5 Things You Need To Know About The Apple iPhone SE
The iPhone SE has been announced in an event at Apple's campus, and a lot of what was rumoured about the product has been confirmed. But what specifically does it bring to the table? Here are the five things you need to know.
1. 4-inch Screen
While unlocking a broader audience with their larger iPhones, Apple continue to see a huge interest in their 4-inch models, specifically 30 million sales of interest. With that in mind, the iPhone SE compliments the whole range by bringing this smaller screen size up to par performance-wise. The screen remains the same as the previous 5S at 1136x640 (326ppi), and an 800:1 contrast ratio.
2. The Power Of 6S In A 5S Body
One concern many users had was whether we would see a severely crippled 4-inch phone in comparison to its bigger brothers. However, with a 64-bit A9 processor, that doesn't seem to be the case. In classic Apple style, nothing has been said about the specific speed, but expect this to be clocked at a slower pace than the 6S. It is fast, though - 2 times faster than the 5S to be specific.
But one big question: what does that mean for battery life? The 5S wasn't great for battery at all, so would sticking a faster processor in it make this worse? Surprisingly (according to Apple), the answer is a resounding "no." 14 hours talk time, 13 hours browsing on 4G, 50 hours audio playback and 10 days standby.
3. Snap-Happy 12MP Camera
The iPhone's camera has continued to be a gold standard of sorts with mobile phone photography. Apple just added their 12MP sensor, complete with ƒ/2.2 aperture and True Tone Flash found on the 6S, to the SE. The result is the same great pictures and 4K video recording.
One only compromise would be the 1.2MP front facing camera (compared to 5MP on the 6S and 6S Plus). But nobody pays attention when it comes to selfies.
4. Exactly The Same Design As iPhone 5S
This is going to be a dividing issue amongst people. Some people won't see this as a problem, but others (including me) would see this as a little lazy. The design of the iPhone SE essentially looks like they had a bunch of 5S shells to get rid of. Nothing against the 4-inch iPhone designs of old, but the fact they are old means they really should've done something more with it.
Then again, they're going to make loads of money with it anyway, so they shouldn't listen to me.
5. Prices Start From £359
With prices starting from just under £360, the iPhone SE has a really interesting place in the budget market. With (reportedly) powerful specs in a small model that doesn't resemble a hablet, and a low price tag, this is definitely going to take a lion share of sales.
