The new iPhone SE is out—and here’s how it compares to the rumors

Daphne L|March 8, 2022

Tim Cook reveals the iPhone SE at the "Peek Performance" event. - Screenshot by Daphne Linn

Tim Cook reveals the iPhone SE at the “Peek Performance” event. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

Apple’s “Peek Performance” event was anticipated to have a new iPhone SE, and that rumor has proven true at today’s event.

The new SE has Apple’s A15 Bionic chip as expected. Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO since 2011) points out that the SE appeals to new Apple customers who want to try the iPhone experience for a low price or customers who want a smaller version of the iPhone. Cook then turned the attention to Francesca Sweet, an iPhone product line manager at Apple.

Francesca Sweet explains the upgrades of the new iPhone SE. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

Sweet talked about the power of the A15 Bionic chip in the SE and the power it brings to its users, like the incredible CPU (Central Processing Unit) and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) performances, both of which exceed many of its prior models comparable to the SE.

Apple excitedly shows off the new capacity of the iPhone SE, which is greater than any previous models. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn
The GPU performance, like the CPU performance, was dramatically upgraded from the iPhones 6, 7, and 8 to the new SE. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

The new SE also features 26 times more operations per second than the iPhone 8. The new SE has features that previously have not been on the SE model, like Live Text, which allows users to simply point their camera at text and then copy it, call or text the number, send an email, or translate it with a tap.

During the event, Apple showcased how easy it is to go to links, emails, phone numbers, or any other text via the camera app. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

The SE’s design is another key feature of the phone. “It features our iconic glass and aluminum design in three colors,” Sweet explains.

The iPhone SE comes in Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT)Red. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

The design is also durable, featuring the toughest glass on a smartphone, which allows for the amazing display to stay safe.

The 4.7″ Retina HD display on the SE has incredible color accuracy. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

The camera on the SE allows for “powerful computational photography”, which features like Deep Fusion (better texture and detail) and Smart HDR 4 (color, contrast, and noise adjustments). Video quality on the SE has been greatly improved as well.

The iPhone SE features a great new camera that can take amazing pictures like the one above. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

Plus, Apple has great control over their environmental impact while making their products.

The iPhone SE is easy on the environment and doesn’t have plastic to unwrap. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

The price of the new SE starts at $429, and just like the Alpine Green iPhone 13, pre-orders begin on this Friday, March 11th.

The iPhone SE starts at $429, a lower price than any of their other phones. – Screenshot by Daphne Linn

The rumors about the iPhone SE have been considerably accurate. However, one aspect of the rumors that were way off was the price. The iPhone SE was expected to cost around $305. In reality, the model ended up being at least $124 higher than anticipated. The new SE also does not have Face ID, despite some of the circulating rumors about the event. Lastly, an iPhone SE Pro was never revealed, so Apple stuck with their previous way of coming out with just one iPhone SE model per version.

All in all, the new iPhone SE release has been very exciting and the pre-orders will undoubtedly begin flooding in on Friday. It will be interesting to see how the users of the SE think that it compares to the past SE models or other iPhones.