iPhone SE (2016) Why Apple made the iPhone SE

[akash.nu]

Apple made it to open up opportunities. My wife and I each bought one and the reason was price. I follow specs and research things so I knew what I was getting and I felt it was a good value. I knew there would’ve trade offs to lower the price but after looking I felt I was getting a good deal.

This price point allowed us to buy two phones instead of just one. Because of this my wife was able to get rid of her slow and worn out LG and I was able to upgrade from my 6s. I passed my 6s down as a first phone before it gets upgraded to something newer and more expensive. If this phone didn’t come out at this price only my wife would be getting a phone this year and I would wait one more year. My 6s is only about a year and a half old so it has life left in it.

Damn! People still buy LG phones?!

 

[remington79]

Damn! People still buy LG phones?!

It was a switch and get a free phone and money was tight. When I finally switched they were giving out iPhone 6s so I got that. Sure it was rose gold but the price was right and it was in an Otterbox so no one saw.

 

[aakshey]

Apple's CFO said in 2016, "... we believe that the SE is doing exactly what it was intended, which is we are seeing a higher rate of new to iPhone customers, which is obviously very important to us as we bring new people into the iOS ecosystem." "We added millions of first-time smartphone buyers in the June quarter."

The SE is $399.

In other words, a low-cost iPhone attracts Android users and first-time smartphone users. Where are these Android users coming from? Who are first time smartphone users? Obviously from emerging countries.

The spokesperson probably didn’t know better and/or was sharing his opinion based on the sales figures.

I live in the world’s largest emerging economy. There are no first time smartphone users. Pretty much everybody has a smartphone. Those who don’t usually earn less than USD 50-100 a month. They will probably never buy an iPhone in their life.

I have personally arranged iPhone SE (2016) for many iPhone/first time Apple/iPhone buyers. The reason is usually the below:

It is an iPhone

It is cheaper than Android flagships yet wasn’t outdated for quite some time years ago.

For some people, the size might be the cherry on the top.

Anybody who buys an iPhone SE previously owned:

An Android phone. Usually cheap ones.

Or

An iPhone 5s or older and doesn’t want to spend more than USD 200-300 on an iPhone.

People who are first time buyers for smartphones in India:

They always have an income of sub USD 50 to 150 a month. They never buy smartphones that cost more than USD 100-150 or so. They never buy iPhones.

Anybody who buys an iPhone usually earns over USD 300-500 or so if they’re super young and not really dependent on that income alone and/or are bachelors from relatively well off families. Most middle aged people only buy iPhones if they earn USD 1000-5000+ a month. And most of these people still have iPhone 6/7 or lower and in rare cases iPhone XR or iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE was basically a flop in India. iPhone 6/6s/XR did a lot better.

The average iPhone buyer in India doesn’t look at processor or RAM. However, Android users do.

 

[macrumors newbie]

But its a xiaomi,

Yes, avoid Xiaomi as there is baked in spyware.

Exclusive: Warning Over Chinese Mobile Giant Xiaomi Recording Millions Of People’s ‘Private’ Web And Phone Use

Xiaomi is collecting users’ browser habits and phone usage, raising red flags for privacy researchers.

www.forbes.com

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

This video sums it up nicely.

That is a good review and sums things up well. However, I don't agree with what he said regarding storage and - in my view at least - I think most people will be fine with 'only' 64GB. My current first generation SE has 128GB and despite the fact I feel like I have tonnes of photos and recordings, my storage right now is just 23GB of 128GB used up. It depends on each individual, obviously, but - for me at least - 64GB will be more than enough and should comfortably see me through the next few years.

 

[akash.nu]

That is a good review and sums things up well. However, I don't agree with what he said regarding storage and - in my view at least - I think most people will be fine with 'only' 64GB. My current first generation SE has 128GB and despite the fact I feel like I have tonnes of photos and recordings, my storage right now is just 23GB of 128GB used up. It depends on each individual, obviously, but - for me at least - 64GB will be more than enough and should comfortably see me through the next few years.

I hear you. I’m on a 64GB device as well and that’s fine for me personally since I use iCloud heavily and properly into the ecosystem but I feel like a lot of people who are going to go for SE won’t necessarily like to pay extra for iCloud or want to be in the ecosystem. So it’s good for them to go a with the higher tier of storage just to be safe.

Having said that, if people have good enough data connection or mostly are connected to WiFi then I don’t know why anyone would not get iCloud. It’s a no brainer for me. A cup of coffee costs more than a month of 200GB iCloud storage.

 

[JSRinUK]

That is a good review and sums things up well. However, I don't agree with what he said regarding storage and - in my view at least - I think most people will be fine with 'only' 64GB. My current first generation SE has 128GB and despite the fact I feel like I have tonnes of photos and recordings, my storage right now is just 23GB of 128GB used up. It depends on each individual, obviously, but - for me at least - 64GB will be more than enough and should comfortably see me through the next few years.

I kind of find myself agreeing with him on that point, because I don’t intend to be replacing my SE for the next few years. 64GB might seem like a lot today, but will it seem like a lot in 4-years time?

Before buying the new SE, I checked my old SE (128GB) and was surprised to see I was using around 80GB. Most of it was audiobooks which, sure, I could have got rid off (they’re available to download whenever I want them), but then I decided I’d go for the 128GB new SE anyway - mainly because I see myself using it for the next few years, and I don’t want to end up facing a situation where I *need* to be deleting stuff off it just so I have space to film holiday videos of my family.

When I upgraded from my iPad mini 2 to the iPad mini 5, I went with 64GB. I knew I wouldn’t be using it the same way as my phone - it’s unlikely I’d be taking many videos on it, I wouldn’t be downloading my audiobooks and music to it - so 64GB was okay with me (and, besides, the only other storage option - 256GB - was a massive price leap too far).

For the new SE, though, I didn’t feel that the price difference between 64GB and 128GB was sufficient to face potential storage issues further down the line. Had it been £100 more rather than £50, however, I would have stuck with the 64GB model and made do.
[automerge]1588509356[/automerge]

A cup of coffee costs more than a month of 200GB iCloud storage.

I love that phrase. My "cup of coffee" is Nescafe Instant Gold and costs me about 12p. My 200GB iCloud storage costs me 20 "cups of coffee".

I wonder if Apple will reduce iCloud to the cost of MY "cup of coffee"? Naah, didn't think so... 😃

 

[akash.nu]

[automerge]1588509356[/automerge]

I love that phrase. My "cup of coffee" is Nescafe Instant Gold and costs me about 12p. My 200GB iCloud storage costs me 20 "cups of coffee".

I wonder if Apple will reduce iCloud to the cost of MY "cup of coffee"? Naah, didn't think so...

I should have mentioned - if you get proper coffee from any of the cafes that’ll cost you more. A crappy cheese burger meal costs more than the iCloud storage expenses. I guess it just depends on value for your money. I’d rather spend mine on a reliable service for a whole month than a cheese burger / a cup of proper coffee.

Even if I don’t use these analogies, still the extra amount you pay for the higher tier is often more in total compared to paying for iCloud storage, if you kept your device for 2-3 years and paid for iCloud.

Here’s my easy calculation for this whole thing -
- I’m paying £2.49 for 200GB of iCloud storage. In 2 years I’d pay £59.76.
- I’m on a 64GB iPhone 11 Pro. The next tier up is £150 extra which will get me 256GB in total.

So, I’m spending almost 1/3rd of that and gaining 264GB in total, 8GB of more storage, over 2 years.

Looking at my upgrade cycle I’ll probably not keep this phone for 2 years. But even if I do, I’ll still be in a better position.

Now, it might save you a bit more, by paying upfront for the physical storage, if you keep your devices for 4-5 years but yeah that’s why I agreed with the point in the video that buying 128GB for that type of people is better.

 

[rui no onna]

Even if I don’t use these analogies, still the extra amount you pay for the higher tier is often more in total compared to paying for iCloud storage, if you kept your device for 2-3 years and paid for iCloud.

Here’s my easy calculation for this whole thing -
- I’m paying £2.49 for 200GB of iCloud storage. In 2 years I’d pay £59.76.
- I’m on a 64GB iPhone 11 Pro. The next tier up is £150 extra which will get me 256GB in total.

So, I’m spending almost 1/3rd of that and gaining 264GB in total, 8GB of more storage, over 2 years.

Looking at my upgrade cycle I’ll probably not keep this phone for 2 years. But even if I do, I’ll still be in a better position.

Now, it might save you a bit more, by paying upfront for the physical storage, if you keep your devices for 4-5 years but yeah that’s why I agreed with the point in the video that buying 128GB for that type of people is better.

I pay for 200GB iCloud (shared with family, of which we only use ~140GB) but I also pay for extra storage on my devices.

iCloud is fine if your primary data hog is your Photo Library. Not so much if it's apps and app data and you need to access them in times when you don't have fast, cheap, unlimited internet.

 

[akash.nu]

I pay for 200GB iCloud (shared with family, of which we only use ~140GB) but I also pay for extra storage on my devices.

iCloud is fine if your primary data hog is your Photo Library. Not so much if it's apps and app data and you need to access them in times when you don't have fast, cheap, unlimited internet.

Yes of course. Usage and access will vary depending on where you are. I use iCloud for pretty much everything starting from app data to photos to cross device syncing etc. Also I’m generally always in places with good to decent internet connection either via WiFi or cellular data. But if it doesn’t work for you then it completely makes sense to get the higher tier.

 

[JSRinUK]

I should have mentioned - if you get proper coffee from any of the cafes that’ll cost you more. A crappy cheese burger meal costs more than the iCloud storage expenses. I guess it just depends on value for your money. I’d rather spend mine on a reliable service for a whole month than a cheese burger / a cup of proper coffee.

If I didn't have iCloud, I wouldn't be wasting that £2.49 on a single cup of coffee! 😃 😃

Now, it might save you a bit more, by paying upfront for the physical storage, if you keep your devices for 4-5 years but yeah that’s why I agreed with the point in the video that buying 128GB for that type of people is better.

As you say, it's up to the individual to decide what their priority is.

I have iCloud primarily for backup purposes. Where I live I (currently) have pretty good broadband connection but, once I go out of the house, my mobile contract has just 1GB/month of data. I don't want to be doing a lot of downloading when out of the house.

I often visit my sister's family a couple of hundred miles away. They live in the middle of nowhere, and their broadband connection leaves a lot to be desired - you're lucky if you can browse the web, you definitely don't want to be streaming/downloading. They also live in an area where mobile data/3G/4G is pretty much non-existent. I have to piggyback my phone onto their WiFi just to make phone calls and send text messages. No streaming at all outside their house.

So, in my use case, it's kind of "belt and braces". I need enough storage to download a bunch of stuff before leaving home, yet I have iCloud for backup. For £2.49, I consider iCloud value for money.

 

[akash.nu]

If I didn't have iCloud, I wouldn't be wasting that £2.49 on a single cup of coffee!


As you say, it's up to the individual to decide what their priority is.

I have iCloud primarily for backup purposes. Where I live I (currently) have pretty good broadband connection but, once I go out of the house, my mobile contract has just 1GB/month of data. I don't want to be doing a lot of downloading when out of the house.

I often visit my sister's family a couple of hundred miles away. They live in the middle of nowhere, and their broadband connection leaves a lot to be desired - you're lucky if you can browse the web, you definitely don't want to be streaming/downloading. They also live in an area where mobile data/3G/4G is pretty much non-existent. I have to piggyback my phone onto their WiFi just to make phone calls and send text messages. No streaming at all outside their house.

So, in my use case, it's kind of "belt and braces". I need enough storage to download a bunch of stuff before leaving home, yet I have iCloud for backup. For £2.49, I consider iCloud value for money.

Completely makes sense in your situation.