After much speculation and rumour mongering about what Apple was going to call its next “cheap” iPhone, we finally have the answer. Likely to be unveiled in the upcoming March 15th event, the new iPhone is going to be called iPhone SE.
That’s it, just “SE”. The SE stands for Special Edition. The new name clearly has no number attached to it. And that makes it very special — this will be the first iPhone (since the original iPhone in 2007) that will not feature a number in its name.
Fun Fact: There’s also an Apple computer that bears the initials “SE”. The Macintosh SE was launched in 1987. However, the SE in that name stood for System Expansion. So same, but not same!
Coming back to the phone, it will be a 4-inch model, cased in the more recent round-edged body. Which means, when you’re holding the phone, it will feel like a 5 or 5s, but look more like a 6 or 6s. We’d done an entire article on what to expect in this new phone, where we’d mentioned that it was unlikely to feature 3D Touch.
Our prediction has turned out to be true. Leaked images from an assembly line of iPhone SE show that the phone is missing the sensors needed for 3D Touch to work. The images that first appeared on a French blog show the supposed new phone and an iPhone 6S side by side.
Don’t be sad, though. Apart from the 3D Touch, the iPhone SE is going to be pretty feature-packed. A9 chip, NFC, Touch ID, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, Live Photos support, and a larger 1,642 mAh battery, all these will be available to take your iPhone experience to the usual Apple standard.
As for the form factor, it is sure to disappoint a lot of people. Many people like to have big, bright screens on which they can view HD movies and play game. However, there are also many of us who like the compactness of a small screen, and the ease with which it slides into our respective pockets!
Finally, the price. We have no indication as to how much the SE might cost. However, given that it’s being called a “budget phone”, it is safe to assume that we will be able to lay our hands on it without having to break our fixed deposits!
All in all, if you like your phone to pack the punch of a 6s and yet be as handy as a 5s, then SE might just be the phone for you. We could speculate further, but the launch is only two weeks away. So wait with us, and we’ll know exactly how good (or bad) the SE is on 15th March!
