As a small phone lover, I was always extremely happy with the 5S portability and power, and still love and am using it to this day.
According to ABC news because that's like the only good news source in Australia, it'll start a 679$ and be out 31st March.
I was never happy how Apple also took the plunge to larger phones despite it being the only move to compete with beast Samsung and other handsets.
Anyone else a small phone lover?
As you can't change out the battery that will most likely be your point of failure. They generally last around 2-3 years before they can't hold a charge very well.
My iphone 4 was holding charge fine after 4 years of usage. Was happy with it until my wife smashed it.
Bought a used 5s and have been using it until now. Going by that pattern I'll be using … and iPhone 2 SEs ? LOL
Disclaimer — I am not an Apple user nor do I own any Apple device at the moment.
I think iPhone SE is actually quite aggressively priced when it packs all the processing and camera optics from iPhone 6S that will rival many flagship phones from Android. $679 does sound a bit expensive but that's just Apple Australia. USD$399 =~ AUD$530 and I can see Kogan, DWI etc jumping on the train to grey-import them cheaply from overseas.
wonder how battery life will be give its size and features hmmm
Looks like battery life is actually on par with iPhone 6S and even better for browsing and video:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/
They did not upgrade the front camera and the Touch ID sensor though. Still looks like a good phone for those who like small phones!
Wow. Keep in mind tax isn't included on US prices so with 6.75% tax that brings it to US$425.90 but that is still A$561.75
I suppose they are going off a old exchange rate. With the exchange rate only a couple of weeks ago it would have only been like $70 cheaper in the US.
It is still expensive I agree and I think they could have dropped the price a little bit…
Not An "Apple to Apple" comparison.
Firstly US prices does not include tax, Australia does.
So it's AU$617.27 without tax. US convert it to Australia dollar becomes $527 or so at the time of this point.
So you may be wondering why $90 different?
Well you have to remember currency exchange rates changes every day. Australia currency is still predicted to dive to 65c at the end of the year. The price will have to be a bit more expensive to account for changes in exchange rate.
2nd, the minimum wage in Australia is $17.29 per hour. In USA, it's $7.25 ($9.57 at the time of this post)
As you can see our wages is almost double.
We simply cannot say USA and AUS economy are the same. Based on different minimum wages and labour cost, it is actually cheaper in Australia.
This is the beauty of a high wage. If you think Australia is expensive, you can buy from another country.
Better then having a low wage right?
If Australia wages were cut to $9.57 an hour, then the iPhone can be pretty much the same price as the USA.
Please guys, understand this, I probably spent countless hours explaining this to people who think Australia a rip off without knowing why.
Please guys, understand this…
I am sure many people understand why Australian price is high just that they don't understand why they should be paying that price at their individual level. I brought this up because for some it's a problem, for others (Kogan, DWI, etc) it's an opportunity.
I think you are missing a step in your logic.
Yes, Australians have a high minimum wage, in fact, one of the highest, that said, that drives up the cost of everything involving labour in Australia. So if you compare wages without considering purchasing power of money in each country, there is no point.
For example, if person A earn 6 figures but have to spend it all on basic commodity compared to person B who earns 5 figures but only have to spend 4 figures on the same basic commodity, then person B is better off even though the numbers suggest otherwise.
Australia's minimum wage with purchasing power parity was $11.14, compared to US's $7.25, which isn't as large as what nominal values suggest. Besides, minimum wage is a bottom line for wages, US have higher variations in income compared to Australia as far as I remember (I need to double check on this, but I am fairly sure). I don't think comparing minimum wage would give anyone a fair comparison between average households in Australia vs US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_count…
Besides, Apple charged reasonable exchange rate after counting in 10% GST for iPad Pro 9.7 (it was around A$30 difference, minor considering I used XE.com's rate). iPhone SE's price probably isn't due to what you are saying (since it would've affected iPad Pro's price as well).
we have more of an issue for things which are online based, like steam games, applications purchased online and streaming
where local employees don't factor in
I think that pricing will make more people willing to try iOS. Once their locked in, they'll likely get the bigger model next time round.
I thought today's announcement would've made few Apple users peeved, because I personally thought Apple did things that they wouldn't normally do.
Apple rarely make products that can potentially cannibalise the sales of their other products, and I think SE and iPad Pro 9.7 inch version both have potentials to reduce sales of 6s and larger iPad Pro.
iPhone SE, I personally thought it would be more closer to iPhone 6 in terms of spec, since iPhone 5c came out with similar spec to iPhone 5.
I thought they'd at least underclock A9, like what they did with newer iPod Touch. RAM is unknown at the moment (but that said, I did see someone saying that it's 2GB from xcode). I think Apple really wants to have the upper hand against the high-end midrange phones by Android manufacturers in the two big markets with lots of potentials, i.e. China and India.
EDIT: I thought the exchange rate they'used set was reasonable, but after doing few calculations with calculators, I realised that they've made the price fairly expensive in Australia. Maybe it was iPad Pro 9.7 or maybe it was because I was half asleep making the calculations.
I thought they'd at least underclock A9,
They probably did.
Huh, they did accoring to bgr. Apparently it's slightly underclocked (I thought it wasn't for some random reason, I blame lack of coffee). Though performance would probably be better due to lower resolution.
How's the screen compared to the 4S and S4?
Missus is in the market for an iphone and the 64gb SE might suit her small hands.
It's taller than the iPhone 4S, but not wider (the iPhone 6/6S is wider), just like the iPhone 5/5S. I have very small hands (I buy child-sized gloves) but I don't find the 6/6S size a problem, the SE should be fine. If she likes to put it in her jeans pocket, that is more likely to be a problem. Women's pockets are tiny, when they exist at all.
It's much smaller than a Samsung S4, which is a 5" screen, and larger than the iPhone 6/6S (smaller than the 6+/6S+).
Thanks lupiter - very informative :)
I think this might be the go for her. Thanks for the comparison, appreciate it :)
I'm really glad that the bottom storage tier is 16GB. Having to explain to frustrated friends & family who've filled their iPhone 5C that they can't fit software updates, thousands of photos, and music, on an 8GB phone drives me bonkers. All these people buy 8GB thinking they want "just a phone", 6 months later they regret it so bad.
Ideally, the bottom storage would be 32GB, but even 16 is an improvement. I hope they never sell another 8GB device again.
Literally every tech website/blogger has complained about a 16GB phone being sold in 2016. I don't know why Apple decides to release a 256GB iPad Pro when they can't boost the entry level storage to 32GB.
I watched Verge's live blog of the event as well.
I kind of chuckled at their reaction.
Ross Miller 10:39:15 AM PDT
Oops, Apple made another 16GB iPhoneDieter Bohn 10:42:52 AM PDT
You may now complain about 16GB on Twitter
I think it's simple. You wouldn't be able to sell as much 64GB model if you sell 32GB models.
They suck you in with the 'cheap' cost to buy a 16gb model, then they entice you with 4x storage for ~$150 more. Dodgy but works haha. I think they should change it to 32/128/256gb storage tiers now.
purely a business decision $$
agree, pretty much most of the companies those day are making product that makes profit rather than make product that works.
Apple is following a marketing strategy that many manufacturers, particularly car manufacturers have been following for years
For example BMW. They made the 3 series bigger and bigger until it was bigger than the 'old' 5 series. They also added lots of features as standard.
Then they added the 2 series to the line, basically undercutting the 3 series.
Later they added the 1 series.
Audi did a similar thing.
Apple have increased the size of their phones until marketing research showed there was an appetite for a smaller and cheaper one, so along comes the 'budget model'.
Once you know you are being manipulated you can make a conscious decision whether to accept it or not.
To answer the question, the smaller phones are just as functional for me as the bigger ones. They are also less costly because only the newer Apple phones are bigger. This is a smart move by Apple because it gives the market a whole spectrum of phones for every user. No doubt they will have done their own market research and found the same things many of my friends are saying: they will consider leaving the Apple infrastructure if the phone size suitable for them is no longer offered. This is not a step back in time but rather a marketing response to a demand reality. Me? I prefer the smaller screens for portability, and still suitable for viewing most apps and webpages on the run. If I need to do something more, I will use my Mac Book Air and my next bite of the Apple Cherry is an iPad mini, then I consider I have all the versatility I need across the platforms. I don't see how I would get this with (say) just one 6S size device. Upgrading to the same size as my earlier 4S screen will bring benefits by way of battery life in the SE and of course speed. My 2cents!
I really like the form factor (6S performance in a 5S size)…however, I can't wrap my head around the stupid amount of markups in Australia.
16GB = US$400 = AU$533, +10% GST = AU$586…Aussie RRP is AU$679(!)
64GB = US$500 = AU$667, +10%GST = AU$733…Aussie RRP is AU$829(!)
So on both the models there's an Australia-tax of A$100 or therabouts…not cool Apple, not cool!
I'll be seriously considering this for Dad when I next visit family overseas, but with this sort of pricing, I'll stick to a reputable grey importer…
I actually really like the SE. Many people say that it's "nothing new" but that's not it. It is a budget phone (talking Apple here) and it is supposed to be for people who want to use smaller Apple phones. I think the phone feels very solid in your hand and packs a lot of power. Plus, you can use your old iPhone 5s cases on it.
My 2c
All the manufacturers are going big sized and the best hw but the smaller handsets seem to get the scraps and I think apple catering for the smaller sizer with decent specs is going to draw a lot of attention.
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=7535&idPhone2=…
Z5c is slightly bigger; 3.2mm longer, 6.4mm wider, and 1.3mm thicker but it has a 15% larger display. Of course it doesn't stand out in the sea of android phones.
Not many top shelf spec small screen devices.
Its a shame but it wil eventually go around than everyone will want small handsets.
I know for a fact I will be sticking with apple when my 3 years old 5s dies.
Don't know when it will die though, Will see what iPhone it is by the time it does.