Should You Update the New IPhone SE?

If you’re an iPhone user looking to buy an entry-level phone, should you upgrade to the new iPhone SE ? Well, yes: since the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus no longer exist, you really have no other option if you’re looking for the cheapest unrepaired iPhone. Or you?

Before we try to convince you of this or that, let’s talk about the details.

Pre-ordering iPhone SE: the basics

Pre-orders for Apple’s new iPhone SE begin on the Apple website or Apple Store app on Friday at 5:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time, so you East Coast people can get some sleep). You will receive the phone a week later, on April 24th, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on it.

The base iPhone SE gives you 64GB of storage for $ 399, up to 128GB for $ 449 and 256GB for $ 549. You can choose from beautiful whites, blacks or reds, but that’s all – no familiar shades of rose gold or space gray. If you don’t get the iPhone directly from Apple, tomorrow you will also have the opportunity to purchase it from any of the Big Four operators: Verizon , AT&T , Sprint and T-Mobile will all be offering pre-orders.

Even though the global economy is crumbling and people are less likely to buy a luxury item like a new smartphone, there can still be a mad race for a phone as functional and relatively affordable as this one. If you want to ensure you get it on launch day, you need to wake up early. Sign in to Apple, make sure your billing information is already stored in your account, and decide which iPhone SE you want by 5 a.m. Feel free to try every combination of trading strategies, unless you don’t mind having your iPhone SE included. Maybe – provided it sells well.

I recommend trying to make a purchase both through the websites and through the apps. You may see delivery delays when purchasing from Apple, but you have no problem picking up your device on launch day from your wireless carrier. Apple’s website may be blocked and its app works flawlessly. Feel free to mix and match your trading strategies.

But is it worth worrying about pre-ordering the iPhone SE at all?

If you’re not interested in upgrading to an Android phone, the iPhone pre-order decision doesn’t have to involve a lot of variables. First, there is no cheaper new iPhone than the SE. You also won’t find a smaller iPhone that you can buy from Apple; abandoning the previous generation SE and its four-inch screen, we have officially entered the world of 4.7-inch devices. You’ve had so much of the iPhone 6 debut to get used to this form factor, so it doesn’t have to be overwhelming for your hand and / or jeans pocket.

When it comes to updating advice, I’m sticking to the “core” models, not the “pros”; I guess most people buy primarily because of the form factor, and if you love big iPhones, the iPhone SE won’t be the device for you anyway.

What if you already have a new iPhone?

I don’t think it makes sense to upgrade to the iPhone SE from any iPhone newer than the iPhone XR . Even then, Apple’s “affordable” $ 749 variant was much more expensive at launch. Even now, this model offers you more of a phone (albeit with a slightly slower processor) and slightly better camera setup than the SE. The only reason for a downgrade – yes, it would be a downgrade – to SE from XR – is if you’re not carrying the iPhone XR’s 6.1-inch screen. Strange deflection, but sure.

It’s the same with the device I’m currently wearing, the iPhone X. My existing device offers a larger display and better camera setup. Yes, it has a slightly slower processor, but my Gmail app doesn’t give a damn about that. Stick with your iPhone X, or sell it on a third-party market for around $ 300-400 and use that as a “discount” on the iPhone 11 – or wait until September (or when it debuts; it’s anyone’s guess what our current global reality is giving us. ) for iPhone 12.

What if your iPhone is a little older than this?

If you use an iPhone 8 , the decision becomes a little more complicated: this model came out in 2017, and if you bought it then or even after a year, then most likely the battery life starts to decrease. When this happens, Apple also degrades performance, which means your phone may even run slower than it used to.

You can pay Apple $ 49 to replace the battery (assuming you’re still not covered by AppleCare +), but that’s a full sixth of the price of the new iPhone SE – a phone with the same form factor and improved photography thanks to the iPhone. A more advanced SE processor for two generations (the battery life of the two iPhones is the same).

If you only use your iPhone for boring tasks like mindlessly updating Twitter, reading coronavirus posts, or messaging with friends, a faster processor doesn’t really matter. You will, of course, have access to portrait mode and a host of other processor-related photography enhancements. But if the photo enhancements haven’t convinced you to buy any other iPhone introduced since 2017, I’m not sure why they will be the deciding factor now.

If you drop your iPhone 8 and break it, I won’t buy another one, not even a used one; take the iPhone SE. If your iPhone 8 just needs a TLC battery and you don’t really care about your photos, pay Apple $ 49 to get it fixed and be done with it. If your iPhone 8 is working fine, you don’t need to update it right now, even if you can sell it and get a new iPhone SE for about $ 200 .

What if you haven’t updated your iPhone since Obama?

If you’re using an iPhone 7 or earlier, I think it’s time to pull the trigger: your device is old, the battery sure sucks, and you’ll pay about half the cost of the phone (if so) just for a replacement battery. In other words, you are getting to the point where you put lipstick on a pig – which is already a lot of lipstick on a horribly ugly pig, especially if you still use the iPhone 6 .

Because yes, your iPhone 6 or iPhone 7 will soon be approaching “useless” territory, so you can get what you can out of it and upgrade to a device that meets your needs over the next 3-5 years.

The iPhone SE has the same form factor with a host of useful upgrades. You will get a future-oriented device, above all, running on the most recent version of Apple’s operating system, iOS 13, which the iPhone 6 doesn’t even support. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple turns off iOS 14 for iPhone 7. If not, then definitely iOS 15.)

Stay tuned for iOS updates to improve performance and improve security. When Apple stops supporting your iPhone, it’s usually a good sign that it’s time to update.

Going back to features, you’ll also get water resistance (up to one meter for 30 minutes) to help protect your device from unexpected accidents. You won’t see a dramatic increase in the battery life of the iPhone 7 (with the new battery), but you should get an extra hour or two of heavy use compared to the iPhone 6. And yes, there is still a lot to love. camera on iPhone SE versus iPhone 6, while the jump from iPhone 7 to iPhone SE mostly attracts thanks to the A13 Bionic chip in the iPhone SE, which unlocks many fun features like Smart HDR, portrait mode and other frame options in second to record 4K video.

Update when you need to, not when Apple wants you to.

I don’t want to sound like an Apple press release, so I won’t list all the features of the iPhone SE . And if you want to keep using your old iPhone, that’s all you need; no need to update if what you are using works for you.

However, if you run into any issues with your very old iPhone – sluggishness, poor battery, annoyance with poor quality photos – iPhone SE is a solid update that will benefit you for at least as many years as you owned your old one. device. Modern smartphones are also not much cheaper than that. Should we wait for the iPhone SE III, undoubtedly the ultra-expensive iPhone 12, or something else that Apple is preparing? Your guess is as good as mine. See you in the fall! (May be.)