“iPhone SE is a wonderful, almost-perfect iPhone. But its imperfections may gall some potential buyers, because it lacks much of what makes the latest, albeit far more expensive, iPhones what they are,” Daniel Bader writes for iMore. “Obviously, by going from an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus you lose quite a bit of what makes the latest-generation Apple products so good: 3D Touch; a second-generation Touch ID sensor; and perhaps most important (to me), a Haptic Engine, which replaced the vibrator motor in the iPhone 5s.”
“And, of course, the iPhone SE has a 4-inch display, which is both smaller and lower resolution than either the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus,” Bader writes. “Not only are objects slightly smaller than they are on the larger devices, making reading longer documents less comfortable, but the screen itself doesn’t show as much information.”
“Since getting my iPhone SE, I have naturally limited my usage to what feels right on the four-inch screen, which is considerably less than feels ‘right’ on a 5.5-inch one. I’m no longer reading (of half-reading) pieces from the Atlantic, linked through the Twitter app; I have stopped pecking out, and feeling frustrated by, long emails. I can’t compel myself to undertake the kinds of tasks that can, but often shouldn’t, get done on a smartphone,” Bader writes. “Instead, I’m turning to my iPad Pro, or my Mac. And even including the time of transition, I’m getting stuff done in half the time.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, the iPhone SE is a time machine. It creates time. It makes you faster because it stops you from trying to use your iPhone 6s/Plus for everything and turn instead – via Hand Off – to your iPad or Mac, whichever is best suited for the task at hand.
Of course, this is little solace to those in many developing countries whose budgets allow for only one computing device. For them, the largest iPhone they can afford is still the best choice.
If you use an iPhone 6/6s or 6 Plus/6s Plus and still have an older 4-inch iPhone 5 or 5S stuck in a drawer, pull it out. It just feels great, doesn’t it? The design and build quality are exquisite. It’s like a piece of fine jewelry. The slippery iPhone 6/s series just cannot compare. — MacDailyNews Take, April 1, 2016
SEE ALSO:
Ars Technica reviews Apple’s iPhone SE: An apology to big-phone haters everywhere – April 6, 2016
iPhone SE event led to website traffic spike in China and India – April 5, 2016
Daring Fireball’s Gruber reviews iPhone SE: ‘Feels the best in hand’ – April 1, 2016
Macworld reviews iPhone SE: ‘It’s a pocket-size powerhouse’ – March 31, 2016
TIME reviews Apple’s iPhone SE: ‘The perfect smaller smartphone’ – March 30, 2016
Mossberg: Understanding Apple’s iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro – March 30, 2016
Wired reviews Apple’s iPhone SE: You’ll use it differently – March 29, 2016
USA Today’s Baig: Apple’s iPhone SE is like a cute, adorable baby – March 24, 2016
The Daily Mail reviews Apple’s iPhone SE: The ‘perfect first time iPhone’ – March 24, 2016
WSJ reviews Apple’s iPhone SE: ‘Smaller gets smarter with better battery life to boot’ – March 24, 2016
Apple tries to stimulate growth with the powerful 4‑inch iPhone SE – March 23, 2016
Why the tiny 4-inch iPhone SE will be a gigantic hit for Apple – March 22, 2016
Apple just put a Mac mini in your pocket (with keyboard and screen) – March 22, 2016
Apple’s got millions of reasons to make the smaller iPhone SE – March 22, 2016
The new iPhone SE finally makes a small phone feel powerful – March 21, 2016
Apple unveils iPhone SE, the most powerful phone with a four-inch display – March 21, 2016
If Apple created an iPhone that dynamically resized based on what you needed it for, people would still complain. typo MDN: “is still be best choice”
If Apple included all the bells and whistles the SE would cost more and might not be a BRIC iPhone.
I’m waiting for the iPhone SE Refurbished model.
Unapologetically 4 inches.
Why whine about size? Use a bigger one if you need it.
For me a 64gb iPhone 5se hits the spot.
Haven’t held one yet, but given that I still have my 4S around, I do notice the solid build of the old design compared to the flimsiness of the 6/s.