“Flagship smartphones seem to keep getting bigger, but the continued demand for more compact and pocket-friendly tech has kept devices like Apple’s highly-rated iPhone SE on the market,” Lucas Coll writes for Digital Trends. “This handy phone normally costs around $400, but is now available from Best Buy for as low as $300. Just select which network you want the phone to be on — Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T — and enjoy long-term savings with a small monthly payment.”
Coll writes, “The Apple iPhone SE earned high praise from our review team who concluded that it is quite simply the best four-inch phone on the market.”
“You can get the 16GB Apple iPhone SE at a discount from Best Buy when you select one of these monthly plans: $10 per month for 30 months from AT&T or $12.50 per month for 24 months from Verizon or Sprint,” Coll writes. “This brings the total price of this compact phone down to $300 for a tidy savings of around $100. If you prefer more internal storage, you can choose the 64GB iPhone SE — normally a $100 upgrade — for a couple dollars more each month, which brings the total price to $350.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For those interested in the iPhone SE, we recommend choosing the 64GB model for $50 more. 16GB is far too limiting for the vast majority of users and the extra 48GB is well worth the $50.
Concur with MDN! 4x the storage for an additional $50 is a steal.
Hopefully, Apple will continue to see value in the SE form factor and deliver future iPhones in the S/M/L format. Apple may not be able to pack in all of the features from the “plus” phones, such as fancy cameras, but it needs to include the key features that tie the devices into the current and future iOS ecosystem. With an edge-to-edge display design philosophy, Apple might even be able to enlarge the SE display a bit within the same (or nearly the same) form factor.
Steal? Just a bit of hyperbole there.
The “5E” as I call it is a great way to use up old parts, but how dumb would one feel if he bought what is essentially a ~3.5 year old phone (the 5S was released in September 2013) at full price and Apple released a nice new phone this year in the size you want? The SE offers small size, but even with the minor refresh if got in camera and chip over the 5S, the 5E is at least a full generation behind all other iPhones in every measurable parameter.
Unless you’re truly desperate and cannot live with the oh-so-huge screen on a cost effective 6S, I’d advise everyone to use their existing 4″ phones until Apple gives a signal what it’s going to release for Xmas. The worst thing that might happen is that Apple doesn’t refresh or discount the 5E. But you know that cellular providers will discount the hell out of old and old-looking hardware when new 2017 hardware is available.
If Apple actually wanted to impress us, a real family of iPhones in 3 screen sizes and identical design theme, chipset, and memory capacities would be very nice. Also thicker for flush camera and more battery in all models would be a nice touch.
Factually incorrect. iPhone SE and 6S have the same:
Processor (9)
Ram (2GB)
Rear camera (12 mp)
Display pixel density (326ppi)
The only differences are
Lack of 3D Touch (pressure sensitive display)
Older generation of Touch ID sensor (making it very little slower)
Slower 4G (“only” 150Gb, vs. 350Gb; if you find a place that has 350Gb cell coverage, let me know and I’ll move there tomorrow)
Lower resolution selfie camera (1.2mp vs. 2mp)
This phone is quite a lot faster than iPhone 6 and even more (much more) than 5s.
Let’s new t forget, se came out less than a year ago, and A9 was the fastest chipset at the time. It was in every way comparable to 6s, and NOT 6, never mind 5s (except the size).
Not factually incorrect. I clearly said that the SE got a minor refresh over the 5S, and that is accurate. The chips in the SE are two generations old now. Apple is on the eve of releasing the 7S or 8.
More comparisons:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/review/iphone/apple-iphone-se-vs-iphone-5s-comparison-review-2016-3637518/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/iphone-se-vs-iphone-5s/
Anyway, moot point now. Apple obviously isn’t planning to release an all-new 4″ screen phone with the new 7S or 8 models rumored to be released later this year. All Apple did was jigger price and memory of the SE. Enjoy what Apple has decided to give you. Obviously Apple thinks the iPhone size sweet spot is with larger screens, so all the newest chips and cameras etc are going there. I don’t like it any more than you. That is why I said as much in my prior post. Sorry you feel the need to apologize for Apple’s decision to treat 4″ iPhone buyers as second class citizens. I guess it could be worse, Apple could be treating you like a Mac owner.
Yes, factually incorrect, for the most part.
iPhone SE has A9. Same as iPhone 6s. The only iPhone that has newer chipset is iPhone 7 / 7plus (A10). And that one only came out five months ago.
Next major iPhone release won’t happen until October. We are still closer to the last one than the next one (although, there are apparently some people that believe that Apple will suddenly change their annual refresh cycle and release something much sooner than that; perhaps this spring; I’m not one of them).
So, if we look at the model you’re talking about, 5s, its chipset was A7. The chipset in the 5s is three generations old. The one in SE is just ONE generation old (i.e. not current, but previous). Remember, there was an iPhone 6 (with A8) between 5s and 6s (SE).
I understand what is the point you are trying to make, but it would likely be more powerful if you weren’t stretching the facts a bit in order to make the point stronger.
When Apple released the SE last April, it had the most recent A9 chipset at the time. Many people (like myself) were annoyed for not waiting, as it was a perfect replacement for their old 5 / 5s (6 / 6s are simply too big). I was honestly hoping that the SE would enter the usual annual refresh cycle and receive the new A10 (and better camera). Unfortunately, this didn’t happen.
When we compare pricing and features, the phone is still a good deal at $400 (with 128GB of storage!), but I won’t be getting it until its chipset gets a refresh. I already have a phone with the A9; if I’m to get a new phone, I’d want a faster one than what I have today. After all, every new iOS seems to seek more hardware resources…
Way to cherry pick features and claim equivalence, Predrag.
While you list features, you seem not to understand the generation of those items. The Touch ID, for example, is old first generation units in the SE. In the 6S, it is second generation technology. The screen quality differs, not just the size. The contrast ratio of the newer screens is 1400:1 rather than the old 4″ display 800:1 ratio, which washes out in sunlight. View angle on the newer display is noticeably better too.
The battery on the SE is about 5% smaller than the battery on the 6S, which in the real world makes a difference.
Once again: the SE is your only choice if you must have a 4″ screen. But stop pretending that it exceeds the performance of any larger model iPhone. It does not, and it never will. The SE is Apple’s way to use up old parts.
…”But stop pretending that it exceeds the performance of any larger model iPhone.”…
Not correct. Again, SE has A9. iPhone 6 has A8. There is a noticeable difference in performance between these two devices. And SE is faster than 6 (or 6plus).
Please research before posting. You look like an idiot.
The 5 SE has most of the same specs as the 6S.
Fine, you enjoy your “most of the same specs”. I have clearly stated my position and you have gone on an immature attack. Do you feel better now?
Maybe we get SE. It’ll be an upgrade from our 5 for sure. And, never less than about 64GB!
At the price of 300$ , SE compares extremely well to others in the lineup (6s at $550, 7 at $650). The only reason I’d hold off right now is because it is now close to one year since its release and there is a small chance Apple might update it in a few weeks/months (presumably with A10 chipset, better camera and 32GB storage), keeping the super low $400 price.
Using the 5s now. If they update the SE, then I’ll get a current used one for cheap. I hope they never get rid of this size. Smaller would be even better at certain times.
Here is a startup making a small, thin very basic phone that is to be your second phone when you want just phone calls and nothing else.
Not selling them yet but I like the idea.
http://www.thelightphone.com/#page1
I know a guy who orders thousands of phones for a company and he always insists on providing the smallest possible storage capacity. It’s nothing to do with price, his reason is that the smaller the capacity, the less that staff can “fill it up with crap”.
His ideal phone would be built like a tank, last three days on a charge and would not allow users to load unauthorised content. As it happens, the 16GB iPhone SE is his preferred choice that the moment and his staff are very positive about them too.
I may go for it for the simple reason that my 3 year old 5S seems to have less battery time available than it did.
So it that respect it could be worth it. Otherwise I just would have run it till it died.
…with a small monthly payment.
IOW: NOT actually “$300”. Buy the iPhone outright and you’ll really save money.
Marketing manure.
But something tells me I’m misunderstanding the setup here. So probably: Never mind. Crash. Burn.