Almost exactly six years ago in 2016, when Apple’s flagship phone was the iPhone 6s, Apple introduced the iPhone SE. The 2016 version of the iPhone SE took most of the insides of the iPhone 6s (which has been introduced six months earlier) and put it in a smaller and cheaper device ($399 for the base model) that was about the size of an iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s (which had been released in 2012 and 2013). If you wanted a smaller iPhone, it was an excellent product at the time. Apple continued to sell the iPhone SE for four years, and near the end of that time, it was far less powerful than the flagship iPhone models. Nevertheless, people still bought the iPhone SE because of its size and price. On April 15, 2020, Apple introduced the iPhone SE (second generation). The second iPhone SE took most of the guts of an iPhone 11 (which had been introduced seven months earlier) and put it into a body that was similar to the iPhone 8 (introduced in 2017). This second version of the iPhone SE was sold by Apple for almost two years, when it was replaced this week by the iPhone SE (third generation).
With the third version of the iPhone SE, Apple is following the same playbook that it has used in the past. First, take an older iPhone design—one that some would call dated, and others would appreciate as a classic. Second, add most of the insides of the current flagship iPhone. And third, sell it all for a lower price. The 2022 version of the iPhone SE uses the same iPhone 8 model as the 2020 iPhone SE, a smaller model that includes a home button with Touch ID. However, the guts of the new iPhone SE are similar to the current top-of-the-line iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, the A15 chip—a very fast processor. And the price is nice, starting at $429 (a $30 increase from the first and second generation iPhone SE models, which started at $399).
The new iPhone SE comes in three colors: midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED.
There is a lot to love about the latest iPhone SE. The A15 chip is incredibly fast right now and should continue to seem fast and responsive for many years to come. The latest iPhone SE has longer battery life than many older iPhones. For example, Apple advertises two hours more video playback time than the iPhone SE (second generation), iPhone 7, or iPhone 8—three devices from which many purchasers of the new iPhone SE will be upgrading. It supports 5G, which is still not very important today but should be more important in years to come. And like many other modern iPhones, it is reasonably durable if you drop it or spill water on it.
You can get the 64GB version for $429, spend another $50 for a 128GB version, or spend $579 for the 256GB version. The 128GB version seems like the sweet spot for many.
- The iPhone SE has a smaller 4.7″ screen, versus the 6.1″ of the iPhone 13, and the iPhone 13 screen looks better and brighter with far more colors.
- The iPhone 13 adds a second camera: an Ultra Wide camera. (But not a zoom lens; you need the iPhone 13 Pro to get that one.) And the iPhone 13 has more photography capabilities, such as Night Mode and the ability to record Dolby Vision HDR video at up to 4K at 60fps, which will look amazing if you have a new 4K television.
- The iPhone 13 has about four hours more of battery life than the iPhone SE.
- The iPhone 13 works with MagSafe accessories—the ones that use a magnet to connect to the back.
- The iPhone 13 supports a much faster version of 5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave), but currently it is hard to find areas that support that.
- The iPhone 13 has an Ultra Wideband chip that you can use with the Find My app to locate lost items with even more precision.
- The iPhone 13 supports spatial audio / Dolby Atmos for 3D sound.
Another important difference is the home button with Touch ID versus Face ID. I prefer Face ID because it is faster and easier to use. For a long time during the pandemic, Face ID was a problem when you were wearing a mask, but Apple has recently fixed that. And since you don’t need to devote space on the front of the iPhone for a home button, you get even more space on the front of the iPhone for a larger screen when you use an iPhone that supports Face ID. On the other hand, I know that some folks grew up using a home button on an iPhone and that is simply what they prefer. (For example, my wife still prefers the home button, and she uses a second generation iPhone SE.) Suffice it to say that reasonable minds can disagree over whether a home button with Touch ID is better or worse than Face ID, but it is certainly an important difference to consider.
As for the other differences I noted in the bullet points above, those are all very nice advantages of the iPhone 13. But depending upon how you use your iPhone, you may not care about many, or perhaps all, of those features. If they don’t make a big difference to you, why spend an extra $320 for them? That’s almost the price of a second iPhone SE.
Conclusion
I know that I will always be a person who appreciates the latest and greatest features of a top-of-the-line iPhone. But I also know that a large number of folks don’t care about most of that. They just want to check their emails, use Messages, use a few apps, etc. They may take pictures with their iPhone, but they don’t feel the need to have the best possible picture using the latest mobile camera technology; they just want a simple picture that can be shared on social media. And they want to spend as low a price as possible for an iPhone. If there is a chance that you are going to drop and break or lose your iPhone, it is much better to have spent less than $500 on an iPhone SE versus over $1000 for an iPhone 13 Pro. For all of these folks, the iPhone SE has always been a great product.
Now that Apple has once again refreshed the processor and other internal features in the iPhone SE, you can buy an iPhone SE today and know that it will remain dependable and responsive for many years to come. And for folks who prefer the home button with Touch ID, this is the best device you can get. As Apple says, it is “a powerful smartphone in an iconic design.”
You can pre-order an iPhone SE (third generation) starting tomorrow, March 11, at 5am Pacific / 8am Eastern, and the new iPhone SE will be available in stores a week later on March 18.
Nice work, Jeff. FYI – I have the SE (2020) to which I forward my office phone calls. I do not want all of my calls coming to my usual cell nor do I want all of my possible clients to have it.
The forwarding to the SE is great when I am working remotely five months per year, but also great in the office itself. The visual voicemail makes digging through voicemails more palatable and the ability to respond via text is incredibly productive. I do not need anything better – better camera, more speed, or a larger screen. The only issue is trying to remember to press the home button for Siri rather than clicking on the side. 🙂