“When I made those rounds with my new iPhone SE last month, nobody flinched,” Henry Grabar writes for Slate. “‘That’s a new phone?’ they asked, incredulous. I might as well have been showing people my belt.”
“I get it. The iPhone SE looks just like the phone you bought four years ago,” Grabar writes. “Its dimensions are identical to the iPhone 5, which was released in 2012, and its design is virtually indistinguishable.”
“Not, I think, because Jony Ive’s industrial design team has stopped trying. Rather, the SE suggests that Apple feels it’s found an ideal form for the device, the iPhone equivalent of the Swingline stapler, the KitchenAid mixer, or the Maglite,” Grabar writes. “It’s a design classic — and like a stapler or a flashlight, it’s been canonized only with the passage of time, not for instantly seductive aesthetics but for good old utility.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Classic design is classic design (and the Sleep/Wake button is on top where it’s supposed to be, too).
An instant iconic classic.
This is NOT news. Old phone upgraded specs. That’s fine but nothing more need be said.
I went from a 5 to the SE. I wanted to stay with the small size, which is what I got. What I didn’t expect was all the same “juice” as the 6s. This baby cranks.
My photos with the SE are beautiful and much easier to take. Everything happens in an instant. No more blurry photos when taking them in low light. The 5 was fine in bright daylight, but forget taking a good photos when indoors.
Speed to burn. I actually search for things on the web now using the SE where I never did on my 5.
I also upgraded from a 16gb model to 64gb. That is definitely the way to go.
My only complaint? The fingerprint recognition doesn’t work. I’ve put in the standard four fingers, thumbs and index fingers. Everything works great for a day or two and then for whatever reason it stops recognizing my fingerprints. I’ve delated my old prints, put in the same prints about five times and the same thing. After a few days it stops recognizing my prints. I’ve gotten use to just entering my (now six digits) passcode. No big deal. I’m sure when the next update comes along it will work just fine, and be faster as well. Or maybe SIRI will be smart about to say, “Okay, JW, I recognize you. What do you want? I’m little grouchy. I was sleeping.”
I “love” my SE. My wife got the 6S 4.7″ and thinks it’s perfect for her since she carries a purse. Both phones are great solutions.
And as I’ve said before, I wouldn’t mind seeing an even smaller iPhone. APPLE, work on cramming everything into an iPod Nano. That would be cool. And see if you can come up with a way to quickly swap the same number among several devices — different size devices for different occasions. I know there are constraints but if anyone can do it, you can.
Re the fingerprint recognition not working: Are you sure it just hasn’t been too long since you last used it? From an Apple document:
The passcode can always be used instead of Touch ID, and it’s still required under the following circumstances:
• The device has just been turned on or restarted.
• The device has not been unlocked for more than 48 hours.
• The passcode has not been used to unlock the device in the last six days and TouchID has not unlocked the device in the last eight hours.
• The device has received a remote lock command.
• After five unsuccessful attempts to match a fingerprint.
• When setting up or enrolling new fingers with Touch ID.
Thanks, but I use my phone throughout the day, many times. My environment is very clean, as are my fingers.
I probably use the phone 20-40 times day. Each time it wakes up I’m required to enter my passcode/finger print. The finger print usually stops working by the second day. I try my right thumb first. Then again. Then I try the other thumb. Then my index. By that time I’m required to enter my code due to exceeding the number of failures. After going through this procedure this many times I’ve decided it’s easier to just enter the passcode first and forget my fingers.
Thanks for the info just the same.
Hmmm, this doesn’t mirror my experience at all. I’ve had no problem with the fingerprint sensor or behavior. Indeed, my one concern with the SE (I also went from a 5 to the SE, size being the single reason I never went to the 6 or the 6+) was that the fingerprint sensor was the older model- it was about the one thing that hadn’t been swapped in from the 6. But it’s worked steadily, with all the fingers I chose to set up. Sounds like a visit to the Store is in order for ya.