Here's what you need to know about the new iPhone SE


The initial iPhone SE came as a cheap 4-inch iPhone. However, Apple ceased the production of the model in 2018, only to start producing it again in 2020. This time, it comes as a 4.7 inch phone, which is a great feature to have for those who like playing online games and this has clearly been one of the main focal points this year at Apple. 

A bigger screen means more real-estate when it comes to playing your favorite games or launching your most used apps. Whether it’s mobile casino type games such as slots you’ll find here or games like Disney’s Sorcerer Arena, Baseball Boy, PUBG or Fortnite, all will run buttery smooth on the new 1136‑by‑640‑pixel resolution display.

The external design is similar to that of iPhone 8 and internals that are similar to iPhone 11.

Important Features

Some other important features of this model include the 3 GB RAM and A13 Bionic chip. It starts at a price of $399. The SE is designed in red, black and white colors, and it is equipped with 256, 128 and 64 GB storage options.

The 2020 iPhone SE Full Specification

A new low cost iPhone was launched by Apple in April 2020, and they named it iPhone SE, which comes as a continuation of the 2016 iPhone SE. The lowest price for the new iPhone SE is $399, just like the one that preceded it.

However, away from the initial iPhone SE which had the looks of iPhone 5, the 2020 version is designed like the iPhone 8. Its display is of a 4.7 inch Retina HD LCD, which comes with True Tone that matches a room’s ambient light. It also comes with a HDR10, a Dolby Vision and Wide Color.

The iPhone comes with a glass front and back with an aluminum band that matches the black, red or white colors of the phone. Submersions and flashes in water could be withheld through its IP67 dust and water resistant feature, and it could be charged wirelessly.

There are top and bottom bezels meant to complement its iPhone 8 design. In the top bezel lies the 7-megapixel front camera and the microphone, while the back bezel contains the fingerprint biometric authentication Touch ID Home button.

Among all the iPhones in Apple’s catalogue, only the new iPhone SE has Touch ID over Face ID. For contextual menus and quick actions, the Haptic Touch is available, as there are no 3D touch features in iPhones any longer.

The iPhone SE comes with a 12-Megapixel Rear Camera of single lens, with Portrait Mode and lighting support, optical image stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture. Though it does not support night mode, it comes with a wide color support, a smart HDR and a slow sync capable LED True Tone flash.

With the iPhone SE camera, 4K videos could be recorded at least 60 frames per seconds with the time lapse video, slo-mo-video support and optical image stabilization. With the front facing camera, you can enjoy portrait mode images with the help of the A13 Bionics neural engine and the image signal processor.

Internally, the phone comes with a modern chip technology, with an A13 Bionic chip that is similar to what the iPhone 11 came with and which is touted by Apple as the fastest chip in any smartphone in the world. With the dedicated 8-core neural engine of the A13 Bionic, up to 5 trillion operations could be completed in a second. The A13 Bionic also boasts of an efficiency and performance enhancing Machine Learning Controller, and the CPU has two Machine Learning Accelerators.

On the issue of the battery life, you can watch videos with the iPhone SE battery for up to 13 hours, you can stream video with it for 8 hours, and you can listen to audio with it for 40 hours when fully charged. It has fast charging capability, and when charged with a power adapter of up to 18W, it can give you 50 percent charge in 30 minutes.

This iPhone SE does not come with any U1 chip. However, there is a WIFI 6 support, and this is termed the fastest and newest of all WIFI systems out there. It also comes with a 2×2 MIMO equipped Gigabit-class LTE, and Bluetooth 5. It also features reader mode NFC, an Express Cards (transit cards) support, and a power reserve feature where owners can use the cards even with dead battery.

The iPhone SE comes in 256, 128 and 64 GB storage capacities. To get the 64 GB version, you have to pay up to $399. To get the 128 GB version, you should budget up to $499, while the 256 GB version goes for $549.

How to Buy

Preorders for the phone started on April 17, and customers will get their orders by April 24th. It is launching in the US and more than 40 other regions and countries simultaneously.

There is an AppleCare+ plan for the iPhone and it costs $79 a year or $3.99 a month. For the expanded plan that includes loss and theft, the price is $149 per year.

Design

At the iPhone’s top bezel are the speaker, the front camera, and other sensors. The bottom side has the crystal Touch ID Home button.

Color is added to the glass body through the seven layer ink process, and this gives it a rich depth. An aluminum band holds the glass body and glass display together

At the back, there is a LED flash, a microphone, and a single lens camera. The left side has the volume buttons and the mute switch, while the right side has the wake/sleep button. Towards the bottom, there are speaker holes and a lightning port.

In size, it is 7.3mm thick, 67.3mm wide, 138.4mm tall, and weighs about 5.22 ounces.

Touch ID

The first phones from Apple had the all glass body with the Face ID. To bring the cost down, the iPhone SE comes with a home button that has a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. This is covered by a sapphire crystal that prevents the TOUCH ID sensor from any harm, and a steel ring that picks the fingerprint of the user. With the fingerprint, the phone could be unlocked, passwords could be filled in iCloud keychain apps, store purchases could be confirmed, apps with passcode are opened, and Apple pay transactions can be confirmed.

True Tone

The True Tone feature that many iPhone and ipad models come with is also supported by the iPhone SE. This feature detects the room lighting with the help of the ambient light sensor. It goes ahead to adjust the intensity and temperature of the color, to give a paper-like natural viewing experience by matching the lights. This reduces eye strain.

Connectivity

The iPhone SE comes with Gigabit-class LTE support equipped with LAA and 2×2 MIMO like in iPhone 11. 

Dual SIM support

It comes with dual SIM support, which gives the owner the opportunity to use two phone numbers simultaneously. This is made possible with the physical Nano SIM feature and the eSim feature. The eSim works in many countries, and Apple made a list of the carriers that support this in their site. According to Apple, there are select countries where dual SIM works and they include the United States, UK, Spain, Italy, India, Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia, Canada and Austria.