On March 8, 2022, Apple presented the third iPhone SE at an event. TECHBOOK editor-in-chief Andreas Filbig thinks that the group is doing itself a disservice.
It’s always exciting when Apple presents new devices. This time there was a new iPhone SE, a powerful 5th generation iPad Air and the Mac Studio for professional users. A range of products that couldn’t be more different. On the one hand, new high-end technology from Apple in the iPad Air and the Mac Studio and on the other hand… well, the iPhone SE in Stone Age design with a home button.
home button? So what is that?
Do you remember the revolutionary iPhone X? Five years ago, Apple launched what was then the latest flagship model to mark the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. The biggest design innovation: no more home button. It was installed in the main series for the last time in the iPhone 8. After that, only the iPhone SE from 2020 (2nd generation) got it. Now, two years later, Apple is launching the next iPhone SE and I couldn’t believe my eyes. A home button in 2022! This goes hand in hand with a design that was first used on the iPhone 6 and is therefore already seven and a half years old.
Apple wants 519 euros for the smallest version of a smartphone, which looks like it comes from the soccer world champion year 2014.
Optics a flop, technology partly top
on technical side the iPhone SE 3 is superbly equipped. Inside, the Bionic A15 chip, which is also in the new iPhone 13, calculates. The 5G mobile communications standard is also on board. Memory sizes range from 64 gigabytes, over 128 gigabytes to a maximum of 256 gigabytes. That’s fine for an entry-level model. Just like the already well-known 12-megapixel camera. Depending on the memory version, the prices are 519 euros, 569 euros and 689 euros. The iPhone SE 3 can be pre-ordered from March 11th and will be released on March 18th.
But you have to make compromises with the camera and above all with the display quality. Nothing has changed compared to the iPhone SE 2020.
You can read all the innovations and a detailed comparison here: iPhone SE 3 is here! Old design with new power
Conclusion: Does Apple have a homegrown problem?
The iPhone SE 3 is a mystery to me. It’s bearable that Apple has taken a step back in iPhone innovation. An already excellent and popular product is carefully developed further. With the iPhone SE, however, it seems as if you are pressing the gas and brakes at the same time. Inside is modern technology and outside is an ancient design. It just doesn’t go together, and certainly not with Apple.
One reason for this could of course be the iPhone 13 mini. With a modern design, the SE 3 would hardly differ from the 13 mini. That would probably only have better cameras and the possibility of a little more storage space. I hope that the iPhone SE 3 will finally be the last iPhone with a home button.