Today's Apple launch event came with three major announcements. The first was the public release date of iOS 9.3, the second was the 9.7" iPad Pro, and the third was a successor to the 2013 iPhone 5s in the iPhone SE. Interestingly, this phone eschews the number from the name of its predecessor, presumably because we've moved two generations beyond the 5s already and will likely be seeing a 7 appear in the next iPhone's name. Instead, Apple has called it the iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE comes in at a time when the high-end market has transitioned (almost) entirely to larger 5.2-inch and up smartphones. Apple was most resistant to that trend but eventually made their own larger screen devices, leaving the group of users who wanted a smaller device to opt for the aging iPhone 5s. With iOS becoming more resource intensive over time, and the iPhone 5s getting older, Apple needed to create a new 4" device if they wanted to continue offering one. Being able to offer it at a lower price than the larger models also helps with selling to new and emerging markets, especially when Apple quotes that new iPhone users tend to move towards a 4-inch device.

While the iPhone SE is a small phone, it is no slouch when it comes to the hardware, and the only aspect that is reminiscent of the iPhone 5s is the design of the chassis and the display. Almost everything else borrows from Apple's newest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 6s. You can check out the specs for the 5s, SE, and 6s in the chart below to see the similarities and differences between the three.

Apple iPhone Line
  Apple iPhone 5s Apple iPhone SE Apple iPhone 6s
SoC Apple A7
2 x 1.3GHz Apple Cyclone
Apple A9
2 x Apple Twister
GPU PowerVR GX6450 PowerVR GT7600
RAM 1GB LPDDR3 2GB LPDDR4
Display 4.0-inch 1136 x 640
IPS LCD
4.7-inch 1334 x 750
IPS LCD
Size / Mass 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
112 grams
123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
113 grams
138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm
143 grams
Camera Rear Facing
8MP iSight with 1.5µm pixels + True Tone Flash

Front Facing
1.2MP F/2.4
Rear Facing 12MP iSight with 1.22µm pixels
+ True Tone Flash
Front Facing
1.2MP f/2.4
Front Facing 5MP F/2.2 + Retina Flash
Storage 16GB
32GB
64GB
16GB
64GB
16GB
64GB
128GB
I/O Apple Lightning connector, 3.5mm headset
WiFi 2.4/5GHz Dual Band
1T1R 802.11n 
BT 4.2
2.4/5GHz Dual Band
1T1R 802.11ac
BT 4.2, NFC
2.4/5GHz Dual Band
2T2R 802.11ac
BT 4.2, NFC
Price 16GB: $449 16GB: $399
64GB: $499
16GB: $649
64GB: $749
128GB: $849

The iPhone SE is a substantial upgrade to the iPhone 5s. Starting with the internal hardware, we see that the SoC moves from the Apple A7 SoC to Apple's A9. Going by Apple's numbers, the iPhone SE's CPU performance is reported to be 2x higher than the iPhone 5s, and the GPU performance is roughly 2.85x higher.

On paper, the display is the same as the one used with the iPhone 5s. It's a 4" IPS display with a resolution of 1136 x 640. It looks like the panel is the same as well, as it doesn't benefit from the improved contrast enabled by the use of photo alignment tech on the iPhone 6s.

The camera also carries over from the 6s. Advances in sensor technology and image processing over the past two and a half years have allowed modern smartphones to greatly surpass what was possible with the camera on the iPhone 5s, and so the iPhone SE adopts the same 12MP sensor used in the iPhone 6s. This provides an increase in resolution, and the advancements that come with the A9 SoC's ISP will further upgrade image quality over the 5s through improved noise reduction, HDR, and tone mapping.

The new ISP and higher resolution sensor also allow for higher bitrate video recording with better image stabilization, as well as 30fps UHD video and 1080p120 slow motion video, which is an improvement over the relatively low bitrate 720p120 clips from the 5s. Like the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the iPhone SE supports taking Apple's Live Photos which pairs a video stream (MPEG) and a higher resolution still image. Since the SE doesn't have 3D Touch a user will have to interact with them using a long press in the same way that the iPad does

Connectivity on the iPhone SE improves as well. When it was launched, the 5s was only on 802.11n while some Android vendors were making an early move to 802.11ac. The SE brings 802.11ac support along for 433Mbps WiFi speeds, along with Category 4 LTE which enables downstream speeds of up to 150Mbps. This isn't on par with the Category 6 LTE in the iPhone 6s, but it's a significant improvement over the iPhone 5s. At this point we can't confirm the modem inside, which could be a number of things.

The iPhone SE starts at $399 for a 16GB model, with the upgrade to 64GB bringing the price to $499. For users still on a contract carrier in the US, it will be free on a new two-year term. Orders will begin on March 24.

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  • zeeBomb - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    Does this phone really have 2GB RAM tho. That's what I wanna know.
  • Guspaz - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    It's an iPhone 6S in an iPhone 5S chassis, so yes.
  • RollWave - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    That's what I want confirmed too.
  • PrinceGaz - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    It would probably be more expensive to design a new A9 SoC with 1GB RAM, than it is to stick with the existing design with 2GB.
  • extide - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    No, it wouldn't they just put a different RAM chip on top. The RAM is not built into the A9, rather it sits on top, and is an entirely different chip.
  • dragonsqrrl - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    The article specifically states 2GB LPDDR4. What more do you want to know?
  • ssiu - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    Traditionally Apple does not talk about the amount of RAM in their devices, and usually we need someone with the actual (final retail) device to run some benchmark/configuration program and/or do a hardware teardown to confirm that detail. Some blogs post info that they just assume is true.

    On the other hand, some websites could have reliable insiders that can leak info to them :-)
  • danbob999 - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    Many web sites including Anandtech have been wrong in the past by saying Apple's new device had X MB/GB of RAM.
    The correct answer is that we don't know, Apple didn't announce anything. 1GB is still a possibility.
  • ingwe - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    Why is the default 16GB instead of 32?!? sigh...
  • DCide - Monday, March 21, 2016 - link

    So they can charge a significant percentage of their customers $100 more by selling them more than they need at big profit margins,

    And now it's easier for them to charge $399 instead of $449 for the entry level phone, without upsetting the entire iPhone pricing structure and profits.

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