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Apple gave it one bump: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/3/21/14998660/apple-iphone-se-128gb-announced-pricing-release-date https://www.theverge.com

Apple gave it one bump: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/3/21/14998660/apple-iphone-se-128gb-announced-pricing-release-date https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/3/21/14998660/a... Apple also lowered the price to $349 at some point in order to continue enticing new purchases, partially compensating for the lack of spec bumps. But, I don't think a lack of spec bumps indicates they aren't serious about a given market. The iPhone SE appears to be a way to reuse the manufacturing and tooling that was developed for a given multigenerational style for a few more years, further amortizing the cost and providing a value-oriented phone for customers that want this. If you watch some videos[0], you'll see that the original 2016 iPhone SE is still surprisingly usable in 2020, and it is rumored to get iOS 14 as its last major update. If they were "not serious" about that market, the original iPhone SE would've been unusuable a year ago, with no clear upgrade path for its users, leading to user pain and confusion. This is not the case at all. Users got along just fine, and the new iPhone SE has launched with plenty of time to spare before things become either painful or unsupported. [0] example of one video that shows how the new iPhone SE is measurably faster, but the old one is still perfectly usable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgwtGmyTDiY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgwtGmyTDiY

untog 6y ago
For me personally the camera was the reason I finally upgraded from my old SE. The camera in there was noticeably old technology. If they’d done a 2018 refresh with current camera tech I would have bought it in a heartbeat.
fouc 6y ago
Interesting in that video the new iPhone SE was 50Mb/s faster due to wifi chip/antenna differences. Could've explained a lot of the faster page loads with pinterest/twitter/amazon/ebay. It's incredibly how performant the old iPhone SE still seems to be.
dwighttk 6y ago
I agree. Not only is this segment of users saving money on initial purchase, but (probably) also by not updating every year or two. The real “clear upgrade path” is to a more expensive phone. Or as you said, not upgrading for 4ish years.
ken 6y ago
I don't know if this is normal for iPhones, but the SE got a big price break through carriers towards the end. I bought the 32GB model new for $50. Even if I didn't want that carrier, I could have bought the phone and the minimum 6 months service for under $250 total. As a "not a phone person", I think even $400 for a phone is nuts. The (first) iPhone SE is still perfectly usable (why would that be surprising?), and doesn't lag on anything I do. I don't see why I'd need to upgrade. That video seems to confirm that newer phones are really only faster at things I never do (games, video encoding, benchmarks).

untog 6y ago

For me personally the camera was the reason I finally upgraded from my old SE. The camera in there was noticeably old technology. If they’d done a 2018 refresh with current camera tech I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

fouc 6y ago

Interesting in that video the new iPhone SE was 50Mb/s faster due to wifi chip/antenna differences. Could've explained a lot of the faster page loads with pinterest/twitter/amazon/ebay. It's incredibly how performant the old iPhone SE still seems to be.

dwighttk 6y ago

I agree. Not only is this segment of users saving money on initial purchase, but (probably) also by not updating every year or two. The real “clear upgrade path” is to a more expensive phone. Or as you said, not upgrading for 4ish years.

ken 6y ago

I don't know if this is normal for iPhones, but the SE got a big price break through carriers towards the end. I bought the 32GB model new for $50. Even if I didn't want that carrier, I could have bought the phone and the minimum 6 months service for under $250 total. As a "not a phone person", I think even $400 for a phone is nuts. The (first) iPhone SE is still perfectly usable (why would that be surprising?), and doesn't lag on anything I do. I don't see why I'd need to upgrade. That video seems to confirm that newer phones are really only faster at things I never do (games, video encoding, benchmarks).