Is the iPhone SE bad on purpose?
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
At its most recent event, Apple unveiled a crazy powerful Mac Studio desktop computer that wowed the tech world with its brand new M1 Ultra chip, but at the same time, the company also unveiled its new budget iPhone SE (2022), a phone that will end up in millions of pockets, if only for being the cheapest iPhone around.
We all heard the wonder and awe around the Studio desktop, and the iPhone SE... well, it was met with what mostly looked like a collective shrug. "More of the same," said some. Others were disappointed, but barely anyone seemed to care.
And while you may think that is because of the traditional bias towards high-end phones among tech reviewers, I think there's more to that than just pure apathy. I think the iPhone SE is a rare miss from an overly cautious Apple, as it is trying to preserve its money-making flagships. So let's unwind WHY this new "cheapest iPhone" was met with indifference and downright criticism.
Failure to address the pain points of the previous iPhone SE model
First, let's start with what Apple did improve: it gave this budget iPhone the latest Apple A15 processor, the same silicon that powers the flagship iPhone 13 series. This not only makes the SE the most powerful budget phone on the market, but ensures that it will remain a top performer for years to come. But having an ultra-fast processor in the SE also happens to be... what nobody asked for!
It's hard to criticize Apple for including a better processor than most buyers of this phone need, after all who wouldn't like a better-than-expected feature? But one must understand that had Apple used an older processor, it might have actually improved the other, actual problems that people complained about. But first, let me explain why all of this is happening.
The road to the first budget iPhone
Realistically, we have to understand that Apple has taken the decision to sell budget iPhones quite a few years ago. True story: there was no "budget" iPhone model for the first 6 years of iPhones! All the way from the very first iPhone and until the iPhone 5, there used to be a one and only iPhone per year (the flagship model), and nothing else.
That changed for the first time only with the seventh generation of iPhones in 2013, when Apple introduced the iPhone 5s and along with it, the first "kind-of budget" model, the iPhone 5c. The 5c was made of plastic rather than the metal used on the higher-end 5s, and it came in a variety of colors. However, that "kind of budget" model cost $550, only a Benjamin short of the iPhone 5s. And let's not forget that there were no $1,000 phones back then either.
But even that idea was short-lived, and for the next two years, Apple went back to making only premium iPhones: the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and then the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
It took Apple 9 years of iPhones to finally make the first true budget one
It was only in April of 2016, nine years after the original iPhone, that the company finally released a true budget model: the very first iPhone SE, back then in a tiny, 4" form factor.
I cannot say for certain why that happened so late in the iPhone history, but we can clearly see that not long after that first budget iPhone (or a year and a few months later), Apple also ventured into super premium territory with the $1,000 iPhone X, an unthinkable price for a mass market phone just a year earlier.
I also cannot say for certain that the original iPhone SE set the stage for the $1,000 iPhone X, but it was clearly a precursor and important signal from Apple that something had changed. An important decision was made then, in 2016, to switch the Apple machine from making just one phone a year to making a variety of iPhones for everyone including budget customers, but also targeting more affluent people too.
And sure, the iPhone SE was mostly seen as a device made for consumers from lower income countries who want to get a taste of iOS and the Apple ecosystem.
Apple's iPhone SE "formula"
It's also important to know that back then, Apple had formulated what an SE is, and what it isn't. The original SE was released with the same super powerful processor as the then flagship iPhone 6s, but with the older 4" form factor that was universally deemed outdated by the whole industry that collectively stopped making phones of such a tiny size. Add to that "formula" the sub-par battery life of the first SE, another barrier keeping it from cannibalizing the flagship series.
Apple obviously wasn't sure it ever wanted to sell such a cheap phone in the first place. It kept the original iPhone SE around, but did not follow it up with a newer model and in fact, it took Apple an incredible FOUR years until it finally decided to out a next-generation iPhone SE in 2020.
Then, Apple continued following the same recipe: the SE of 2020 had the same processor as its contemporary iPhone 11 Pro flagship siblings, but used the older, 4.7" form factor that the industry had collectively moved away from. And the battery life caveat was still very much there.
So yes, fast forward to modern times and the launch of the iPhone SE in 2022 came as a bit of a shock exactly because everyone realizes how outdated this design is. Yet at the same time, it's definitely not a surprise if we consider that Apple is following the same formula for the SE: contemporary processor on a generation-old form factor, with one important detail in the form of compromised battery life.
What would the next iPhone SE look like and when will it come?
But that poses a different question: with edge-to-edge screens, have we reached the ultimate possible development of smartphone form factor design? And what would the next iPhone SE look like?
I have no reason to believe Apple will steer away from its "formula", and the only form factor that we see going out of fashion in the near future is that of the iPhone 12/13 Mini. With the "Mini" idea out of circulation, it only makes sense for Apple to bring it out of eternal oblivion in the form of a brand new "SE" in two or three years. Considering the almost complete neglect towards smaller phones from the Android side of the world, I can bet that a wide enough void would have formed during that time for a triumphant return of a "mini" iPhone SE.
Why is there no iPhone SE Plus?
If we were to analyze Apple's strategy, we have to also analyze what it didn't release, and most notably, Apple did not make an "SE Plus" device, despite multiple rumors that one was in the works. This suggests that the executives in charge of the company strategy see the large screen as a big enough competitive factor.
In other words, if there was an iPhone SE Plus version, just because of it having a bigger screen, there is a risk that too many people will find a budget large screen iPhone good enough for them and skip on a flagship iPhone. In yet other words, a budget iPhone with a big screen would possibly cannibalize flagship iPhone sales too easily, and that is why it never materialized throughout all those years.
Who is the iPhone SE (2022) made for?
Considering the theorized "budget iPhone formula", one can assume that the SE series in its conception was purposefully and strategically designed to look outdated.
From Apple corporate point of view, it's important that the iPhone SE does not cannibalize flagship iPhone sales in any way possible, and that is why we ended up having an SE in 2022 that looks like a phone from 2014 (the year of the iPhone 6 launch, which shares the same design language).
From that point of view, it's clear that the iPhone SE (2022) will please two specific categories of consumers, and both of them are very niche groups. The first one consists of people who harbor nostalgic feelings about the old "iPhone with a button" thing, and the second one, is those who genuinely want and appreciate a compact phone, but even for them, Apple currently offers the more appealing iPhone 13 Mini which has a far more usable screen size. There is a third indistinct group of people who just want a cheap iPhone too.
Bad on purpose?
At the end of the day, we have seen how Apple has been extremely reluctant to make budget iPhones. It started making them very late in the iPhone history, and doesn't update them for 2 and sometimes 4 years.
We have also seen how Apple follows a certain "formula" to ensure the budget iPhones are only appealing to a few niche customers, but never endanger the flagship, money-making iPhone series.
The iPhone SE (2022) might not be "bad on purpose", but it certainly seems like no coincidence that Apple has not fixed the two issues that everyone complained about: the tiny screen size and the sub-par battery life.
Thankfully, we have a wide selection of iPhones these days and that shouldn't really bother you: for just $70 more than the SE (2022), you can buy an iPhone 11 with a much more useful, 6.1" screen size, better battery life and an ultra-wide camera. And that, in my opinion, is the true budget hero in the 2022 Apple lineup.
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