Apple today announced a new iPhone designed to provide high performance at a low price point. The second-generation iPhone SE starts at $399 and will be available for pre-order beginning this Friday, April 17. The phone is expected to ship on April 24, 2020.
Available in black, white and PRODUCT(RED), the phone is outfitted with an A13 Bionic chip and a 4.7-inch Retina HD display with True Tone. The front of all of the phones is all black, with a rear glass finish and a color-matched aluminum band.
Apple is touting IP67 water- and dust-resistance, which means that the phone can stay submerged in water one meter deep for 30 minutes. For security, the iPhone SE uses Touch ID.
The A13 Bionic system-on-chip is focused on machine learning, with an 8-core Neural Engine rated at 5 trillion operations per second, two Machine Learning Accelerators, and a Machine Learning Controller. The company says that the A13 Bionic (also used in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro) aids in high-end photography, gaming and augmented reality experiences.
The new iPhone SE has what Apple refers to as “the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone”, with a fast f/1.8 aperture Wide camera. Thanks to the A13 Bionic, this “low-end” phone has Portrait Mode, all Portrait Lighting effects, and Depth Control. Smart HDR also comes to the inexpensive member of the iPhone line.
Storage capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB are available. The 64GB model begins at the aforementioned $399, 128GB is available starting at $449, and the 256GB model starts at a very affordable $549. Trade-ins of older iPhone models can drop the prices up to $170.
The iPhone SE has wireless charging built in, and is capable of being charged to 50 percent in 30 minutes. Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit-class LTE are standard in the device, as is a dual SIM with eSIM for having two phone numbers on a single device.
