iPhone SE with 5G: An iPhone for (more of) the rest of us
As anticipated Apple’s all-new iPhone SE delivers an A15 Bionic chip, 5G modem, better battery life and a new camera. Reflecting the poor global climate, pricing has gone up slightly, the device starts at $429.
Apple’s most affordable iPhone
Apple’s most affordable iPhone must compete for consumers already reeling post part one of the COVID-19 crisis with growing inflation, increasingly steep energy bills and all the other REALLY BAD THINGS impacting people’s lives everywhere.
So, what do you get for $429?
You get a 4.7-inch phone equipped with the powerful A15 Bionic, 5G, better battery life, improved durability, and a new camera system with advanced features like Smart HDR 4, Photographic Styles, and Deep Fusion.
The A15 Bionic chip makes for many improvements in camera capability, so you get better photo editing, gaming, AR and more.
Support for 5G worldwide is growing, with more than 200 carriers in over 70 markets and regions supporting it by the end of the year.
iPhone SE features an aerospace-grade aluminium and glass design, with tough glass on the front and back. Rated IP67 for water and dust resistance. The device also features the familiar Home button with Touch ID. It is available in three colors: midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED. It will be made available for pre-order Friday, March 11, and ships one week later on March 18. It ships with iOS 15 pre-installed.
What did Apple say?
“iPhone SE has been an incredibly popular choice with our existing users and for new iPhone customers, thanks to its iconic design, exceptional performance, and affordable price,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing.
Pointing to the product’s many advantages in comparison to the previous model, Drance pointed out: “Delivering the latest generation of technology and performance at this price is something only Apple can do.”
What about the processor?
The A15 Bionic packs a powerful 6-core CPU, the fastest CPU in a smartphone, with two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, making iPhone SE up to 1.8x faster than iPhone 8, and even faster compared to older models.
The 16-core Neural Engine is capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second, enabling faster machine learning computations for third-party applications, as well as unlocking features for iPhone SE like Live Text in the Camera app with iOS 15 and on-device dictation.
iPhone SE has longer battery life than the previous-generation and older 4.7-inch iPhone models. It is compatible with Qi-certified chargers for wireless charging, and supports fast charging.
iPhone SE and the Environment
iPhone SE is made with recycled materials, including 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in the Taptic Engine and audio magnets, 100 percent recycled tungsten in the Taptic Engine, and 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board. Redesigned packaging eliminates the outer plastic wrap, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging by 2025.
Pricing and Availability
iPhone SE will be available in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB models in midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED starting at $429.
Customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries and regions will be able to pre-order iPhone SE beginning at 5 a.m. PST on Friday, March 11, with availability beginning Friday, March 18. Customers can also get iPhone SE for $17.87 a month before trade-in directly from Apple.
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