iPhone SE

[senseamp]

I'd like to make a return to the 4" form factor, but having the same display as the 5S would be awful. Here's to hoping that it has 2GB of RAM and faster NAND.


And of course this wouldn't be an iPhone thread without someone citing an unpredictable, short-lived deal on competing phone x. I'm not hating on deal hunting -- I had my eye on the Nexus 6 and pulled the trigger when it hit $250. But come on, dude.

That was a deal last year though, when S6 was the current flagship. Now S7 is out, the deals should only get better this year.
I mean go play with a 5S, it just feels like a museum piece compared to an S6, and the problem is not slow CPU, so SE bump won't fix it. The screen is tiny, even considering the small phone size. It's just too much bezel all around.

 

[Mopetar]

That was a deal last year though, when S6 was the current flagship. Now S7 is out, the deals should only get better this year.
I mean go play with a 5S, it just feels like a museum piece compared to an S6, and the problem is not slow CPU, so SE bump won't fix it. The screen is tiny, even considering the small phone size. It's just too much bezel all around.

We get it, you don't like small screens. This is not a phone for you, but (and this may come as a shock to you) other people have other preferences and don't mind a small screen or even want a smaller device for other reasons.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Nothing counts until Apple does it.

I didn't know you wrote for The Verge.

 

[senseamp]

We get it, you don't like small screens. This is not a phone for you, but (and this may come as a shock to you) other people have other preferences and don't mind a small screen or even want a smaller device for other reasons.

We get it, you like Apple.

 

[Commodus]

Yeah, comparing the iPhone SE with the Galaxy S6 is odd. You're buying the SE because it's small and easy to hold in one hand; nothing the S6 does can match that. If you're buying a phone for a larger screen... well, the SE was never going to be on your list.

On this note: countdown until Samsung has a phone that mysteriously fits the basic formula (small screen, high performance) of the SE? Not that I'd be complaining -- it'd be great to see more Android manufacturers than Sony leaping on the small-but-fast phone bandwagon.

 

[vi edit]

Dream Android....

S7 guts, camera, and screen tech
Nexus 5x finger print reader on back
Original moto x case

DO WANT

 

[senseamp]

Yeah, comparing the iPhone SE with the Galaxy S6 is odd. You're buying the SE because it's small and easy to hold in one hand; nothing the S6 does can match that. If you're buying a phone for a larger screen... well, the SE was never going to be on your list.

On this note: countdown until Samsung has a phone that mysteriously fits the basic formula (small screen, high performance) of the SE? Not that I'd be complaining -- it'd be great to see more Android manufacturers than Sony leaping on the small-but-fast phone bandwagon.

Most people will consider iPhone SE not because it's 4" but because it's $400. Hence looking at what else is selling for $400.
Samsung already made 4" phones (Nexus S), when Apple was telling everyone 3.5" was the optimal size. No one misses those. But I bet if Samsung made an iPhone SE sized phone now, it would be at least a 4.3" screen, maybe 4.5" with the edge screen. Industrial design has moved on from 2012.

 

[lopri]

Ugly bezels aside it is hard to fault this product, knowing that Apple would be selling the 5s anyway. If anything this gives more options to Apple faithfuls.

 

[lopri]

Is the battery size known?

 

[s44]

I didn't know you wrote for The Verge.

I'm not sure we can make this joke any more, as they scored the S7 Edge higher than any iPhone...

 

[Rakehellion]

I wonder how many scammers are gonna sell 5s phones as 5se?

Or they could just sell a Chinese knockoff.

 

[Rakehellion]

Nothing counts until Apple does it.

Nothing counts until until more than a handful of people have heard of it and have access to it.

My S7 edge does that. In fact, didn't the Note 3 have something similar? Or was it the s4? Either way, it's been around for a while.

Did they drop the feature in newer versions of the Note?

 

[vi edit]

Most people will consider iPhone SE not because it's 4" but because it's $400. Hence looking at what else is selling for $400.
Samsung already made 4" phones (Nexus S), when Apple was telling everyone 3.5" was the optimal size. No one misses those. But I bet if Samsung made an iPhone SE sized phone now, it would be at least a 4.3" screen, maybe 4.5" with the edge screen. Industrial design has moved on from 2012.

Your own bias is clouding your ability to understand why others choose what they do. I know about a dozen people in my own circle of friends/family that are still hanging on to their 5s because of the size. They don't want to move up to the 6/6s size. It has nothing to do with cost. If cost was a concern then the "C" line should have been a better success than it was. The smart phone market is over 1 billion devices annually. 1% of that is still 10,000,000 devices. Even if 5% of the market was a high end, small chassis device that is still 50,000,000 phones.

I think most manufacturers would be happy to take those numbers.

 

[Commodus]

Most people will consider iPhone SE not because it's 4" but because it's $400. Hence looking at what else is selling for $400.
Samsung already made 4" phones (Nexus S), when Apple was telling everyone 3.5" was the optimal size. No one misses those. But I bet if Samsung made an iPhone SE sized phone now, it would be at least a 4.3" screen, maybe 4.5" with the edge screen. Industrial design has moved on from 2012.

I don't know about "most," but certainly a significant chunk. I just know that there's a very real contingent that prefers smaller phones, and an S6 won't make 'em happy.

You're probably right about Samsung. I just hope it's more like the Galaxy Alpha than the S# mini series (that is, a truly capable small phone rather than low-end fare banking solely on a familiar name).

 

[Zaap]

Meh.
I get why Apple releases a phone like this. There's money to be had, yada yada. Got it.

But what bores me is THIS is the company we're told all the time is the great innovator and everyone else are the followers. Mere plays to pile some change on top of the already gargantuan coffers Apple has... why, that's beneath them, or so the implication goes.

Why not then... even just a hint of actual innovation for this? Something different? (Think... what was it again...?) Some dazzle, some "I want that even though I didnt think I did two seconds ago!" factor?

I'm sure it's fine for what it is but... bleh.

Its just another iPhone.

 

[senseamp]

Your own bias is clouding your ability to understand why others choose what they do. I know about a dozen people in my own circle of friends/family that are still hanging on to their 5s because of the size. They don't want to move up to the 6/6s size. It has nothing to do with cost. If cost was a concern then the "C" line should have been a better success than it was. The smart phone market is over 1 billion devices annually. 1% of that is still 10,000,000 devices. Even if 5% of the market was a high end, small chassis device that is still 50,000,000 phones.

I think most manufacturers would be happy to take those numbers.

If it's not about the price, why wouldn't Apple design a brand new smaller iPhone Compact with a shrunk version of the modern iPhone industrial design, with a higher res screen with smaller bezels, 3D touch, etc, and sell it for $600+?
Why did they decide that a smaller iPhone should be offered with a dated 4 year old design and old cheap screens? Because it's about the price point, not the size as you seem to believe. Old design tooling is already amortized, and outdated surplus components are also dirt cheap.
Apple sees small phones as cheap phones, not as shrunk premium phones.

 

[vi edit]

If it wasn't cheaper then what does that do for the price of the existing Iphone? Should a 7" tablet be the same price as a 10" one? If anything that dated old design is one time in its history that Apple didn't give a finger to new buyers from one model year to the next and 5s owners can still use their existing cases.

 

[senseamp]

If it wasn't cheaper then what does that do for the price of the existing Iphone? Should a 7" tablet be the same price as a 10" one? If anything that dated old design is one time in its history that Apple didn't give a finger to new buyers from one model year to the next and 5s owners can still use their existing cases.

If it's just a personal size preference, then it shouldn't impact price that much, and customer shouldn't have to settle for a dated design with no 3D touch just because they prefer a smaller sized phone.
If you really believe that Apple was motivated by saving their customers money on cases, then there isn't really much to talk about, because we are living in completely non-intersecting realities.

 

[vi edit]

All I'm saying is that Apple probably has a lot more consumer data that either of us and there is a statistically significant number of people holding onto their 5s for whatever reason. They threw a bone to that market.

 

[senseamp]

All I'm saying is that Apple probably has a lot more consumer data that either of us and there is a statistically significant number of people holding onto their 5s for whatever reason. They threw a bone to that market.

Unless their 5S dies, I don't see many 5S owners moving on to the SE. Not enough of a change.

 

[Artdeco]

All I'm saying is that Apple probably has a lot more consumer data that either of us and there is a statistically significant number of people holding onto their 5s for whatever reason. They threw a bone to that market.

This...

There are a lot of people that never upgraded from their 5/5s, and one of the most common reasons, if not the most common reason given is that they don't like big phones.

Apple sold 30 million 4" iphones last year...

 

[StrangerGuy]

All I'm saying is that Apple probably has a lot more consumer data that either of us and there is a statistically significant number of people holding onto their 5s for whatever reason. They threw a bone to that market.

Yeah, I'm sure a company that collects 90+% of all profits in the phone market really know nuts about their customers. :whiste:

The iPhone 5C was a flop. There is no way to deny it now, the C concept flopped. Apple customers want premium products.

Any phone maker outside Apple would kill their mother for the sales figures of the "5C is epic fail" meme.

 

[dawheat]

This...

There are a lot of people that never upgraded from their 5/5s, and one of the most common reasons, if not the most common reason given is that they don't like big phones.

Apple sold 30 million 4" iphones last year...

I wonder if those customers ever expected to upgrade to a phone...that looks exactly like their current one.

I think that'll be the biggest knock actually. Everyone wants something "new" - I honestly think one major reason for the slowdown in S cycles of the iPhone is just boredom. Even if the edges were more iPhone 6-like would probably have been enough. But they certainly do look a bit dated by today's design standards.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I'm not sure we can make this joke any more, as they scored the S7 Edge higher than any iPhone...

Touche.

If it wasn't cheaper then what does that do for the price of the existing Iphone? Should a 7" tablet be the same price as a 10" one?

I don't think it being cheaper based on size is justified ever since tablet sales starting slumping. In 2014 the size to value disconnect was forever broken forever for Apple products. Compare the ten inch 2014 $630 iPad Air 2 LTE to the five point five inch $750 2014 iPhone 6s Plus:

-2GB of RAM vs 1GB (a massive difference in 2016)
-Tri-core vs dual core
-iPad has much larger battery
-iPad has much much larger GPU
-Both have Touch ID
-iPad eventually got split screen

So I can't accept that Apple values products based on size, the iPad Air 2 back in 2014 shattered that. The 7 inch tablet could be the same price if people wanted them like they want iPhones.

I think the real reason the SE is cheap is because it reuses a lot- same Touch ID, same form factor, etc. Not a lot of R&D went into the phone, and when an upgrade was hard/expensive (3D Touch, a better front facing camera, etc) they didn't do it. Hence a reason to charge less because as a status symbol it is worth less. To a lot of people you are buying an old phone, just it works better than the old old phone.

And I love it. For all the "choices" of Android I hate so many flagships try to fight for the same nut.

 

[sweenish]

Your own bias is clouding your ability to understand why others choose what they do. I know about a dozen people in my own circle of friends/family that are still hanging on to their 5s because of the size. They don't want to move up to the 6/6s size. It has nothing to do with cost. If cost was a concern then the "C" line should have been a better success than it was. The smart phone market is over 1 billion devices annually. 1% of that is still 10,000,000 devices. Even if 5% of the market was a high end, small chassis device that is still 50,000,000 phones.

I think most manufacturers would be happy to take those numbers.

At the same time, if size were really such a decider, Sony's compact line should have been a runaway success. Premium specs in a small package; didn't sell very well.

Low priced Apple product sells boatloads. That's not a difficult headline. Price is going to be the major driver, not size. It doesn't mean no one would prefer the size, it means exactly what I said. You guys have got to stop arguing in absolutes. Gets nothing except lukewarm air.

Another side of the argument is that I've seen FAR more people who didn't have a choice but to get a larger phone, and now "they're never going back." I've seen relatively few cases of people saying the opposite.