This article was 1st published on our sister Site, Digital World Native.
Apple has announced the availability of the iPhone SE, which takes the innards & power of their best-selling last gen 6s & puts it into a smaller form factor. It’s clear that because of its unwieldy size, many iPhone customers were unwilling, or unable because of the price, to upgrade their iPhone 5 or their old iPhone 4 clunker. So, with the 4 inch screen & a hefty cost savings compared to the 6s, Apple has just given iPhone fans a reason to get themselves a new handset.
The iPhone SE is Apple’s attempt to retain & even grow a segment of the market that is uncomfortable with the trend towards bigger smartphones that was first popularized by Samsung & later copied by Apple itself. The iPhone 6 was introduced in 2014 & featured a 4.7” screen, with an even bigger iPhone 6S Plus at 5.5”, & last year upgraded the hardware on both those models, with the iPhone 6S & 6S Plus, while retaining the larger screen sizes. So, the 60% of iPhone users that still haven’t upgraded to the iPhone 6 or newer, folks with small hands or that weren’t into the larger screens, have been out of luck if they wanted to get a latest-gen specced iPhone, until now.
The form factor for the iPhone SE is similar to the 5s, which was introduced in 2013. It comes with a metal body & of course, a 4” screen, a Touch ID fingerprint scanner, support for Apple Pay via an NFC chip, as well as a 12-megapixel camera with a flush camera lens & an A9 processor, all of these (except for the screen size), features of Apple’s 2015 iPhone 6S models. These specs make the new model’s processor twice as powerful & it’s graphics chip 4 times as speedy as the iPhone 5S, while gaining in battery life. The SE is available in 4 different colors: white, black, gold & rose gold.
The iPhone SE starts at a price of US $399 for a basic model with 16GB of storage vs $649 for a similarly equipped iPhone 6S. Apple may have a difficult time competing with other manufacturer’s on price at the form factor that they’re targeting since the competition has been marketing similarly specced budget phones for a lesser price, most notably from Motorola, Samsung & HTC. But of course, although it’s small, the iPhone SE is definitely not a budget phone. Its specs are that of a flagship phone, & its industrial design harkens back to the 4s, a creation that fans of Apple head designer Jonny Ives hold near & dear.
As Apple puts it on its website:
A beloved design. Now with more to love.
iPhone SE takes an incredibly popular design and refines it even further. Crafted from bead-blasted aluminum for a satin-like finish, this light and compact phone is designed to fit comfortably in your hand. A brilliant 4‑inch1 Retina display makes everything look vibrant and sharp. And matte-chamfered edges and a color-matched stainless steel logo finish the look.
No wonder 60% of users still haven’t switched. Now’s their chance.
Image Credit: Apple
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