With the iPhone SE 3, Apple has expanded its range of smartphones with an affordable yet powerful model. The A15 processor and a 5G module are in the old housing.
Two years after the iPhone SE 2020, Apple presented a successor. The iPhone SE 3 has hardly changed on the outside, but brings the latest technology with it. TECHBOOK reveals what Apple’s current low-cost iPhone offers.
Old design with new inner workings
Externally, the iPhone SE 3 is a bit disappointing. Because it comes as expected with the body of the iPhone 8 from 2017, which Apple has already recycled in the iPhone SE 2020. The design is therefore already five years old and now looks quite old-fashioned.
The home button with Touch ID for unlocking is located under the 4.7-inch retina display with clear borders. The LCD screen has a resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels and is therefore in HD. Little has changed in terms of the contrast ratio of 1400:1 and the maximum brightness of 625 nits, and there is still only one camera with a 12-megapixel wide-angle on the back. Standard fare, which was already the case with the iPhone SE 2020. However, Apple emphasizes that more stable glass is now used on the front and back.
Rather, the new features of the iPhone SE 3 are hidden inside. The current A15 Bionic from Apple is used here. The chip has a total of six cores, which are divided into two performance cores and four efficiency cores. There is also a Neural Engine doubled to 16 cores for even more powerful artificial intelligence, a quad-core GPU and a 5G modem. So far, users of the iPhone SE series have had to do without 5G support. However, Apple only installed a modem with support for frequencies below 6 gigahertz (Sub6) in the iPhone SE 3. Faster speeds are therefore reserved for the more expensive iPhone Pro models. The smartphone also supports WLAN 6 (ax) and Bluetooth 5.0.
iPhone SE 3 with better camera software
Although Apple has not changed anything in the camera hardware itself, adjustments in the software bring new functions and modes. For example, the budget iPhone now supports the “Photographic Styles” function, which was previously reserved for the more expensive models. It allows you to set predefined styles such as “rich in contrast”, “luminous”, “warm” or “cold”. The iPhone SE 3 also offers portrait lighting and Smart HDR 4 for higher-contrast images. In addition, the new processor now ensures better video quality, for example by minimizing noise.
According to Apple, the battery of the iPhone SE 3 lasts longer than that of its predecessor. The manufacturer states up to 15 hours of video playback and up to 50 hours of audio playback. With the predecessor it was 13 or 40 hours. However, hardly anything has changed in terms of loading time and technology. Although the iPhone SE 3 now supports charging with 20 watts, Apple still states half an hour for a half full charge. Wireless charging is also possible.
models and prices
Like previous versions, the current iPhone SE 3 is available with storage capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. When it comes to colors, buyers can choose between midnight (black), polar star (white) and (Product)RED.
However, Apple has raised the price. Instead of 479 euros, the cheapest model now costs 519 euros – an additional charge of at least 40 euros. Apple charges 569 euros (previously 529 euros) for the version with 128 GB of storage and 689 euros (previously 649 euros) for the 256 GB version. The iPhone SE 3 will be available from March 18, 2022.