Review: Apple’s new iPhone SE is like ‘meeting an old friend’

REVIEW: We’ve spent time tinkering with Apple’s new iPhone SE to deliver you the first Australian verdict. So should you buy it?

PICKING up the Apple iPhone SE is like meeting an old friend. There is something undeniably familiar given this is the exact form factor of the iPhone you probably carried for several years.

The differences externally between this newest iPhone unveiled yesterday and to an iPhone 5s, which came out two and a half years ago are so minor no one but the keenest observer, or most dedicated iPhone fan, would notice.

Its back has a different finish and a shiny Apple logo above the engraved SE and the sides have matte-chamfered edges.

The only other change since the now classic design is that Apple, and admittedly the rest of the tech world, has gone mad for Rose Gold.

But whack a case on the iPhone SE and you would never know this iPhone with an admittedly retro 4-inch (10cm) display is the new “big” thing.

If you like the feeling of people eyeing off your phone because it’s the latest and greatest, this is not the phone for you.

Apple vice president of product marketing Gregory Joswiak introduces the new iPhone SE at company headquarters in Cupertino, California. Picture: Josh Edelson/AFP

The question in assessing any device’s worth always has to be who is it for?

This phone is for lots of people — such as the 30 million people who last year bought a 4-inch iPhone. That is 30 million people who decided, whether due to price or size, to go for a iPhone two years old and much slower than the current model and with an older camera.

People who feel that way now don’t have to weigh up the same pluses and losses in making a decision. The iPhone SE has a two-year-old look to it but under the hood this is a match in most ways for the biggest and best iPhone.

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The SE has the same M9 chip and same processing speed as the iPhone 6s and most of the same features. It has Touch ID for security and is compatible with Apple Pay — a feature that is still only available to American Express card holders in Australia.

That is a clear change from the last time Apple made a “cheaper” iPhone, the iPhone 5c, that came out as the same time as the iPhone 5s but had the grunt of the previous generation iPhone 5.

Whenever a new iPhone arrives, there is much discussion about its camera. Fans of other phones would argue too much emphasis is placed on the iPhone’s camera but while you can argue its merits versus those of its competition, you can’t argue about its popularity using social media uploads as a guide.

The different coloured models of the new iPhone SE in all their glory. Picture: AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez

And the rear camera in the iPhone SE is excellent. It is a 12-megapixel camera that can shoot the Live Photos format launched with the iPhone 6s that embeds video into every still photo in that Harry Potteresque-style.

And despite being the same camera as the iPhone 6s, the thicker body of the iPhone SE means you don’t have the extruding lens you have on the phablet.

Some critics will look at the iPhone SE and dismiss it as being the innards of one phone stuffed in the body of an older phone.

But this “cheap” iPhone has a much better camera than the iPhone 6 that was such a huge hit for Apple when it pushed into the phablet sphere.

The iPhone SE has a 12-megapixel camera and can shoot 63-megapixel panoramas and 4K video. The iPhone 6 has an 8-megapixel camera and can shoot 43-megapixel panoramas and HD video.

Of those 30 million people who went with a 4-inch iPhone last year, many were likely to be first-time iPhone users. This phone is really the obvious choice for that group. If you want to join the Apple iOS ecosystem in an affordable way, the SE is the clear choice ahead of the iPhone 6 or 6S.

This is also the clear choice now for those people who just don’t want an Apple phablet, such as the 4.7-inch (14.4cm) iPhone 6s or its big sibling the iPhone 6s Plus. Once you get used to a phablet, this phone feels tiny in your hand although the reality is that people who are used to a phablet are unlikely to downsize to this.

Aside from the size, one experience you miss out on if you go with the iPhone SE is 3D Touch — the ability to access menus and features in apps by pressing harder on the screen.

If you have an iPhone 6S, you’re likely to be a convert to 3D Touch as the future of smartphone navigation. Eventually 3D Touch will be as instinctive as the pinch and tap that is ubiquitous now.

But assuming you’re coming to the iPhone SE from an iPhone 5S or older or outside of the Apple range, you won’t miss what you’ve never had.

There is an argument that Apple could have delivered a 4-inch iPhone with an updated look more in line with the iPhone 6/6s although that misses the point that many people are quite happy with the small iPhone they have now, but just wish it was faster, more powerful and a

better camera.

But there is one feature where the iPhone SE could disappoint. This is the “but” of the iPhone SE and for some iPhone users, particularly teenagers viewing this as their first phone, it’s a big but.

The iPhone SE has a front-facing camera with a resolution of just 1.2 megapixels.

The new iPhone SE is the mini-me of the range. Picture: Josh Edelson/AFP

That is, admittedly, equal to the front-facing camera in the iPhone 6 but both of those phones now sit behind the iPhone 6S which has a 5-megapixel camera up front.

The iPhone SE has Retina Flash (a feature which lights up the whole screen three times brighter than normal in a way that takes into account surrounding light colour), and Live Photos, both of which features are missing in the iPhone 6.

But if you were ranking the three most recent iPhones on their ability to shoot selfies, then the iPhone SE takes silver behind the iPhone 6s with its gold medal and the iPhone 6 standing on the podium in third place.

Is the potential iPhone SE customer likely to be put off because they can’t get a selfie with the highest resolution ever? Perhaps not, and certainly not if they are the same person who has been happy with their iPhone 4s for years.

You can take good selfies with the iPhone SE but if your last name is Kardashian this might not be the phone for you.

Apple moved to the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 because it realised there was a big market it was missing out on. Now it’s moved back to the 4-inch format in a powerful new phone so that it picks up the market it left behind.

The iPhone SE is not the phone for everyone. But it is a powerful 4-inch phone with a great rear camera and for some iPhone users that is exactly what they want.

Apple iPhone SE

Silver, Gold, Space Grey, Rose Gold

iPhone SE 16GB $679

IPhone SE 64GB $829

Pre-orders 24 March, in store 31 March