In defense of the iPhone SE
In no other job is it a good sign when people start telling you off. But that’s online journalism for you, a field in which aggressive emails are a sign that one of your articles has taken off. (Such emails don’t even necessarily mean your opinion was controversial since people very rarely write in to strenuously agree. It just means a lot of people read it.)
This week I used our Different Think column to express an opinion that I thought would be relatively uncontroversial: that Apple should let the iPhone SE die. I reasoned that the SE made sense when the all-screen iPhone design was fairly new and older designs offered an acceptable compromise, but that the window had long since closed, and the device no longer represents good value.
It turns out–and this is always a surprise to me–not everyone agrees. A series of (actually very polite and articulate) emails from fans of the SE highlighted its size, price, and lack of Face ID as points in its favor, and expressed dismay at the idea of its being discontinued. Another reader, meanwhile, detected an ulterior motive that Apple might have for keeping the SE around: as an entry-level drug to hook tech beginners and former Android users before they buy into the Apple ecosystem as a whole.
If only Apple could depend on 100 million more customers this loyal to the iPhone SE! But sadly, I suspect my correspondents are in the minority… and the numbers of SE supporters may dwindle further when the fourth-gen SE is unveiled next year. It’s expected to be based on the iPhone 14 chassis, and that means at least two and probably all three of those advantages will disappear: it won’t be as small or anywhere near as cheap as the iPhone SE from 2022, and is likely to have Face ID too. (Although Apple could put Touch ID in the power button, as it does on the entry-level iPad.) Even the SE’s most loyal fans may find it’s no longer the phone they’re looking for.
Still, it’s a good sign for Apple that even its least glamorous handset can still inspire this much passion; I’d be surprised if many readers would write in to defend a budget Samsung phone based on a four-year-old design.
