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Comment by taylodl | Hacker News Reader

"Apple has tried selling cheaper phones in the past with poor results." I love the iPhone SE. They can keep gradually improving that model and I'm good.

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I'll take one iPhone X in an iPhone SE-sized body please. Preferably with the headphone jack.

The biggest turnoffs of the new iPhones are the increased sizes. I know people like the bigger phones, but I can't be the only one who prefers the smaller size. In my case, it's because I run/cycle with my phone (I'm not getting the Apple Watch so don't even suggest it) and the bulk of the 6/7/8/X series is way too much for me.

Yup, I still have a 5s for this very reason. I dread having to "upgrade" to something bigger... Would probably use a Zoolander phone if existed.

> Would probably use a Zoolander phone if existed.

This effectively exists in the form of the Apple Watch Series 3 LTE, although it's smaller than Zoolander's phone (which had to be flipped open to use).

I've had it for a few weeks and can still hardly believe I can make and receive phone calls on the thing.

I am baffled as to your amazement given that LTE-enabled smartwatches have been coming out of Chinese manufacturers such as No.1 for several years.

> In my case, it's because I run/cycle with my phone (I'm not getting the Apple Watch so don't even suggest it) and the bulk of the 6/7/8/X series is way too much for me.

...ok? I mean people would suggest it because it's the solution to your problem. It doesn't have to be the Apple Watch, but some sort of fitness band seems to be a much better solution than hoping against logic that phones will suddenly become tiny again.

Not sure why the downvote, but, for the sake of throwing a concrete response there:

Two bads don't make a good. If I don't want product X in the first place, then "just buy product X, and also spend a few hundred bucks extra on a 2nd product you otherwise don't want in order to try and duct tape over the things you don't like about product X" is a suggestion that comes across as tone deaf.

I see where you're coming from but it's definitely not that simple.

An extreme example would be "I carry my laptop with me because I need a clock, and I hate how bulky affordable laptops are because I carry it with me all the time."

Sure, I mean, your laptop functions as a clock. That doesn't make it anywhere close to the best device for the job. Is telling you to get a watch or a phone to tell time instead "duct taping over the things you don't like" about the laptop? No, it's suggesting that the real solution to your problem is to get the best device for the job.

Phones are similar. Do they work as fitness bands? Sure. But larger form factor phones bring tons of benefits, and their design shouldn't be constrained by the needs of those using them as fitness bands, just like the needs of laptop users shouldn't be constrained by those that use them as a clock.

I'm solution oriented, and waiting in vain for phones to suddenly become smaller again isn't a solution, it's basically just pouting.

It was weird that in mentioning the “cheaper phones” that Apple has sold, they only mention the 5c, not the SE. The SE has sold surprisingly well, and it’s still available now. Why just dredge up the 5c and ignore the current model?

They’re probably referring to the 5c which clearly didn’t do well at all.

The SE is the cheap phone now but there are a lot of people (I’m guessing like you) who really like the form factor and don’t want a 6/7/8 sized phone let alone an X or a Plus.

I’m one of those people. I want smaller than a 6/7/8 and I want Spotify on an Apple Watch. I don’t care the price.

Yes! I can't wait for an update to the SE (hopefully using the exact same form factor, just updated internals)

An updated screen would be the biggest improvement for me: the contrast ratio and black levels are much worse on the SE than other iPhones.

Yes, but please Apple, improvements only! Do not touch the headphone jack or the fingerprint reader!

Is the SE an iPhone 6 or 7? I'm going to get a new phone in a week or so and didn't even know about the SE.

Its a 6 in a 5's body. It was released 5-6 months before the 7 irrc.

It's a 6s, actually, without the larger screen, faster Touch ID, 3D Touch, and barometer.

It doesn't have 3d touch.

Yeah, that's what I said. It's missing 3D Touch along with all those other things.

It is much of the internal hardware of an iPhone 6S (A9 processor, 12MP rear camera) in the case of an iPhone 5.

Well that's a bummer. I'd like a phone that's going to be updated for at least 2 and hopefully 3 years. If it's already from the 6S generation I'm not too confident in it getting patched for the next 3 years.

Unlike Android manufacturers, Apple has a good track record of supporting older hardware. I have a 5S which was released nearly 5 years ago and is still receiving updates.

Older hardware? The first SE was released less than 2 years ago and there was an update last year that added more storage.

It’s still a very speedy phone.

Right and that's my point. Apple is good at this, but Android manufactures aren't. Typically you are lucky to get 3 years of updates. Some new phones, like the Razer Phone, don't even come with the latest version of Android.

I have an iPad SE (i.e., cheaper 2017 non-Pro iPad) and it's great. I've only ever heard good things about the iPhone SE.

I hope they update the SE and keep the form factor (or have 2 factors).

An updated SE is about due -- if you put any credence in macrumors' buying guide anyway.

They increased storage a year ago, when I bought one, and a price decrease late last year, so the timeline seems reasonable.

I really like the SE size, so I did a bit of searching to see what rumors are out there. Most seemed to suggest the update will be this fall and I don't really want to wait until then. One analyst claimed that wireless charging would be added to it and that seems plausible.

I'll probably get an iPhone 8 and it will be my first iPhone.

I would be very surprised if they update the SE at any point, Apple can barely pay attention to their mainstream products.

> Apple can barely pay attention to their mainstream products

What do you mean by this? Are you saying that Apple doesn't care about iPhone?

This. I love my SE, and if SE2 is a micro X, I'll probably finally move away from Apple. I really don't want a face-id or imaginary home button.

Face-ID is great, and there's no 'imaginary home button' - the entire interface has been redesigned around not needing a home button.

I'm not pleased with the security aspect of face id though. I get that touch id is not highly secure either, but I'm more confident in it and it does not require looking at a phone to unlock.

I'm in a similar boat. I'm unlikely to go for a bigger phone, and, seeing as the traffic lights in my city interfere with Bluetooh, I'm simply not going to go for a phone with no headphone jack.

But all signs indicate that it's just not happening. The thing that pretty well convinced me that the SE will be the last small iPhone is the new control center. Cramming so many things in there that key touch targets are too small to quickly hit with a thumb on an SE-sized screen seemed like a pretty clear, if tacit, statement of intent.

I have an iPhone 6/64GB and it has been running really slow. Last thing I tried is to disable all location services (besides for specific maps apps) and helped a little bit. Apple diagnosed that its battery still good. Question, how is your iPhone SE performance?

The iPhone SE I bought recently is really fast. Waited a while to update to the latest iOS version as it didn't look that good judging by the betas I was using on my iPad before it's official release. But it's running great after holding off for two months, zero problems.

GeekBench is like one or two dollar in the AppStore. If the score has a significant difference with other iPhone 6's probably you're having a battery problem.

Also factory resetting the phone can help. Try to figure out if there are any apps using a lot of battery in your battery overview. Some apps consume more in terms of background activity than others.

I'd still replace the battery regardless of what they tell you.

Apple once told me I had a good battery even though my phone would randomly shut off and attaching to a charger was the only solution to get the phone to turn on. Thankfully I had AppleCare and pushed for them to replace the phone.

Yup, download GeekBench and do a test

My iPhone 7 was had a crippled batter after one year - it performed like an iPhone 6..

coconutBattery now also reports the battery health of connected iOS devices. I wish this functionality was built-in.

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

I had to upgrade from an iPhone 6 that I liked just fine, because the OS keeps getting slower and slower. I suspect it relates back to the 3d shimmer effects and adding depth to everything, and transition animations. I suspect Ives needs to be knocked down a peg so that the phone stops getting worse. Apple is still selling the 6s so they test that one a bit more, and it it's completely dead, but it's still pretty laggy compared to how it was when it first shipped.

People tend to disregard statements like this, but they are absolutely 100% true.

I'm still using my iPhone 5S on iOS 8, and I am very happy with its performance. I've never had any issues with sluggishness, lag, etc.

>on iOS 8

That's the ticket. The further the OS drifts the the original hardware, the more painful the experience.

Switched to iPhone SE (after a few years on Android) 12 months ago. I have yet to encounter any situation where I've been annoyed with the phone's performance. Best, and snappiest, smart phone I've ever owned.

Annoyance has been reserved for individual apps, and the change of Control Centre in iOS 11.

Only thing I'm bothered by is the speed of the fingerprint scanner. It's the same scanner from the 5s, so 1st gen touch ID. Makes for a less than ideal wait time for what is a generally snappy phone.

Battery life is fantastic as well. I paired mine up with a thin silicone case and Qi receiver for wireless charging.

I believe the SE is running on 6S internals, so it should be improved over the 6.

Back when Apple allowed downgrading, I would downgrade others phones to the original OEM version and the speed was quite good. Now a days I upgrade one revision and nothing more. The only apps I really need are Safari and mail which work fine.

I loved the performance and battery life of the phone, but I finally gave up on the form factor. Apple and developers now support the screen size as an afterthought and I'd become increasingly frustrated by new version of apps that squish their 5.5" UI into 4, so I finally had it and switched to a compact Android device. Apple could have avoided this by maintaining the size of the phone and reducing bezels, but it seems clear that they consider smaller phones a niche market that isn't interesting.

I had some issues with a relatively slow iPhone 6 recently - it didn't register as battery throttling. So I made an iTunes backup, factory reset the device, and restored from backup.

That got it back to about the speed I'd expect it to be. I still suspect that I'll take it in for a battery swap before the end of the year - but it might be worth trying if it's the slowness is a hindrance for you.

I did this as well for an iPhone 6 and 6s. Worked.

The iPhone 6 has an A8 where the iPhone SE has an A9. My iPhone 6 also says the battery is good and its a year old (2017-02-21) since I had to pay for the replacement since the old battery swelled and killed the touch screen ($159.62), but it is really slowing down in the last 2 months and getting hot after about 3 minutes of use.

I replaced my iPhone 6 with an iPhone SE a few weeks ago. It was like having an old friend back, especially since I had an iPhone 4 for 4 years before the iPhone 6. It was nice to have a phone I can operate with one hand again, it felt very familiar, but at the same time it also worked better. Compared to the iPhone 6 it's is certainly faster, has a better battery life and also supports hey siri even when not plugged into the charger.

I bought the SE when it came out almost two years ago and still love it. No performance issues at all.

Only thing I’ve noticed is that some websites clearly don’t really expect phones’ screens to be this small any more, though.

It has had poor success because they've been trying to sell a $400 device with the specs of a $150 device.

New iPhone SE is $160 new or $110 refurbished from Consumer Cellular. So ???

Apple's price is $349 for the 32gb model and $449 for the 128gb model. The US cellular market might obfuscate the actual price of hardware through subsidies and bundling, but that's not the case in most international markets. The iPhone SE doesn't look like a particularly good deal compared to a similarly-priced handset from Xiaomi or Huawei - $349 is practically flagship territory these days.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-se#00,20,30

Considering that Xiaomi or Huawei don't run iOS, it seems like a good deal to me ;-)

Isn't it the other way around? The SE was released concurrently with the 6S and uses the same CPU even though it sold at a much lower price point.

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