Apple unveils new $399 iPhone SE: A13 Bionic SoC, single rear camera, and more

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Apple's new iPhone SE looks to be a solid alternative for those seeking a modern iPhone on a budget, so long as the dated iPhone 8 design with large bezels, the single camera and a lack of Face ID doesn't bother you too much.

Apple on Wednesday announced its long-rumored second generation iPhone SE. A follow-up to the 2016 handset by the same name (SE standing for Special Edition), the new iPhone SE features a unique blend of modern hardware in a compact (and familiar) form factor.

Powering the 4.7-inch Retina HD display is Apple’s own A13 Bionic chip, the same SoC you’ll find under the hood of the iPhone 11 family. A single 12-megapixel f/1.8 aperture camera graces the rear of the device – the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone, according to Apple.

It uses the image signal processor and Neural Engine of the A13 Bionic to “unlock even more benefits of computational photography” such as portrait lighting effects and depth control.

If you’re thinking the iPhone SE looks familiar, well, you’d be right. It’s essentially a modern iPhone crammed in an iPhone 8 body, from the chassis with glass back and large forehead / chin bezels down to the familiar Home button covered in sapphire crystal.

Apple’s second-gen iPhone SE will be available in capacities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB in your choice of black, white and red color schemes starting at $399.

Pre-orders open on Friday, April 17 at 5 a.m. Pacific with the handset shipping a week later on April 24 in more than 40 countries and regions.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/84840-apple-unveils-second-generation-iphone-se-a13-bionic.html

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

And this is the iPhone I’ll be replacing my 6S with.

 

[Peter Farkas]

And this is the iPhone I’ll be replacing my 6S with.

Same for my wife’s 6s and my 7.

 

[ZackL04]

Time to dump my aging 7

Thanks Apple

 

[Privery]

Now I have to chose between oneplus 8 and this

 

[DelJo63]

The spec says it supports 802.11ax which is the WiFi 6 1-6GHz low band. REALLY needs a WiFi 6 router to support it well, otherwise you're back into WiFi 5 compat.

 

[SG736F6]

I have a 7 Plus, but I still don't think I'll upgrade to this... although it's tempting. I want to see what else they release later this year.

 

[Hexic]

Now I have to chose between oneplus 8 and this

Oh God, I hope you're joking.

 

[tkabou]

And this is the iPhone I’ll be replacing my 6S with.

Same here and my 6S, and my wife's SE in rose gold that she just can't let go...yet, I think

 

[Amigosdefox]

It's a shame there isn't a modern compact option with the same size as the original SE

 

[mshrf]

It's essentially an iPhone 8 rebranded as a flagship killer with a brand new chip, telling Oneplus to **** off. Smart move.

 

[Nobina]

Would be pretty good if it had modern design instead of the old one, although the old one is iconic.

 

[Fearghast]

TBH in this day an age of big, same looking, flagships this old, ancient, 5 times repeated design feels fresh in 2020.
Only phone that seems to be a decent competion could be new Xperia 5 II, that should be <6" ... but still iPhone is around 5" with those huge, chunky bezels, Xperia should be around 5,8" ... but it's 21:9 ... hopefuly Sony would release Xperia 5 II worldwide so we can have a proper compact battle this year.

 

[NeoFlux]

I have a 7 Plus, but I still don't think I'll upgrade to this... although it's tempting. I want to see what else they release later this year.

Why do you think it's an "upgrade"?

 

[Squid Surprise]

Why do you think it's an "upgrade"?

Maybe because it has a better CPU, camera and screen? Maybe because it IS an upgrade?

It's essentially an iPhone 8 rebranded as a flagship killer with a brand new chip, telling Oneplus to **** off. Smart move.

More like the Oneplus attempted to undercut this model with their announcement... We've known that Apple was releasing this phone for months now... this wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to a phone announced yesterday!

 

[picka]

Nearly the same size as a pixel but with a 4.7" screen.

Will be interesting to see how well this will sell.

 

[umbala]

4.7" phone for $399. Hilarious.

 

[umbala]

Oh God, I hope you're joking.

Sad part is that he's probably not joking. Apple tribalism runs so deep they would take a dog turd over a flagship Samsung or OnePlus phone as long as it has an Apple logo on it.

 

[Shaitan]

I HATE Apple.
I HATE the lack of headphone jack.
BUT:
5 years support for a device which has a pricetag of < 500 Euros?! That's unheard of. I had four LG's now and neither had decent support. Following the removal of the headphone jack from Samsung, I'll never buy any phone from them...
Honestly, if it had a heaphone jack, I'd jump the boat...

 

[Lew Zealand]

Sad part is that he's probably not joking. Apple tribalism runs so deep they would take a dog turd over a flagship Samsung or OnePlus phone as long as it has an Apple logo on it.

I guess it's lucky that Apple continues to leave the dog turd manufacturing to other vendors.

 

[Julio Franco]

Why do you think it's an "upgrade"?

There's people that will only use iPhones and live under Apple rules, so once you rule out the Android alternatives...

iPhone 7 is now over three years old. At $399 is seems a reasonable amount for a base iPhone SE that gets you a new device, new display, new battery. The faster SoC and better camera are good aspects, too. iPhone 7 started at 32GB and the SE starts at 64GB. Of course, there's the whole reality distortion field thing going on here, but Apple makes good devices and $400 seems fair for a new phone.

 

[mshrf]

Maybe because it has a better CPU, camera and screen? Maybe because it IS an upgrade?


More like the Oneplus attempted to undercut this model with their announcement... We've known that Apple was releasing this phone for months now... this wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to a phone announced yesterday!

Not saying it was. We've known that a new SE model was in the making for a long time but it doesn't make sense for Oneplus to want to undercut this model on purpose because it's not Apple's flagship. If anything, Oneplus may have given away a solid chunk of its Indian market base to Apple after today.

 

[Reehahs]

4.7" phone for $399. Hilarious.

Not everyone has big hands, look at POTUS.

 

[PEnnn]

Nope. My 6S Plus is still working great, thank you very much.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Sad part is that he's probably not joking. Apple tribalism runs so deep they would take a dog turd over a flagship Samsung or OnePlus phone as long as it has an Apple logo on it.

And android tribalism runs so deep that people will dump $800-1000 on a phone with a year or two of support at most with no headphone jack (while lambasting apple for getting rid of theirs) when you could spend half the money on a phone that gets 5+ years.