5 ms·

Let's see... it's replacing the SE, which is no longer on Apple's website. It's more expensive than the SE, at $599 vs $429. It's a pretty substantial hardware

by kemayo 2y ago

Let's see... it's replacing the SE, which is no longer on Apple's website. It's more expensive than the SE, at $599 vs $429. It's a pretty substantial hardware upgrade over the SE, including something like 75% more battery life by Apple's numbers, but it's also noticeably bigger. Apple's own comparison tool is useful: https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-16e,iphone-se-3rd-gen,iphone-16 https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-16e,i...

SunlitCat 2y ago
The price hike is the major turn off point. Even as a non Apple person I was on the verge of getting the new "SE" if it's in the price range of the old SE line up. But not for 600 USD, that's a bit too much.
- philistine 2y ago
  The budget iPhone is 900$ CAD. Let that sink in.
  - DrBenCarson 2y ago
    Breaking news: Apple makes premium products
    - nobankai 2y ago
      [flagged]
- asdff 2y ago
  The market for a cheaper iphone like this has always been just buying a 4 year old phone for like $0-small few hundred from your carrier. Makes no sense for apple to push a new product in this segment when their own supply eats it. And all they really offer in the se is a new old iphone anyhow making use of old components they have spare inventory available or on order from their vendors remaining supply lines.
  - seec 2y ago
    You are missing the point. These types of "budget" phones that Apple does are for people who can't/won't buy the flagship (because too expensive) but wouldn't buy something second-hand either. There are a LOT of people like that. It is not rational at all; they would rather buy something shittier for their money than get more value. My grandparents are like that. To buy in the second-hand market you need to have some knowledge about how phones compare in the first place, even if you use a platform that minimizes the risks. So, it's not the same market at all, and Apple is pushing their luck even more with a pricing way too high for what is essentially a 3 years old phones at best (the chip makes little difference to the typical user of these phones).
    - asdff 2y ago
      I'm not talking about second hand. I'm talking about new from the carrier old model phones. Here is the verizon page for iphone 14s they have, you can get them for 0 down 0 a month through some deal from the cell phone plan. Apple can't compete with free. https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/apple-iphone-14/ https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/apple-iphone-14/
      - fuomag9 2y ago
        I’ve never seen something like that here in Italy. Here you pay for both the phone AND the plan :(
        asdff 2y ago
        When the iphone 1 came out on AT&T it was initially sold like that and basically no one had it. Everyone still used their free full keyboard phone with unlimited texting (another american only cellphone market concept that prevented whatsapp from ever lifting off the ground here). Once they got it off that deal and had it with multiple carriers that could offer a carrier subsidized phone, then the dam broke and basically everyone had an iphone or an android phone overnight (same carrier subsidized deals available there, usually better).
      - 2y ago
- Synaesthesia 2y ago
  Yeah Apple overcharges. The SE is downright crude by modern standards, no ways was it worth $430. This phone is at least modern, but it's not great value for money.
  - tonyedgecombe 2y ago
    >no ways was it worth $430 It's worth what people are willing to pay and plenty of people valued it enough to put their hand in their pocket.
- turtlebits 2y ago
  You can easily pick up a used/refurb iPhone 15 for ~$500.
- rs186 2y ago
  As someone who uses Android as the main device, I have an iPhone SE as a backup phone when travelling. It is a nice phone by itself, and allows me to access Apple services in case I need to. When the time comes, I'll probably look for a used iPhone 14/15 instead of a new iPhone 16e. To much money for my purpose.
- edm0nd 2y ago
  Just buy a used unlocked phone off eBay. I've been sniping used Pixels off there for really good prices.
modeless 2y ago
Thank you. This press release seems specifically designed to discourage this type of comparison.
happyopossum 2y ago
> but it's also noticeably bigger. I dunno, the old SE wasn’t a mini by any means - this is .3 inches taller and .2 inches wider, so yes bigger but not like a different size class altogether
- apparent 2y ago
  This is a lot bigger. IIRC the mini is smaller than the old SE, and this is bigger than the mini. It's not a "plus" sized iPhone, but that would be skipping up two size classes. It has gone from small to regular.
  - Nition 2y ago
    To be absolutely clear, the mini is bigger than the first gen SE but smaller than the second and third gen SE.
    - apparent 2y ago
      Oh true. I guess we skipped those generations since there wasn't much difference compared to the regular iPhones that were out at the time.
- beretguy 2y ago
  Now compare it to 1st Gen SE.
  - asdff 2y ago
    Easily the nicest form factor phone they ever produced. You can reach the entire screen with the thumb in one hand without awkwardly flopping the phone onto the thumb in the farthest corner. It is smaller than your wallet. The battery lasted forever because the screen was small and not that bright or nearly so pixel dense. Too bad the management consultants killed such a technology.
    - musictubes 2y ago
GeekyBear 2y ago
You do also get double the storage, double the RAM and a 24 megapixel camera upgrade. Traditionally, the amount of RAM in your device is the limiting factor that controls how many years of updates you get. So far, 8 years for the OG iPhone SE is the standing record for years of updates.
- layer8 2y ago
  And the OG SE was significantly cheaper, even after adjusting for inflation. But it only received 6.5 years of regular iOS updates. It was released mid-cycle with iOS 9, and iOS 15 is the last supported version. You may be counting the later security updates, but that doesn’t help with app compatibility.

by kemayo 2y ago

SunlitCat 2y ago

The price hike is the major turn off point. Even as a non Apple person I was on the verge of getting the new "SE" if it's in the price range of the old SE line up. But not for 600 USD, that's a bit too much.

philistine 2y ago
The budget iPhone is 900$ CAD. Let that sink in.
- DrBenCarson 2y ago
  Breaking news: Apple makes premium products
  - nobankai 2y ago
    [flagged]
asdff 2y ago
The market for a cheaper iphone like this has always been just buying a 4 year old phone for like $0-small few hundred from your carrier. Makes no sense for apple to push a new product in this segment when their own supply eats it. And all they really offer in the se is a new old iphone anyhow making use of old components they have spare inventory available or on order from their vendors remaining supply lines.
- seec 2y ago
  You are missing the point. These types of "budget" phones that Apple does are for people who can't/won't buy the flagship (because too expensive) but wouldn't buy something second-hand either. There are a LOT of people like that. It is not rational at all; they would rather buy something shittier for their money than get more value. My grandparents are like that. To buy in the second-hand market you need to have some knowledge about how phones compare in the first place, even if you use a platform that minimizes the risks. So, it's not the same market at all, and Apple is pushing their luck even more with a pricing way too high for what is essentially a 3 years old phones at best (the chip makes little difference to the typical user of these phones).
  - asdff 2y ago
    I'm not talking about second hand. I'm talking about new from the carrier old model phones. Here is the verizon page for iphone 14s they have, you can get them for 0 down 0 a month through some deal from the cell phone plan. Apple can't compete with free. https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/apple-iphone-14/ https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/apple-iphone-14/
    - fuomag9 2y ago
      I’ve never seen something like that here in Italy. Here you pay for both the phone AND the plan :(
      - asdff 2y ago
        When the iphone 1 came out on AT&T it was initially sold like that and basically no one had it. Everyone still used their free full keyboard phone with unlimited texting (another american only cellphone market concept that prevented whatsapp from ever lifting off the ground here). Once they got it off that deal and had it with multiple carriers that could offer a carrier subsidized phone, then the dam broke and basically everyone had an iphone or an android phone overnight (same carrier subsidized deals available there, usually better).
    - 2y ago
Synaesthesia 2y ago
Yeah Apple overcharges. The SE is downright crude by modern standards, no ways was it worth $430. This phone is at least modern, but it's not great value for money.
- tonyedgecombe 2y ago
  >no ways was it worth $430 It's worth what people are willing to pay and plenty of people valued it enough to put their hand in their pocket.
turtlebits 2y ago
You can easily pick up a used/refurb iPhone 15 for ~$500.
rs186 2y ago
As someone who uses Android as the main device, I have an iPhone SE as a backup phone when travelling. It is a nice phone by itself, and allows me to access Apple services in case I need to. When the time comes, I'll probably look for a used iPhone 14/15 instead of a new iPhone 16e. To much money for my purpose.
edm0nd 2y ago
Just buy a used unlocked phone off eBay. I've been sniping used Pixels off there for really good prices.

modeless 2y ago

Thank you. This press release seems specifically designed to discourage this type of comparison.

happyopossum 2y ago

> but it's also noticeably bigger. I dunno, the old SE wasn’t a mini by any means - this is .3 inches taller and .2 inches wider, so yes bigger but not like a different size class altogether

apparent 2y ago
This is a lot bigger. IIRC the mini is smaller than the old SE, and this is bigger than the mini. It's not a "plus" sized iPhone, but that would be skipping up two size classes. It has gone from small to regular.
- Nition 2y ago
  To be absolutely clear, the mini is bigger than the first gen SE but smaller than the second and third gen SE.
  - apparent 2y ago
    Oh true. I guess we skipped those generations since there wasn't much difference compared to the regular iPhones that were out at the time.
beretguy 2y ago
Now compare it to 1st Gen SE.
- asdff 2y ago
  Easily the nicest form factor phone they ever produced. You can reach the entire screen with the thumb in one hand without awkwardly flopping the phone onto the thumb in the farthest corner. It is smaller than your wallet. The battery lasted forever because the screen was small and not that bright or nearly so pixel dense. Too bad the management consultants killed such a technology.
  - musictubes 2y ago

GeekyBear 2y ago

You do also get double the storage, double the RAM and a 24 megapixel camera upgrade. Traditionally, the amount of RAM in your device is the limiting factor that controls how many years of updates you get. So far, 8 years for the OG iPhone SE is the standing record for years of updates.

layer8 2y ago
And the OG SE was significantly cheaper, even after adjusting for inflation. But it only received 6.5 years of regular iOS updates. It was released mid-cycle with iOS 9, and iOS 15 is the last supported version. You may be counting the later security updates, but that doesn’t help with app compatibility.