You’ve heard it said many times and may ways: What goes around comes around, what’s old is new again, time is a flat circle, and so on. No matter the phrase, the fact remains that humans have a habit of repeating ourselves. Just look at the resurgence of 90s fashion trends or the revival of the flip phone. So it’s not entirely shocking that Apple has brought its iPhone SE smartphone back from the dead.
As part of its seasonal product refresh, Apple is filling two voids in the marketplace with the iPhone SE:
- It’s offering a smaller phone for people who don’t like the over-sized iPhone X and iPhone 11
- The company is finally providing a cheap iPhone for people who don’t want to drop $750 on a smartphone
Priced at $399 (that price comes down to $229 with a valid trade-in), the iPhone SE is essentially the same case as the iPhone 8, right down to the 4.7-inch LCD display and a dedicated home button (which includes the return of Touch ID in place of Face ID). However, once you take a look at the hardware specs, it’s evident that this “budget iPhone” is still much more powerful than it looks.
Much like a Transformer, there’s more here than meets the eye, as the included A13 Bionic chip is the same exact chip used in the current iPhone 11 models (both the standard and the Pro). This high-powered performance means you’re not missing out on any processing power just because you’re getting a smaller phone. Additionally, the SE includes water-resistant abilities, so you won’t need to entirely freak out if the device accidentally takes a swim.
So why is the iPhone SE so cheap?
The trade-off is the lack of Apple’s stunning Retina Display. The other downside is that while the phone does include a 12-megapixel back camera and a 7-megapixel front camera, you won’t see the presence of more technical camera features (i.e., wide and telephoto lenses) that are present on the newer iPhones.
If having the best of the best isn’t a dealbreaker for you — or you’re in desperate need of a new phone that won’t totally destroy your wallet — the iPhone SE proves quite compelling. With the power of an iPhone 11 trojan-horsed into the body of iPhone 8, this smartphone makes for one extremely attractive package. For all these reasons, the so-called budget iPhone is earning rave early reviews.
You can pre-order the Apple iPhone SE ahead of its April 24 release date below.
Pre-Order the Apple iPhone SE
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