What It's Like Using an iPhone SE in 2019

[BrooksA]

Can't understand most of Macrumors readers' obsession with the SE? Who wants to read books, news, emails or consume media on that thing? If you want a small phone to just text and answer calls, I get it. Anything else, larger displays is the way to go.

If Apple only made small phones a lot of people, you included, would moan like nobody's business. How hard is it to understand that your opinion is only an opinion?
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Gonna be honest, in the bleary-eyed early morning hours I was kinda tempted to pick up the iPhone X that Best Buy currently has on sale for $749 today but I pulled up a size comparison on the web and Jesus Christ that thing is massive. Nooooo thanks.

I hear you. Apple could make a 4.7 inch screen fit the SE size if it wanted to, which would answer all the criticisms of the screen being too small for developers. Imo it should be OLED to keep the bezels small, if you think the XS is big try looking at an XR.

I run the latest iOS on my SE and it's fine. Honestly, if it dies I'm getting a Pixel 3, still just about OK to hold in one hand and pretty light. That's if I can't find a new SE instead.

Play the game Apple!

 

[foodandart]

It amazes me how many people like the SE. especially coming from Apple diehards / tech enthusiasts.

I just wouldn’t be able to use something that’s so behind feature-wise.

Water resistance, OLED, Face ID, faster LTE & WiFi, stainless steel / glass, dual SIM, 3D Touch...

The list goes on.

Not everyone needs to be on the bleeding edge. I was using a 32GB iPhone 3GS as a glorified iPod Touch up until Oct. 2017 when I got the SE I currently use. The one nice thing with using an actual working phone is that I can now send text messages to the husband’s Android phone. The rest - the web and other stuff - is done on either the laptop or my beastie MacPro.

 

[brookespeed]

If one was the jump ship to Android, is there even an equivalent that isn't complete crap?

I have yet to find one. I am already on android and wish there was one as small as the SE I bought for my girlfriend who wouldn't replace her 15 year old Nokia. She's already loving it, but I told her that there won't be a smaller phone with any OS until Apple makes another small one and the Android makers follow.

 

[wol]

Sorry for old guy comment... are you aware the original 68030 upgrade to the Macintosh SE was supposed to be SEX like the Macintosh IIX after the II. SE30 happened instead for PC reasons. Back in the day I hacked my boot screen to say SEX. Aw the simple pleasures of the simple days.

I guess E. Musk has been in on this joke?!

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model X
Tesla Model Y

 

[brookespeed]

Look at any comment section and there seem to be a lot of people liking the smaller format - and I always hear "The market has spoken", but has it? What small phone options are there? Has a smaller phone ever been given any flagship phone features? It doesn't even need to be thin because the smaller size is easier to hold so you can cram plenty in there (iPhone 3/3G was about 11mm thick wasn't it? Felt great in-hand). The market may sell far more large phones but it's miles from a level playing field to judge that on.

I think the sale of the back stock is a market experiment to see how the form factor will sell. When they first re-listed them, the 250.00 model was out of stock and the 300.00 one was down to a few colors. Two weeks later, more were in stock at both price points. It has the signs of a price point study.

 

[nickgovier]

.

 

[Vilis2013]

If Steve were alive he would only have 2 iPhones sizes. A small SE sized one and a large Plus sized phone. Cook is so dumb that he's completely forgotten the Apple ethos.

Wasn't there just the one size (3.5) when Steve was in charge?

 

[enricoclaudio]

I have a 16GB iPhone SE and a 64GB iPhone XS. The SE is my work phone and the XS is my personal phone. The company I work for paid for the SE and they gave it to me 2 years ago. It was used but working great. Lately has been crashing and of course, 16GB is not enough so I just spoke with my boss and he let me order a 128GB iPhone SE from Apple Store (refurbished) for $299. I really love the size and I use it only to get emails and answer phone calls from customers. My current SE is from AT&T and the one I just purchased is unlocked with T-Mobile SIM. I guess the only thing I need to do as soon I get it is swap SIM cards and done, right?

 

[Martyimac]

I have a 16GB iPhone SE and a 64GB iPhone XS. The SE is my work phone and the XS is my personal phone. The company I work for paid for the SE and they gave it to me 2 years ago. It was used but working great. Lately has been crashing and of course, 16GB is not enough so I just spoke with my boss and he let me order a 128GB iPhone SE from Apple Store (refurbished) for $299. I really love the size and I use it only to get emails and answer phone calls from customers. My current SE is from AT&T and the one I just purchased is unlocked with T-Mobile SIM. I guess the only thing I need to do as soon I get it is swap SIM cards and done, right?

Works with my Verizon SIMS, I assume it will work with yours.

 

[Mac 128]

Not going to happen. In any year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_SE/30

Possible with this logic:
"The new iPhone SE"
iPhone SE 2
iPhone SE/20
iPhone SE/12 Bionic

Look how far we've come from "System Expandable"

XE

im debating getting one of the apple ones as a backup. i have att but i only see t-mobile/verizon unlocked versions. is there any issue with frequencies or will they work fine with att sims?

All these phones will work with all SIMs regardless of carrier. Only Sprint really loses out on some features.

If you have a different carrier, can you still use the Verizon/TMobile unlocked phones? I'm not exactly sure how it's supposed to work.

Sorry for the stupid question.

Yes. The phone was originally locked to a specific carrier and came with that carriers SIM. Apple has had them released from the carrier. Pop the included sim, and replace it with one of your liking. Only Sprint is not recommended but even it will work.

I will say as an iOS developer I hate that screen size. People don't like to scroll to see info. People love lots of info on the screen. We fight to make things look good at that super low resolution. I am not talking pixels here but points. For retina displays the pixel count went way up but the point count stayed the same. You saw the same content, words, etc but retina made it all look so much clearer. Developers deal in points, not pixels.

Working on a shopping app with live video feed. To try and get all the crap we need on the screen on the SE screen size is impossible. Looking at our user base we sit at about 1% of users on an SE / 5 size screen so we are just not going to do all the work to not have overlapping UI elements.

I get why people like the size but it is becoming harder to support it when the user base is getting smaller. If the apps you have for your phone work then great, keep using it. Newer apps get tested less and less on that size and many are probably going to start looking like crap on it as many apps are becoming very feature rich.

I know, poor programmer making money off me, just shut up. Just tossing in another hiccup to this discussion.

Yes. point size is my problem. I hate that I can’t chose to see more of an app at a smaller point size. But that’s an Apple restriction on developers. Let me scale the point point size for my vision and we’re golden. Larger phones accommodate more at the same point size, but even that’s a total waste of real estate. So much empty space in some apps because they are locked to Apples point size.

I have a 16GB iPhone SE and a 64GB iPhone XS. The SE is my work phone and the XS is my personal phone. The company I work for paid for the SE and they gave it to me 2 years ago. It was used but working great. Lately has been crashing and of course, 16GB is not enough so I just spoke with my boss and he let me order a 128GB iPhone SE from Apple Store (refurbished) for $299. I really love the size and I use it only to get emails and answer phone calls from customers. My current SE is from AT&T and the one I just purchased is unlocked with T-Mobile SIM. I guess the only thing I need to do as soon I get it is swap SIM cards and done, right?

Right.
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If Apple only made small phones a lot of people, you included, would moan like nobody's business. How hard is it to understand that your opinion is only an opinion?
[doublepost=1551474301][/doublepost]
I hear you. Apple could make a 4.7 inch screen fit the SE size if it wanted to, which would answer all the criticisms of the screen being too small for developers. Imo it should be OLED to keep the bezels small, if you think the XS is big try looking at an XR.

I run the latest iOS on my SE and it's fine. Honestly, if it dies I'm getting a Pixel 3, still just about OK to hold in one hand and pretty light. That's if I can't find a new SE instead.

Play the game Apple!

Not necessarily. A 4.7” edge-to-edge to edge case wouldn’t necessarily increase the display area width that much, mostly length.

_____iPhone 8 (bottom), SE (top/overlay)___iPhone Xs (bottom), SE2/9 (top)

But at least it would be a more common size that developers are used to working with. I want Apple to allow the user to scale the point size.

 

[Dhonk]

Yes, it was. It wasn’t a budget phone ($550 in 2013!), it was a year old iPhone 5 wrapped in a colorful new shell and priced only $100 less than the far superior 5s that is was released alongside. In a time with carrier subsidies, we’re talking about $99 with 2 year contract vs. $199 for the 5s. I don’t know how they sold a single 5c.

The 5c was the 5. What happened was Apple struggled mightily to have suppliers make enough aluminum bodies for the 5. Then the following year it would have been impossible to have both phones (5 and 5s) using the same frame (already couldn't keep up with demand). So Apple switched to the beloved plastic case and priced is the same as they would have priced an iPhone 5. It was a tremendous seller, and I still hear many of my students declare it was their favorite iPhone. I wish Apple would make something a tiny bit smaller than the X. It could have the 5c's plastic for all I care.

 

[KPandian1]

I'm still on a SE and mostly happy about it. One handed use. Headphone jack. No stupid notch.

However, I'm getting somewhat old and had to enlarge the fonts, which means stuff started to not fit on my screen. I might have to give up and buy a larger one

Getting old here too - the power of readers is deceptive. Going up a number/fraction on my reader has proven a surprising bonus for me - beyond the prescription. Worth the attempt at $6/per.

 

[turbineseaplane]

(looks at his iPhone SE with adoration)

It's sensational actually..
Would newer be better?

Maybe - sure - but not much bigger thanks...

The SE still is a phenomenal device, even in 2019.

 

[KPandian1]

If Apple sticks to their update matrix, this year’s iOS update will be the last for the SE -

Why don't we cross this update bridge when we reach it? Apple sold this iPhone as a regular item all the way into 2018 - sure that might calm the update-gate fear mongers, but we are not there yet.

 

[lbdesign]

I bought an iPhone 7, found it unwieldy. Sold it and got an SE. So I seriously overpaid to end up with an SE, but I'm happy because the SE form factor is perfect for me, as it was perfect for Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, and the legion of human factors researchers who measured hands and determined what would be an ideal fit. It's a true portable device. If I need a big screen, I go to an iPad or a Macbook. That was the original vision, and for me that's what works best. Phablets are digital platypuses — not one thing nor the other. That's my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

[LordVic]

XE



All these phones will work with all SIMs regardless of carrier. Only Sprint really loses out on some features.



Yes. The phone was originally locked to a specific carrier and came with that carriers SIM. Apple has had them released from the carrier. Pop the included sim, and replace it with one of your liking. Only Sprint is not recommended but even it will work.



Yes. point size is my problem. I hate that I can’t chose to see more of an app at a smaller point size. But that’s an Apple restriction on developers. Let me scale the point point size for my vision and we’re golden. Larger phones accommodate more at the same point size, but even that’s a total waste of real estate. So much empty space in some apps because they are locked to Apples point size.



Right.
[doublepost=1551489231][/doublepost]

Not necessarily. A 4.7” edge-to-edge to edge case wouldn’t necessarily increase the display area width that much, mostly length.

View attachment 824086
_____iPhone 8 (bottom), SE (top/overlay)___iPhone Xs (bottom), SE2/9 (top)

But at least it would be a more common size that developers are used to working with. I want Apple to allow the user to scale the point size.

I think many of us would actually prefer such device. We'r already getting used to taller ratios, i don't think that's a problem.

I can only speak for myself, but I find 5" displays too big. As we started shrinking bezels I had hoped that we'd see an 6 size display, with the bezels that shrank down to fit the screen

instead we got the display grow to match the casing.

for many of us (I am not claiming how many), that was the wrong way to go for various reasons. for me, comfort. I find anything larger unweildly. I sometimes have some hand shakes and difficulty holding phones stable. Smaller chassis are easier to grip and not drop. the ever growing phones have made it difficult. Today's "Xs" is considered a "small phone" and yet is larger than the 6-8 overall despite shrunk bezels

and this isn't exclusive to Apple. this has been the industry trend.

I think though Apple is in a unique position, since they did keep the SE around for so long to build on it, with a 4.7" display in an SE style/size chassis. they just seem to have zero motivation to do so

 

[mcray]

I held onto my old 5C for years while hoping for an update to the SE. As much as I want the features only available on the more expensive iPhones, the larger size is a deal killer. I'd gladly pay more money for a small iPhone with better features, but as those aren't available I'm stuck. Anyway, when I finally decided it was time to buy an Apple watch last fall, I had to upgrade to an SE to make it work. I bought one used on eBay. Works great, no complaints.

 

[garylapointe]

I'm sorry, what? The 5C surely wasn't that forgettable, was it?

5C was the previous year's model (released at the same time as new model) in a plastic case for $100 less.

The SE was the current 6s model (6 months old?) in a smaller form factor for $250 less.

 

[LordVic]

5C was the previous year's model (released at the same time as new model) in a plastic case for $100 less.

The SE was the current 6s model (6 months old?) in a smaller form factor for $250 less.

not quite

the SE was a hybrid. it had the camera, cpu and RAM from the 6s, but everything else was straight from the 5s. same sensors, same TouchID version. Same front camera. same displays, audioprocessors, etc.

Not complaining. the SE was a worth update from the 5s. gave my sister my SE and she loves using it still today. she doesn't want any other device. for her, the only thing that matters is the ability to have a phone for basic email an taking photos of her kids. the SE fit the bill perfectly.

 

[ChrisChaval]

the next best thing to using an iPhone SE in 2019 is using two iPhone SE in 2019

 

[NightFixer]

I have noticed that people who like larger phones are more likely to oppose the idea of smaller phones existing. On Reddit some larger phone people really hate the idea of a one handed smaller phone and I'm wondering where this negative emotion comes from? The iPhone SE and smaller phone people seem to be much more accepting that large phones exist and that people, even the majority like them.

When the iPhone SE was released, the CPU/GPU bench-marked faster than the iPhone 6S thanks to the different pixel count. Making the iPhone SE the fastest iPhone available for six months until the iPhone 7 which was only slightly faster. I'm hoping by stating this fact I can motivate/trigger large screen phone proponents to reveal the origin of their bias.

As for Android only one manufacturer has continued with small phones, that being Sony who does not sell many phones in the U.S., however the Xperia Compact series remains popular in the rest of the world. I'm starting to wonder if all the iPhone SE hate is actually a disgust mechanism for what is now seen as a low status phone despite once having being the fastest and best iPhone available.

 

[EssModelsRule]

The 5c was the 5. What happened was Apple struggled mightily to have suppliers make enough aluminum bodies for the 5. Then the following year it would have been impossible to have both phones (5 and 5s) using the same frame (already couldn't keep up with demand). So Apple switched to the beloved plastic case and priced is the same as they would have priced an iPhone 5. It was a tremendous seller, and I still hear many of my students declare it was their favorite iPhone. I wish Apple would make something a tiny bit smaller than the X. It could have the 5c's plastic for all I care.

Right, we agree the 5c was the 5 in a plastic housing. I was responding to an inference that the 5c was Apple’s first attempt at a budget phone, and that’s simply not true. It was only $100 less than the far superior 5s. I have a hard time believing Apple went through the trouble of developing an entirely new plastic case (from presumably a new supplier) when they could’ve just invested in their current supplier(s) to ensure enough aluminum bodies were available to keep the 5 in production too. They just overestimated demand for 5c. I’m not bagging on it for the plastic back, that was the best feature, it’s just that the 5s was such a gigantic leap forward that you’d be a fool not to pony up the extra $100 to get that instead. They later came out with an 8GB version but a tremendous seller the 5c was not. It was a horrible value compared to 5s.

 

[zeropoint88]

XE



All these phones will work with all SIMs regardless of carrier. Only Sprint really loses out on some features.



Yes. The phone was originally locked to a specific carrier and came with that carriers SIM. Apple has had them released from the carrier. Pop the included sim, and replace it with one of your liking. Only Sprint is not recommended but even it will work.



Yes. point size is my problem. I hate that I can’t chose to see more of an app at a smaller point size. But that’s an Apple restriction on developers. Let me scale the point point size for my vision and we’re golden. Larger phones accommodate more at the same point size, but even that’s a total waste of real estate. So much empty space in some apps because they are locked to Apples point size.



Right.
[doublepost=1551489231][/doublepost]

Not necessarily. A 4.7” edge-to-edge to edge case wouldn’t necessarily increase the display area width that much, mostly length.

View attachment 824086
_____iPhone 8 (bottom), SE (top/overlay)___iPhone Xs (bottom), SE2/9 (top)

But at least it would be a more common size that developers are used to working with. I want Apple to allow the user to scale the point size.

An edge to edge display in an SE sized phone would be excellent. Sadly I cannot see it happening. Phone pricing is set to larger = more expensive. Apple will never risk undercutting the profits from the X by selling a small high spec phone.

 

[rembert]

Can't understand most of Macrumors readers' obsession with the SE? Who wants to read books, news, emails or consume media on that thing? If you want a small phone to just text and answer calls, I get it. Anything else, larger displays is the way to go.

I’ve an ipad and mbp for just that. My iphone se is my day to day communication device, living in my trousers pockets. And sometimes I do watch media on the device, streaming it to my apple tv 4k. I just don’t need a bigger screen. I’d even pay extra for a smaller screen. If someone gives me an XS now, I’d trade it immediately for an SE.

 

[LizKat]

It amazes me how many people like the SE. especially coming from Apple diehards / tech enthusiasts.

I just wouldn’t be able to use something that’s so behind feature-wise.

Water resistance, OLED, Face ID, faster LTE & WiFi, stainless steel / glass, dual SIM, 3D Touch...

The list goes on.

Sure it does but lots of people don't care about most of that and I am one of them.

I like one-handing a small phone to make phone calls, use maps, check mail, calendar, reminders, notifications, play music and audio podcasts, read books and once in awhile watch video podcasts or some favorite TV episode while cooling heels at the dentist's or someplace. Don't even really care about (or for) touch ID at least in winter when my fingerprints keep going invalid lol due to chapping of my hands. I do care about a headphone jack. Et voila, the SE.

That clearance sale they got going at Apple now on the SE is probably a price point study and they're going to refresh the thing now and then to be able to run a few more iOS releases... but maybe not immediately since the SE does run iOS 12 just fine. Anyway I'm hanging onto my SE and thinking of getting a 128GB one off that clearance shelf in case the one I have goes south.