The debut of Apple’s new iPhone SE delivers a change to the way American customers can purchase Apple’s lowest-cost 5G iPhone. Apple’s “on-device authentication” removes wireless carriers from, and streamlines, the buying process. The new buying process is only for the iPhone SE – for now.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Traditionally, when a user buys an iPhone at an Apple retail store or the company’s online store, the customer provides their wireless phone number and the last four digits of their Social Security number. That lets the carrier run a credit check and approve the transaction, but it adds time to the process and could be a barrier to closing the sale.
Starting with the iPhone SE — a low-end model that goes on sale Friday for $429 — that process is changing, Apple has told retail employees. New iPhone SE buyers who choose AT&T Inc. or T-Mobile US Inc. as their wireless carrier won’t need to provide their information at the time of purchase. Instead, shoppers will be able to enter that data and connect to their carrier when they power on the device for the first time.
The new feature is called “on-device authentication,” Apple told staff. If a user preorders an iPhone SE from Apple’s website, they already won’t be prompted to insert their carrier data if they have AT&T or T-Mobile. The change also means users won’t have to pick a network plan at purchase. The new process will begin in stores on March 29…
The change will eventually come to Verizon Communications Inc. subscribers as well.
MacDailyNews Take: Anything that removes friction at the point of sale is a good thing.
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Pre-ordering the new SE at launch was the quickest and least-painful experience I’ve had for any phone purchase. We’ll see how well that continues when it arrives later today, but I expect Apple has thought of everything — including loaning large amounts of free iCloud space for data transfers if needed, for up to a month (and even longer if you ask nicely).