Ever since Apple’s release of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus and the 6s, people have complained about one thing: their size. The chassis of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were larger than the previous chassis of the iPhone 5. Apple’s customers yearned for a smaller iPhone 6, but what Apple did shocked everyone.
The iPhone SE was announced on Mar. 21 and released on Mar. 31. It uses the same chassis as the iPhone 5s. “To create it, we started with a beloved design, then reinvented it from the inside out,” said Apple’s website. On the technical side, it features the same camera and processor from the iPhone 6s. It is advertised by Apple as “the most powerful 4-inch phone ever.”
The only noticeable difference from the iPhone SE and the iPhone 6s is the iPhone SE lacks the new 3D touchscreen. It allows the user to press the screen harder to preview URLs and emails and to utilize Apple’s new Live Photo. Gordon Kelly for Forbes said, “If you like to live on the cutting edge and watch 3D Touch mature over time, opt for the iPhone 6s.”
So, who is the iPhone SE for? A world renown street photographer, Eric Kim, believes that the iPhone SE will “revolutionize photography.” At $399 (iPhone SE) "you have access to a top-of-the-line smartphone camera, computing device, and workstation,” said Kim. “You can take photos, edit and process them, and publish them instantaneously.” For the reasons stated above (affordability, practicality and versatility) in addition to Apple’s Live Photo, Kim is right.
In the past, photography was about capturing single instantaneous moments. Live Photo allows the photographer to continue doing that, but also allows the photographer to capture, in video, the small moments leading up to and following the photograph. It’s almost a form of cinemagraphs.
The phone is also ideal for people with small hands. If anyone remembers how the iPhone 5/5s handled, it is exactly the same. However, it seems as if the phone is not very usable for people with larger hands. “My hands started to cramp after half a day trying to grip the small phone,” said Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian.
Is it practical or is it a gimmick? The iPhone SE has been received by many critics as a gimmick, a tool used to sell units and make money. “Apple is slowly heading toward shocking its fans rather than delighting them and the [announcement of the iPhone SE] was one such perfect instance,” said Usama Batavia for Tech News Today. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, for ZDNet, said, “It’s also impossible to deny that Apple has also peddled a lot of lame gimmicks over the years. I think that a cooling down of iPhone sales will ultimately be a good thing, both for Apple and consumers of technology because it will lead to more innovation and better products and services.”
Many see the iPhone SE as Apple’s way of making a little bit more money before their release of the iPhone 7. Some consumers are okay with Apple’s way of, as Kingsley-Hughes says it, “drip-feeding advancement.” Others want true advancement of the technology Apple offers and real innovation in their products, not repackaged products with a different name.
