. Don't buy the iPhone 14 because the 15 will be here in 12 months and it'll REALLY blow your socks off. Whatever. It's a phone. Unless they are dropping a new one tomorrow, just buy the one that suits you best in the moment. Besides, apple products hold their value really well. Just sell it in x months for a hundred buck loss and move on with your life.
 
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My daughter has iPhone SE 2020 and can't do Live Wallpaper on the lock screen (not available on SE and SE 2020). Any way of telling if the 2022 iPhone SE will do Live Wallpaper on lock screen?

EDIT: I'm guessing not. Seems to need Haptic Touch and don't see that is part of the new SE at all.

It’s available on iPhone SE 3 ?
 

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I love my white 13, but there's something to be said about the old thin & rounded design.
I still have my old iPhone 7 and I sometimes hold it for fun; I'll have to say the lightness and rounded edges makes it much more comfortable to hold, even though the design is quite old looking.
 
All I really wanted was a night mode. Oh well… At least battery life isn’t as crappy anymore, but still nothing to write home about in 2022. Don’t really care much for cpu, since I don’t play games on my phone. Combined with the price hike, I hope my 1st gen SE makes it till the next version…
 
I’m quite pleased and I’ll be pre-ordering it on Friday, once I decide what colour I want. It’s the only smallish iPhone with a home button, bezels and an LCD screen so it ticks most boxes for me. I’m glad they’ve improved the battery life as that was the reason I avoided the SE2. I couldn’t care less about the tech specs and with the camera, as long as I can make out what’s in the photo then I’m happy.

I would still prefer one the same size as my SE1. I’d be willing to pay a lot more for that. Nicer colours would have been good too. Black, white and red are so boring but I’ll cover it up with a case. If the phone itself turns out to be rubbish, I’ll trade it in later.
 
A15 Bionic helps to achieve improved battery life. iPhone SE will be a great entry level iPhone.
 
Around 5 hours.

The 12 mini has a slightly larger screen than the SE 3 (5.4 inch vs the SE's 4.7), and a more power hungry processor, A14 vs A15. Given that it uses more power with more inefficient hardware but is rated the same runtime as the SE 3, that tells me the battery is bigger, obviously. The 12 mini uses a 2,227 mAh battery. The previous gen SE had a 1,821 mAh battery. And given that the Apple announcement said "new battery tech" and nothing about battery size, and the form factor for everything else is exactly the same, the SE 3 will have an 1,821 mAh battery.

In theory, it *should* perform slightly better than the iPhone 13 mini (proportionally!), given that they will use the same chip, but the 13 has, again, a larger screen and more performance/power hungry tech (e.g. 4x mimo radios instead of 2, ultra 5g instead of standard, etc.). BUT, the 13 mini has a 2,406 mAh battery. The SE3's battery is ~75% of the size of the 13 mini.

The 13 mini lasted 6.43 hours (6 hours 26 minutes; Source: youtube iPhone 13 Pro Max vs 13 Pro / 13 / 13 Mini / 12 / 11 / SE - Battery Life DRAIN TEST). 75% of that is 4.825 hours, but then add in a little bit for smaller screen and less power hungry, and you're likely sitting at barely above 5. The 13 mini's battery is fantastic. I wish they'd put that battery in the SE 3 but I guess they have to hamstring it a little bit so they don't hurt their more premium offerings. These are both incredible phones for someone who wants a small phone and not a phablet in their pocket 24/7. I will be buying one of the two, probably the SE 3, depending on how the battery tests and actual hands on reviews look.

I prefer touch ID over faceID, I don't like the notch, I don't care about the extra camera stuff, I DO want 5G, the price is way more attractive on the SE 3, and so on. As a current SE 2 user, really my only major complaint is the battery life. It's quite poor. Everything else, though, it's a fantastic little phone. I used to be an Android guy, but I was won over. I buy my phones in cash and the way apple does it now is just great. My SE was 399 cash. I remember the "olden days" where you had to go in to Verizon, sign a 2 year contract, wait for upgrades, early termination fees, and all that nonsense. Buying a 400 dollar phone in cash with no contract or payments is a VERY attractive offering in this space. Not to mention that it packs the same processor as the flagships, 5G speeds, the Apple ecosystem, and all the other great features. I don't need EVERY bell and whistle. I want VALUE. And the SE wins in value. The 13 mini costs about 60% more than the SE 3. Does it provide 60% more value to you? If so, buy it. If not, buy the SE 3. We will see.



The age old "wait for the next thing to drop". They're ALWAYS "just about to drop" a new piece of tech. Can't go your whole life holding out for an upgrade. Don't buy the iPhone 14 because the 15 will be here in 12 months and it'll REALLY blow your socks off. Whatever. It's a phone. Unless they are dropping a new one tomorrow, just buy the one that suits you best in the moment. Besides, apple products hold their value really well. Just sell it in x months for a hundred buck loss and move on with your life.
Wow that was a really good in-depth response. I’m using voice to text so this will be fun to see what errors show up. I have a mini I have a 13 mini and I get about 6 hours of screen on time for 100% battery use. I’m just extrapolating to 100% I get about three hours used for 50% battery, so if the SE three if the SE 2022 has better battery life than the SE 2020 and similar to the 12 mini around five hours and that does sound pretty good and if you like touch ID better than that sounds like a winner for you
 
All I really wanted was a night mode. Oh well… At least battery life isn’t as crappy anymore, but still nothing to write home about in 2022. Don’t really care much for cpu, since I don’t play games on my phone. Combined with the price hike, I hope my 1st gen SE makes it till the next version…
Night mode has been pretty great in several situations. I didn’t miss it before, but now that I have it it’s been great.
 
My daughter has iPhone SE 2020 and can't do Live Wallpaper on the lock screen (not available on SE and SE 2020). Any way of telling if the 2022 iPhone SE will do Live Wallpaper on lock screen?

EDIT: I'm guessing not. Seems to need Haptic Touch and don't see that is part of the new SE at all.

It’s available on iPhone SE 3 ?
Really?? No live on SE 2020? Geez that’s lame. It’s all iOS now, no need for force touch peek pop screen tech.

Sounds like Apple being Apple gimping old phones for something that it could handle but they gimp it to save it for the best phones.

But why take THAT away on SE2020 of all the things? I love Apple, but sometimes… man.
 
The 13 mini is still so much better with everything v this SE and offers so many more add-ons. Wait, you say? The Mini is still a couple hundred more? Well worth it with the type of display alone.
I too went from the SE 2020 to the 13 mini, and I'd call it a wash at this point. BUT it's really too soon to call it for me (I got the mini in early January). I really haven't been in much of a situation yet to really put the cameras through their paces, which I expect to be a more fun experience. But I really do not like Face ID vs. Touch ID. I find it perfectly reliable, but the user experience is worse, which affects me many times a day.

BUT this article is about battery, and on that metric, the 13 mini is much much better than the SE 2020. I do not expect that the SE 2022 has a larger battery than the 2020. It has a more efficient chip, and there was reference to improved battery chemistry, so I do expect some improvement, but I'm keeping my expectations low. My wife is considering an upgrade from her SE 2016, and she may very well opt for this phone over the 13 mini.

I would wait a few months before coming to a conclusion on the battery, at any rate. There will be a lot of high marks for the phone from users early on, it will only be after the initial "new tech, yay!" feeling subsides from buyers, and after a couple months of use, before we get really well-tested opinions.
 
An Android user who buys the SE doesn't get a taste of Apple and want to upgrade to a more expensive Iphone. They get a taste of terrible battery life and go back to Android. Apple, what are you thinking with this?

This, 100%.

They couldn't fit a physically larger batter in the SE. I understand the A15 is more efficient, but you still can't get past how tiny this battery is. Mid-range Android phones have large batteries with amazing battery life, and decent real world performance. This will be a terrible experience from anyone switching.
 
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