Among the chaos, Apple has announced its new budget phone, the iPhone SE. The SE looks like the iPhone 8 but has the internals of the iPhone 11 and has the price to match the high tiers of budget phones. The iPhone SE will certainly make other budget phones run for the money and allow Apple to compete and gain a new audience that they have struggled to achieve over the years.

Design

The iPhone SE resembles the iPhone 8 will its round corners and sleek overall design. The phone will be available in black, white, and Product Red. The glass back enables the phone to be wirelessly charged and will be IP67 water and dust resistant. The phone features a 4.7-inch display with thick bezels at the top and bottom of the device. The top bezel features the front-facing camera, speaker, and sensors, and the bottom bezel contains the Touch ID Home button, therefore, no Face ID.

Display

The iPhone SE’s 4-7-inch display will have a resolution of 1334 by 750 with 326 pixels per inch. The display will also feature True Tone that will detect lighting conditions in a room, adjusting the colour temperature and intensity to match the light for a more natural, paper-like viewing experience that should cut down on eyestrain. The phone will also feature Haptic Touch.

Specs

The iPhone SE packs the same processing power as the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max utilising the A13 Bionic chip, which Apple claim, is the fastest chip ever in a smartphone. The chip is much faster and power-efficient than the A11 chip in the iPhone 8. The 8-core A13 chip along with 3GB RAM will enable users to run apps with ease. The iPhone SE will be available in 64, 128, and 256GB storage options. The phone features a 1,821mAh battery that will enable 13 hours of video playback and 40 hours of audio playback. The SE supports fast charging which means you will be able to charge to 50 per cent battery life in 30 minutes. The phone will be wireless charging enabled with support for Qi-based wireless charging.  

Camera

To keep costs down, Apple has opted for a 12-megapixel wide-angle single-lens rear camera that adopts some technology from the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. The camera features f/1.8 aperture with optical image stabilisation, wide colour capture, and next-generation Smart HDR, Apple claims that this will be the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone. The absence of multiple cameras means no support for Night Mode or optical zoom. However, Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting, and Depth Control will be available on the phone.

The iPhone SE will be able to shoot 4K videos at up to 60 frames per second along with 1080 and 720p options as well. The optical image stabilization will enable smooth videos. Slow-motion capture will be available in 1080p at 120 or 240 frames per second and time-lapses will be available on the iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE features a 7-megapixel front-facing camera that features F/2.2 aperture with Portrait Mode and Depth Control support. The front-facing camera will be able to record in 1080p at 30 frames per second.

Summary

The iPhone SE will provide an option for people who don’t want to break the bank, however, want a good all-round product. This will allow Apple to appeal to an audience they haven’t be able to cater for. The iPhone SE will be in contention for best budget phone and may give Samsung and Google’s budget phones run for their money.