IPhone SE

The iPhone SE (iPhone Special Edition ) is a smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. as part of the iPhone series of devices. It was unveiled on March 21, 2016, at Apple's Cupertino headquarters and was released on March 31, 2016. The iPhone SE serves as a replacement for the iPhone 5S: it maintains a 4-inch screen size and nearly identical design to the 5S, but includes selected hardware upgrades from the larger iPhone 6S model, including its updated processor, rear camera, and support for iOS 9 software features such as Apple Pay, always-on Siri activation, and Live Photos.

Reception to the iPhone SE was critically positive, noting its familiar form factor and design, improved hardware over previous iPhone models with 4-inch screens, and its overall performance and battery life.

History
The last major redesign of the iPhone, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch 6 Plus, resulted in larger screen sizes. However, a significant number of customers preferred the 4-inch screen size of the iPhone 5 and 5S; the 5S was the second-most popular iPhone after the 6, ahead of the 6S. Apple stated in their event that they sold 30 million 4-inch iPhones in 2015. Furthermore, the 5 and 5S design was regarded as having "long been the golden child of Apple phone design and a benchmark for phones in general," while the succeeding 6 and 6S design was less critically acclaimed. The iPhone 5 was described as "elegance rooted in the way the aluminum and glass work together. It felt streamlined, yet substantial, which is different from iPhone 6, which feels substantial in size alone. Plus, unlike the ubiquitous rounded corners of the 6, iPhone 5 didn’t really look like anything else on the market at the time."

Apple's product positioning trend in North America and Western Europe, starting with the iPhone 4S released in October 2011, gave each newly released model one year as the flagship phone, then moving it to midrange for its second year of production, with the third and final year as the entry-level offering before discontinuation. The iPhone 5S was expected to continue on sale until September 2016. In addition, a new iPhone launch was meant to stimulate demand, as sales of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus had not met expectations since their September 2015 release and the iPhone family may suffer its first ever negative growth quarter in 2016.

Design
The technology specifications of the iPhone SE are similar to the iPhone 6S. The exterior design of the iPhone SE is nearly identical to that of the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5, with the exception of matte-chamfered edges and an inset stainless steel rear Apple logo. Like the iPhone 6S, the iPhone SE is available in space gray, silver, gold and rose gold finishes. Apple stated that cases designed to fit the 5 and the 5S will also fit an iPhone SE, as the three phones have exactly the same dimensions.

Hardware
As with the 6S, the iPhone SE incorporates the Apple A9 system-on-chip (SoC) with an M9 motion coprocessor and supports near field communication for Apple Pay. It also features a 4-inch Retina Display at 326 ppi. It is available with either 16 or 64 GB of internal storage. It features the same 12 megapixel, 1.22µ pixel, rear-facing camera as the 6S, with the ability to record 720p at 240 frames per second, 1080p at 120 or 60 fps and 4K at 30 fps, as well as faster focus. Despite the upgraded rear camera, it does not feature the same front-facing camera, instead using a 1.2 megapixel sensor with f/2.4 aperture, but benefiting from the improved image signal processor in the A9 chip, and support for the software "Retina Flash" feature (which allows the display itself to be used as a flash on the front-facing camera).

Unlike the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, the SE does not include 3D Touch, nor the updated faster second-generation Touch ID sensor from the 6S and 6S Plus, or its barometer.

In North America, the iPhone SE comes in two hardware models, the A1662 model sold unlocked and by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon and the A1723 model sold by Sprint or Canadian carriers.

Software
iPhone SE shipped with iOS 9.3, supporting iPhone 6 and 6S-exclusive features such as Apple Pay, Live Photos, Retina Flash and always-on Siri voice activation.

Reception
Lauren Goode of The Verge considered the iPhone SE to be "a much-improved, well-designed, small phone with great battery life" and a "kickass upgrade" for existing owners of the 4S or 5S models, noting the device's familiar form factor, high performance (going as far as considering the screen size itself to be the only hindrance to multitasking and certain apps), and improved battery life. The camera's quality and functionality was also praised, arguing that the iPhone SE was a "completely pocketable and powerful little consumer camera" that outperformed other smartphones in its price range. Giving the device an 8.7 out of 10, Goode argued that "the iPhone SE is not a tiny little engine of innovation. It's today's tech in yesterday's phone body. As with anything, we should be wary of giving too much praise to something that's just doing its job."

CNET was similarly positive, arguing that Apple had accomplished the task of adapting the 6S's hardware to three different form factors; the smaller SE, 4.7-inch 6S, and 5.5-inch 6S Plus. The iPhone SE was considered to be a "great choice at the small end, with no compromises", albeit recommending that purchasers avoid the 16 GB model (with the release of the iPhone 7, the first iPhone to have 32 GB as its base storage amount, the iPhone SE was the last new model with 16 GB as its lowest storage).