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Sorinut

macrumors 68000
Feb 26, 2015
1,670
4,557
No offense to current SE owners, but the reality is most SE users are price sensitive users. They are likely Android switchers or living in countries with lower incomes. They are not going to spend money on Apple services.

The majority of SE(s) that I have seen are company-provided phones. My current company, and the previous, only offered the SE.
 

wordsworth

macrumors 6502
Apr 7, 2011
306
269
UK
I just took delivery today of a new, third-generation SE having used the original SE for the past four years and more. (It's still running well though four years from the original battery, while excellent, means its time is limited.)

I benefited from a discount of £93 for the new 128GB model, which is one of the reasons I bought one now. I haven't seen a price reduction as good as that for an SE previously.

The original SE has been a great phone and perfect for me – I make and receive only occasional calls and messages, take a photo once in a blue moon, check the web occasionally and use Maps very occasionally; oh, and make financial transactions on it, too. Had this third-generation SE come instead in the exact same form factor of the original (but with updated insides) I'd have happily bought one. I like a small phone. I see no need to pay for phone specs I don't want and a device that I must wrestle with, hence the SE is a great model for the likes of me.

I also wanted Touch ID while this is still available – and I'm not exactly knocked out by the notch (neither on an iPhone nor an Apple laptop).

The SE is still the best iPhone for me though I could have afforded any of the range, really. Whereas I splashed out a bit more for my Mac Min M2 Pro because it's a work tool used in a wide variety of ways on a daily basis and hopefully for several more years to come. The appropriate device for the required usage seems eminently sensible to me. I'll miss that old SE, though.
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,589
23,390
The majority of SE(s) that I have seen are company-provided phones. My current company, and the previous, only offered the SE.

From my experience, many iPhone SE users are prepaid customers. It's the cheapest iPhone and when locked to a carrier, it's extremely affordable.

Large organizations issuing iPhones tend to offer at least mid-range models like iPhone 13 and 14. The company expects the employee to be productive on the iPhone after all. So they're not going to limit employees to an iPhone with the smallest display.


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Iwavvns

macrumors 6502
Dec 11, 2023
270
322
Not all the SE users are “living in countries with lower incomes”, many don't care about the latest cameras or Promotion and just want good iPhone with the latest CPU in a reasonable price. Also many users still prefer the SE because of it’s size/weight and TouchID…
I live in the US and I want a good iPhone at a reasonable price - >$600 is too much to pay for a phone IMHO. I don’t care if it’s Lightning or USB-C, and I don’t even use the camera.

I’m thinking the iPhone SE 4 may have the iPhone XR body (rounded sides), single camera lens and A16 CPU. Using the iPhone 14 body would make it almost indistinguishable from the iPhone 14/15/16.. and priced at $529 in the US.
 

Richard8655

macrumors 68000
Mar 11, 2009
1,879
1,333
Chicago suburbs
I wait for deals to buy new, unlocked SE2 or SE3 models on eBay. Recently two SE2's. For me too, an iPhone isn't worth spending the kind of money they're typically going for, especially the high end models.
 
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jagfan

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2014
68
29
JAX, FL area
I wait for deals to buy brand new, unlocked SE models on eBay for around $200. They're either SE2 or SE3 models. Recently bought two SE2 iPhones for about $162 each including tax and shipping. For me too, an iPhone isn't worth spending the kind of money they're typically going for, especially the high end models.
I have an IP 13 mini and want to get another as I've ported my home phone to a cell at $72/year. Had the number over 40 years and don't want to lose it. The second phone would just be used for calls. I've bee leery about purchasing an iPhone from Ebay. Do you have a favorite seller or any tips?
 

Richard8655

macrumors 68000
Mar 11, 2009
1,879
1,333
Chicago suburbs
I have an IP 13 mini and want to get another as I've ported my home phone to a cell at $72/year. Had the number over 40 years and don't want to lose it. The second phone would just be used for calls. I've bee leery about purchasing an iPhone from Ebay. Do you have a favorite seller or any tips?
Good point about being careful with eBay purchases. No particular seller.

I just closely check the seller's reputation (should be near 100% positive), the number of sales they've made over the years, and if they're a relatively longtime member of eBay. Also positive feedback from other purchasers of this seller. That together almost always results in no issues with purchased items that are exactly as described.
 

Reno Raines

macrumors 65816
Jul 19, 2015
1,473
776
Almost upgraded from SE2 to SE3, but realized the SE3 has no significant changes except the somewhat faster chip (which with my basic usage would hardly be noticeable). Looking forward to the SE4 as the only smaller iPhone left.
The SE3 does have better battery life and is faster. I upgraded from a SE2 and noticed the difference.
 

Richard8655

macrumors 68000
Mar 11, 2009
1,879
1,333
Chicago suburbs
The SE3 does have better battery life and is faster. I upgraded from a SE2 and noticed the difference.
I hope the battery life is as good or better as the SE2. I've read reviews that if you use 5G (which is new to the SE3), battery longevity isn't quite as claimed or expected since the radio transmission is stronger under that standard needing more power.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,428
12,443
What I want to know is if the SE4 still has a physical SIM card.

We recently went to the Philippines on vacation and a physical SIM card slot is still a must. I was switching between Smart eSIM and Globe nano SIM for data on my SE3.

My brother has a US iPhone 15 Pro. He didn’t have Globe as an option so he had no signal when we went to some provinces.
 

saber32au

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2019
267
196
My brother has a US iPhone 15 Pro. He didn’t have Globe as an option so he had no signal when we went to some provinces.
That (to me) sounds like an issue with the esim carrier not providing coverage in the areas your brother went to, not the phone lacking a physical sim slot per say.

When you buy an esim from some providers (ie airalo, globalesim, maya mobile, flexiroam etc), they should tell you which in-country network they use for their service…

Different esim providers will use different in-country networks...

So in your brothers case, he needed to purchase 2 different esims that operate on 2 different networks to stay connected across the Philippines…no different to how you needed to switch across 2 different sims to stay connected...
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,428
12,443
That (to me) sounds like an issue with the esim carrier not providing coverage in the areas your brother went to, not the phone lacking a physical sim slot per say.

When you buy an esim from some providers (ie airalo, globalesim, maya mobile, flexiroam etc), they should tell you which in-country network they use for their service…

Different esim providers will use different in-country networks...

So in your brothers case, he needed to purchase 2 different esims that operate on 2 different networks to stay connected across the Philippines…no different to how you needed to switch across 2 different sims to stay connected...

We bought local carrier SIMs (needed local numbers). Unfortunately, only 1 out of the 3 carriers offered prepaid eSIM. Having a physical SIM card slot gives one more options like I had with my SE3.

My brother streams videos heavily so Airalo wasn’t going to cut it—at least not with reasonable per GB rates. Local data only cost around $0.10-0.20/GB. I had a spare Globe/TM nano SIM so I just installed that on his cellular iPad. 30GB data for $3.
 

saber32au

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2019
267
196
My brother streams videos heavily so Airalo wasn’t going to cut it—at least not with reasonable per GB rates.
Agree, and that's the crux of the issue; if esims offered competitive data rates (compared to in-country providers) you'd have far less incentive to purchase a local sim...especially given the dominance of apps like whatsapp, viber etc etc that offer voice and video calling services...
 
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JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,589
23,390
What I want to know is if the SE4 still has a physical SIM card.

We recently went to the Philippines on vacation and a physical SIM card slot is still a must. I was switching between Smart eSIM and Globe nano SIM for data on my SE3.

My brother has a US iPhone 15 Pro. He didn’t have Globe as an option so he had no signal when we went to some provinces.

All U.S. prepaid carriers offer eSIM, so there no benefit for Apple to offer physical SIM on SE4. I think it’ll follow the current trend where U.S. lack physical SIM.
 

one more

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2015
4,524
5,687
Earth
Going by the whole SE line history so far, I am quite sceptical about any SE design changes that would make it different from previous models, bare switching from Lightning to USB-C. Reviving iPhone XR chassis would not make much sense next year, when they have perfectly operational iPhone 13-14 production lines. So my current guess would be the new SE could come in the spring 2025 with a tuned-up iPhone 13 body, with its current two 12 Mpix cameras, small notch and USB-C. So the 2025 iPhone line-up could then be iPhone 16, iPhone 15, iPhone 14 and iPhone SE (ex-13)?
 

one more

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2015
4,524
5,687
Earth
I have an IP 13 mini and want to get another as I've ported my home phone to a cell at $72/year. Had the number over 40 years and don't want to lose it. The second phone would just be used for calls. I've bee leery about purchasing an iPhone from Ebay. Do you have a favorite seller or any tips?

Perhaps try an Apple refurbished or BackMarket instead?
 

geta

macrumors 65816
May 18, 2010
1,499
1,228
The Moon
Going by the whole SE line history so far, I am quite sceptical about any SE design changes that would make it different from previous models, bare switching from Lightning to USB-C. Reviving iPhone XR chassis would not make much sense next year, when they have perfectly operational iPhone 13-14 production lines. So my current guess would be the new SE could come in the spring 2025 with a tuned-up iPhone 13 body, with its current two 12 Mpix cameras, small notch and USB-C. So the 2025 iPhone line-up could then be iPhone 16, iPhone 15, iPhone 14 and iPhone SE (ex-13)?
Unless by accident they’ll use the 12/13 Mini body… then they can keep the older models in the line-up without compromising their profit on these models.
 

one more

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2015
4,524
5,687
Earth
Unless by accident they’ll use the 12/13 Mini body… then they can keep the older models in the line-up without compromising their profit on these models.

What accident, LOL? Mini were a niche product, not giving Apple enough profit, but were probably as expensive to manufacture as their larger counterparts, hence dropped off the lineup. Also, do we really need so many models in the lineup? Even the current one is quite confusing, as iPhone 13 and 14 are almost identical for an average customer, so for as long as Apple are selling iPhone 13 alongside 14, the former is probably cannibalising the sales of the latter. IMO, Apple could have dropped 13 out this autumn, keeping it to 15, 14 and SE.
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,589
23,390
Unless by accident they’ll use the 12/13 Mini body… then they can keep the older models in the line-up without compromising their profit on these models.

Apple doesn’t want the SE to be a dud like the mini, even if it is aimed at price-sensitive buyers. The regular iPhone models get Dynamic Island and dual rear camera lenses. By 2025, the regular iPhone 16 will move to 6.3-inch. All of these differences will make notch-based SE4 feel different enough to avoid cannibalizing higher models.
 
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