The New iPhone SE Replaces the iPhone 8 in Apple’s Lineup ⇥ apple.com
Apple today 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.
iPhone SE comes in three beautiful colors — black, white and (PRODUCT)RED — and will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, April 17, starting at just $399 (US).
Brian X. Chen, New York Times:
Apple typically holds splashy events to introduce new products. But with the pandemic, the company instead live-streamed a product executive showing a slide show of images of the new iPhone to make its announcement.
Those of you who were patiently waiting for Apple to announce a new iPhone in the vein of the original iPhone SE — a small screen in a classic body with the latest processor and camera — will find that this ticks most boxes. Apple says that it has the same SoC as the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, has dual SIM support, and faster wireless, all for $50 less than the iPhone 8. Sounds like a great deal to me.
One thing this phone seems to confirm, though, is that the four-inch display is not coming back to the iPhone. At its launch, the 2016 iPhone SE replaced the 5S as the smallest phone in Apple’s lineup; that is the case with this SE, too, but it uses the still-large 4.7-inch display size as the iPhone 8. The iPod Touch remains available with a smaller display, but I get the feeling that it’s only the case because it is by far the cheapest iOS device they sell. There is no direct replacement for the iPhone 8 Plus — no “iPhone SE Plus” — so this single 4.7-inch model remains the last vestige of the home button.
The new white model, now with a black bezel around the screen, looks particularly sharp. Like iPhone 11 models in many countries, these phones only have an Apple logo on the back — and, in the case of the red version, a “(PRODUCT)RED” designation. I still can’t get used to the vertically centred logo.
Update: Now that the iPhone 8 has been discontinued, Apple no longer sells any iPhone with 3D Touch. Makes me wonder if Force Touch will be dropped from the Apple Watch as well.