Apple launches a new version of its least expensive iPhone

Gadget giant Apple wasn’t about to let a global pandemic cramp its style, but don’t get too excited because the iPhone SE is just an old phone with a newer chip.

‘A powerful new smartphone in a popular design’ is how Apple marketing genius Phil Schiller is spinning it. The popular design is the iPhone 8 chassis and the power boost comes from the A13 Bionic chip, so called because that sounds futuristic and cool. There’s also a tweak to the camera and the screen seems to be a bit better than the 8. All of this will set you back a mere £419 for the vanilla version.

“The first iPhone SE was a hit with many customers who loved its unique combination of small size, high-end performance and affordable price; the new second-generation iPhone SE builds on that great idea and improves on it in every way — including our best-ever single-camera system for great photos and videos — while still being very affordable,” said Schiller, who is not a fan of full-stops or the definite article.

“[The] iPhone SE features the industry-leading performance of A13 Bionic that enables great battery life, takes stunning Portrait mode and Smart HDR photos, shoots amazing videos with stereo audio, is great for games and super fast web surfing, and is built with the same industry-leading security features our customers expect. We can’t wait to get [the] iPhone SE into customers’ hands.”

The iPhone SE will be available to buy through the usual channels on 24 April, implying its far-Eastern supply chains haven’t been too badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, since much of the phone uses older kit, there may have already been a fair bit of it kicking about at the start of the year. Here’s a vid.