In early 2016, Apple really did the unexpected and released its first iPhone SE model, a relatively inexpensive version of the iPhone. More than seven years after the launch of this first SE version, the landmark product has now been added to Apple’s official legacy devices list, turning it into a “vintage” smartphone from Cupertino.
Apple considers products that it stopped distributing for sale more than 5 years ago and less than 7 years ago as obsolete products.
Brief history of iPhone SE
The first affordable iPhone was struggling against similarly priced Android rivals and perhaps could not offer everything its rivals could in terms of hardware features. But the most important point of this phone was not just that it was a cheap iPhone. The iPhone SE represented an affordable and simple way to enter Apple’s app and hardware ecosystem, which had begun to evolve rapidly with the launch of the Apple Watch just a year earlier.
iPhone SE users got access to Apple’s impressive native apps, the powerful iOS operating system, a curated and highly secure App Store, and a powerful chipset for a relatively affordable, if not cheap, price. While Apple devices were once at the premium end of the mobile market, arguably the most iconic Apple device since the iPod has become available to many more people.
In addition, the iPhone SE is an important example that can be said to have inspired phones such as Google’s Pixel A series.
The original iPhone SE was available to buyers for three years before being withdrawn from sale in September 2018. It was replaced in 2020 by the iPhone SE 2, which took some hardware and software features from the higher-end iPhones and filtered them for the SE.
It could be said that some of the magic of the second generation SE has been lost. It used a design that was now quite dated, but still had some appeal thanks to the inclusion of Touch ID. The SE 2 only had a single rear camera, while other phones in the same price range had much more. However, the use of a powerful chipset and impressive camera performance maintained the appeal of the SE.
The iPhone SE 3, introduced in 2022, was a little more disappointing. It retained the dated aesthetics of its predecessor, and its hardware wasn’t very exciting. Now all eyes are on the fourth generation iPhone SE. However, it is not yet clear when Apple will launch this phone.
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