There is no doubt that some people prefer a 4-inch iPhone over the larger iPhone 6s introduced last year. However, if you wanted the power of the newest version, you had to give up the more compact design… until now.
At the event on Monday, Apple introduced the iPhone SE, which essentially puts all of the power of the iPhone 6s into the body of an iPhone 5s. Like many people, I loved the 5s design—so much that I had a hard time switching to the iPhone 6 when it was first introduced.
Among many other technological enhancements, the iPhone 6 generation had the larger screen, which was wonderful for my aging eyes, but there was still something about the iPhone 5s design that appealed to me.
Looking back, I think it was the ease with which the iPhone 5s fit into your hands. It was easy to use with one hand, especially if you had small hands, but I think that’s something everyone really liked.
I do think Apple was right to move to the larger display beginning with the iPhone 6, but swinging back around to capture a market that’s so significant is a great move for the company.
In introducing the iPhone SE, Apple Vice President, Greg Joswiak noted that Apple sold more than 30 million 4-inch iPhones last year. Think about that. Most companies would love to sell that many of their flagship phone and Apple sells that many for a product two years old.
That is why the iPhone SE is so significant. While many clamored for a larger screen iPhone, there were still a significant number of people that wanted a smaller iPhone model. Apple obliged by continuing to sell the older model, but you had to compromise in terms of the technology in the devices.
If the smaller form factor appeals to you, there is good news. You don’t have to give up all of the great technological features that others get when they upgrade to the newest iPhone model. Now you can get the features and the size you want.
“iPhone SE is an exciting new idea — we started with a beloved, iconic design and reinvented it from the inside out. The result is the most beautiful and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone SE is packed with a stunning four-inch Retina display, advanced 64-bit A9 chip with M9 motion co-processor, longer battery life, 12-megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash, Live Photos, 4K video, faster LTE and Wi-Fi, and Touch ID with Apple Pay. Everyone who wants a smaller phone is going to love iPhone SE.”
I had some time to play around with the iPhone SE after the event and it really brought me back to why I loved the iPhone 5s so much. It felt good in my hand—it was like welcoming back an old friend. Albeit, a more powerful friend.
The new iPhone SE is going to sell very well. It has everything that a lot of Apple customers, and customers from other brands, are looking for—A powerful iPhone, with the newest technology, in a 4-inch form factor.
Boom.
No compromises.
Done.
As a user, I think I could easily live with an iPhone SE. As a developer, I really want something with Force Touch so I can make sure my apps respond to that where and as appropriate.
So I’m kind of torn, because I love the 4″ size.
Announcing this now though, seems to mean that it will not be updated with the iPhone 7. Thoughts?
I’ve held onto a 5c precisely because of size, this allows me to upgrade without having to sacrafice size.
I spend half my day running between meetings in a congested city on a motorcycle, I carry what I need and an iPhone 6 or 6+ in my pocket was just not practicable, for me.
Christ, I still think the 5c I carry is too large. This is the compromise I need.
Isn’t the lack of 3D Touch a compromise, Jim?
I bring my 4S to doctor appointments, medical procedures where my 6 Plus is simply too large or valuable to want to deal with. However, between my aging eyes and fat fingers, I still need the bigger size. Waiting for the 7.
This was the phone I was waiting for. Sadly, for me, Apple were too slow. A few months ago I ended up getting a 5S, and I’m going to have to make that last 3 or 4 years. Ah well.
Good to see Apple delivering an improved experience to new entry level customers, but this is NOT a flagship 4″ iPhone. No 3D Touch, no optical image stabilization, no 2 gen Touch ID sensor, no LTE Advanced, Wi-fi doesn’t have MIMO, no 5MP Facetime camera, no barometer. Enough technology added to make it feel like an upgrade, enough removed so that you know where you stand with Apple as a 4″ customer. Compromised.
This shouldn’t be a surprise in any way, though. Technology always follows a path: First you make it. After and forever, make it smaller and better.
I’m SO glad that all the confident predictions that it was a cheap, low-end model made just for the third-world (“It’s going to have a slower processor, a worse camera, and lack a lots of functionality because the primitive screwheads who make up emerging markets don’t know enough to want them, because Civilized people all want to use a big-ass phone” ) proved false.
I would have preferred the whole enchilada (“It’s a 6S with a smaller screen! We’re calling it the 6M for ‘mini'”) but it’ll retire my 5, almost certainly.
Just don’t make me watch when Liam rips the face off my old phone and tears it’s guts out 🙁
If you have tiny Trump hands, then the SE is the phone for you.
One issue for me is that they’re using the original (older) vendor for the Touch ID sensor which for me (on my 5s) wasn’t nearly as good as the current one on the 6s from another vendor. Lots of people struggled with Touch ID on the 5s when it came out and I’ll be curious if that’s the case with the SE as well.
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The naming convention on all of their product line has gotten surprisingly confusing. Macbook air no longer the lightest. iPad air 2 is equally as light as the iPad pro ‘small’. iPhone 5se being an almost 6s, etc.
Flagship iPhones might get 12-month updates, smaller SE models might get 18-month updates?
“Boom.
No compromises.
Done.”
Right, about that…
And per Gruber the lack of the fast fingerprint sensor, and no 128gb?
I like the smaller size a bit, but not enough to give up either of those.