Apple yesterday announced the second-generation iPhone SE, a powerful new iPhone featuring a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, paired with Touch ID for industry-leading security. iPhone SE comes in a compact design, reinvented from the inside out, and is the most affordable iPhone.
The new iPhone SE is powered by the Apple-designed A13 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone, to handle the most demanding tasks. iPhone SE also features the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone, which unlocks the benefits of computational photography including Portrait mode, and is designed to withstand the elements with dust and water resistance.
Daniel Eran Dilger for AppleInsider:
Given the global shakeup of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic distress that will inevitably follow, It’s tempting to say that this new iPhone SE model was tailor-made to deliver Apple’s best technology in an inexpensive model that people in this post-apocalyptic “new normal” could afford. It is a huge pivot away from the expensive iPhones that media bloggers keep saying that nobody can afford —despite all the evidence showing they are wrong about that.
But that’s simply impossible. Apple’s planning and engineering to develop this new model were completed far in advance of even the first discovery of the novel coronavirus in December 2019… Apple pretty clearly intended to launch its new $399 iPhone SE after sales of its $699 iPhone 11, and the $999-and-up iPhone 11 Pro models satiated peak demand after the holiday season. It appears clear that Apple —and everyone else —expected the economic status quo to continue full-steam ahead into 2020.
The new iPhone SE isn’t a reaction to the global recession or a new shift in pricing. It’s Apple’s basic new iPhone for the buyers outside its mainstream — the users who don’t demand the future and who don’t really care to pay for its development. Around six months from now, Apple will refocus on its most demanding customers —the majority of its users who are thirsty for innovation and who have no problem paying a premium for iPhone 12…
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone SE is for people who appreciate value. It’s for people who want a great deal, strong performance for their dollar, access into the world’s ultimate smartphone ecosystem without having to pay upward of $1,000 or more, and who plan to use their iPhone for multiple years while understanding that only iPhones retain strong resale value and receive updates/support for many years.