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Apple releases budget iPhone SE priced at $399 as coronavirus stalls economy

SpartanN92

Banned
I am still rocking my iPhone 8 plus, gonna wait till the 11 Pro is cheaper to upgrade

Is your 8 Plus in good shape? You could probably sell that for $250 if it’s in good shape (1/4 of the cost of an 11Pro) and depending on the provider they may give you that much in trade in credit. Verizon is right now if you have the right plan.
 

Rbk_3

Member
I sill dont understand why its called SE when its in freaking iphone 6/7/8 shell.
Anyway I am waiting for iphone 12 with 4.7" screen which will have iphone x design but smaller than this one.

Makes perfect sense to me. Original SE was based off the 5, 5s shell, which at the time was the previous flagship design. This is based off the 6, 6s,7,8 which is based off the previous flagship design.
 

Dural

Member
The US don't get the best spread of the budget phones for some reason (you might know why considering you're in the industry).

In the middle east and Europe there are a ton of phone choices in the 3-400 USD range and you don't need to compromise that much on quality.

The A51 is seen as a real budget phone here, it can be had for under 300 USD unlocked. For 400 you can get the Samsung a80 or something like the oneplus 7t, all of which will make this "new" iPhone look like a joke. Then there are manufacturers like Xioami, Oppo, Realme who use the same parts (batteries, camera sensors, etc) as some"flagship" phones from better known brands. These phones don't feel cheap either, a lot of full glass/ceramic phones available in that price range. If you can swallow getting a "Chinese" phone then for 400 USD you are getting a phone that won't be beat on feature-set by anyone else. I don't know if these brands even sell their phones officially in America however. A budget phone from these brands (the ones that feel cheap) sell for 1-200 USD.

Basically there's a big market out there and it's more competitive than ever. This phone doesn't offer anything new and even at "just" 400 USD it's still an absolute rip-off. I haven't even mentioned Huawei who have been royally fucked due to geopolitical issues.

Also for reliability a quick search of recent surveys shows there's not much in terms of differences between apple and android devices (a couple of percent). So if that's important it comes down to what ecosystem you prefer and which manufacturers after sale support you feel is better where you live.

I don't know what "features" you're going on about, but this iPhone SE will run circles around any of those phones and take considerably better pictures. It will also be updated for far longer. With the lower res screen than the 11 series and the same chipset, it should also run everything faster.
 

TTOOLL

Member
Good price but the screen size is terrible. I know the SE is supposed to be a smaller phone, but not necessarily a smaller screen. They should've gone for 5 inches at least and use a different form factor to keep the phone small.
 

Ovek

7Member7
Damn they really didn't put any design effort in to it did they. Not that it matters, this thing is going to sell a shit load even if we are in the shittiest economy in the last 100 years.
 
It's a flagship chip in a low-end phone.

It's going to be excellent as far as usability and battery goes.

Sure, something like a Redmi note 8 pro costs half that and looks better, but you don't get the ecosystem and the camera software.

I'd buy this over the gimped regular 11.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
400usd for old piece of shit smartphone with huge bezels? 400usd is a monthly salary for many...
 
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i guess Apple still has tons of leftover parts from the iphone 8 gen lol

but at that price this will do pretty well in markets where low to mid end phones dominate
 

GHG

Member
I don't know what "features" you're going on about, but this iPhone SE will run circles around any of those phones and take considerably better pictures. It will also be updated for far longer. With the lower res screen than the 11 series and the same chipset, it should also run everything faster.

The one area iPhones punch above their weight is on the software side, iOS is actually very efficient compared to Android running on like for like hardware. The camera software on recent iPhones especially punch well above their weight considering the lenses that are used (especially for point and shoot scenarios) . The smaller manufacturers have a lot of catching up to do in this area, a lot of them have fantastic lenses with all the megapixels but the camera software results in subpar shots. Even still, at the premium end of the market iPhones get beaten by phones that cost a fraction of the price of their flagships:


The low resolution resulting in high performance is nothing to shout about, the quality and clarity of a display is the first thing that stands out when viewing content on a phone. The similarly priced oneplus 7t for example gets you a 6.5 inch OLED 90hz HDR10+ capable display at a resolution well in excess of 1080p. Watching content on that vs the "new" iPhone SE will be night and day. This is the oneplus vs apples flagship 11 Pro max to give you an idea of performance:



There are other auxiliary things like in-screen fingerprint readers, face unlock, 3.5mm headphone jacks, FM radio, that might be important to some people and these feature on phones that are cheaper than the SE.

Don't get me wrong, if you're invested in iOS and you just want a phone for calls/messaging and taking quality snaps for Instagram with minimal effort then you probably can't go wrong with the new SE. But if you're actually interested in getting the best hardware for your money then this really ain't it (no iPhone is).
 
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Dural

Member
The low resolution resulting in high performance is nothing to shout about, the quality and clarity of a display is the first thing that stands out when viewing content on a phone. The similarly priced oneplus 7t for example gets you a 6.5 inch OLED 90hz HDR10+ capable display at a resolution well in excess of 1080p. Watching content on that vs the "new" iPhone SE will be night and day. This is the oneplus vs apples flagship 11 Pro max to give you an idea of performance:


The 7T has just over 400ppi while the iPhone SE has 350, really not much of a difference and I honestly don't think the average person could tell the difference. The 7T is also $100 more.

I haven't had an iphone since the OG in 2009, currently using an LG V35. I just find this iPhone quite capable for the price, I'll likely get it for my 10yo for his bday.
 

GHG

Member
The 7T has just over 400ppi while the iPhone SE has 350, really not much of a difference and I honestly don't think the average person could tell the difference. The 7T is also $100 more.

I haven't had an iphone since the OG in 2009, currently using an LG V35. I just find this iPhone quite capable for the price, I'll likely get it for my 10yo for his bday.

It's the size of the display paired with the "edge to edge" display factor that will make the biggest difference to someone seeing both devices side by side. You've understated the difference in ppi BTW (326 vs 402):


I was so close to getting the LG v35 a couple of years ago because listening to music is one of the primary things I do on my phone but then I realised all the fancy audio features don't work via Bluetooth so it would have been wasted on me.

You saying you're getting a phone for your 10 year old makes me feel so old lol :(

I didn't get my first mobile until I was 16. Back then you wouldn't get one before that sort of age...
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
It's not a notch, it's extra screen in the corners. Think different, son.

Honestly, it wouldn't bother me as much if they didn't force the top UI info into those corners and remove relevant information like battery percentage to make it all fit.
 
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GHG

Member
Honestly, it wouldn't bother me as much if they didn't force the top UI info into those corners and remove relevant information like battery percentage to make it all fit.

They don't though.

You still get all the info you need and more:


seZ7udl.jpg

That's from my phone which is a xiaomi mi 9 pro.

xiaomi-mi-9-pro-5g-6-39-inch-12gb-256gb-smartphone-black-1574132453793.jpg
 
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#Phonepunk#

Banned
i have one of these phones. it's good but yeah it's smaller than a regular phone. that effects everything, like when browsing the internet sites may look off and stuff. still, it's been a decent phone.
 

eot

Banned
The fact that people here are pretending like a few mm wide bezel and a top notch is a big deal illustrates how stale the phone market is.

They're just fucking phones at this point, and I'm watching shitty memes on them, not the 4K transfer of Ben Hur
 

ZehDon

Member
... who's the target of this? No, honestly - what under-served market demographic does this serve? Someone who, financially negatively impacted by a global pandemic that's killed tens of thousands in infected millions around the world, looks up from their Soy Mocha-Latte and their USD$1,200.00 "stimulus" and realises they haven't bought an Apple product this month? Read the fucking room.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
This is a hell of a deal. A13 is a phenomenal chip, the camera seems decent, and the cheapest version has a workable amount of memory. Basically, if you don’t need a edge to edge screen, you get a very modern and responsive iOS experience at a very low price, almost half price of a iPhone 11.

It’s not one for me, I do iPhone 11 Pro Max, but it’s perfect for my mom or dad, or a kid.
 

jts

...hate me...
This is a hell of a deal. A13 is a phenomenal chip, the camera seems decent, and the cheapest version has a workable amount of memory. Basically, if you don’t need a edge to edge screen, you get a very modern and responsive iOS experience at a very low price, almost half price of a iPhone 11.

It’s not one for me, I do iPhone 11 Pro Max, but it’s perfect for my mom or dad, or a kid.
Yeah this is crazy value.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
the real crime is all we have to choose from is Androids shitty invasive permissions and Apples massively overpriced gear. The latest attempts at Linux phones will no doubt be held up due to covid which is a shame, i want to try one out. so for now a slightly cut price iphone is alarmingly attractive.

Unfortunately you are right.

You either are locked in a prison-like ecosystem and milked for every cent on your wallet or you become a data cow to be milked by Google and app makers.

I would have thought that with the meteoric rise of Electron and other wrappers a 3rd phone OS shipping wrapped device-specific webs would have a place, but alas here we are.
 

highrider

Banned
I say scratch the whole iPhone line and make them all bigger, I should barely be able to distinguish them from iPads.
 

DrAspirino

Banned
Why do you care? It’s a budget phone not their flagship, and I guarantee it’s x2 as good as the equivalent Samsung budget device (Galaxy A51)
Exactly. The original iPhone SE and the "new" SE were meant from the beginning "to be a workhorse" device you can rely on. These are not for tech enthusiasts and such, but for people that use their phone as a communication tool and barely takes one or two photos.

Heck, I bought a 6S about 1 year ago after switching from an iPhone 5C that I had for 4 years and died. I use my phone just for social media, listening to music and actually talking on the phone. I don't need the latest tech, I need a workhorse that does not freeze, that does not fail me on work calls nor on the road, and that doesn't spy on me like android phones do.
 
still on iPhone 6s plus. I want my windows phone back and iTunes sucks. I dont like android either. I will consider buying an new iPhone if it supports the pencil - or they make a mini pencil and call it the iNOTE.
lol
 

jts

...hate me...
not great timing apple
I keep reading this but it’s not like phone sales have stopped, or any other electronics. People still need them phone and maybe even more now and this is a good budget option.

The economy is only getting worse and people expect next-gen gaming consoles by the the end of the year....
 
Who keeps their iPhone for two years? One year and a new model baby!!!
I’ve had this iPhone 7 going on almost 3 years?

Why would I upgrade? It works and now I only pay my service bill. And Inam not buying another Chinese built phone if I don’t have to so I’ll wait and see not-made-in-China market once that kicks in.
 

chitzy

Banned
Who keeps their iPhone for two years? One year and a new model baby!!!
I used to do this, but the pace of "must have" new features has slowed so dramatically I can't be bothered any more. Plus a new phone is $1k plus now rather than $600-700 that it used to be.
 

MayauMiao

Member
I got cheaper android phone than that with the very useful wide angle lens, larger display, bigger batteries, more storage capacity, dual sim support, SD card support.

The specs and price of SE is such a joke. $399 is better saved for PS5.
 
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Meicyn

Gold Member
... who's the target of this? No, honestly - what under-served market demographic does this serve? Someone who, financially negatively impacted by a global pandemic that's killed tens of thousands in infected millions around the world, looks up from their Soy Mocha-Latte and their USD$1,200.00 "stimulus" and realises they haven't bought an Apple product this month? Read the fucking room.
They’re targeting India. That’s the next emerging market for Apple, and a $400 iPhone is a lot more affordable than the rest of the lineup. They’ll still sell a decent bunch in the US, but we’re honestly in the peripheral vision for this model.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Alternatively, why would you buy a new phone every year?

I generally keep mine 3 or 4 years.
I wasn't serious in my post, that was a joke how a typical Apple customer treats the subject. I switch my phone once every 4 years. :)
 
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