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The iPhone SE is great – but the SE 3 needs a big design refresh
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OPINION: Apple is holding its much-anticipatedPeek Performanceevent today (March 8) and while many eyes are on the rumoured advances in Apple Silicon, I am most excited about the new phone Apple is set to unveil.
Well, maybe I should rephrase that – I am most excited about what I’d ideally like the rumourediPhone SE 2022to be, rather than necessarily what the leaks and rumours are suggesting itwillbe.
The current iPhone SE, often called theiPhone SE 2or iPhone SE 2020, was released about two years ago and for the most part, it was an excellent phone. It was small, but it offered exceptional speed and single camera performance despite being a lot cheaper than other iPhones at the time. It was an entry-point into iOS and it did, and still does, an excellent job at doing that to this day.
The main issue I had with the phone was that it didn’t feel, or look, like a modern 2020 smartphone. In fact, it’s basically only a slight rethink of theiPhone 6. And that phone came out in 2014 – yes, 2014. The squat screen, rounded sides, single camera module and physical home button felt archaic compared to the rest of the market.
High-end internals, tired design?
Fast forward two years and the rumours of Apple once again refreshing its cheapest iPhone are rife again. The use of the sameA15 Bionicchipset as you’ll find in £1000iPhone 13 Proseems a given, as does a switch to a newer – and likely more capable – 12-megapixel camera.5Gshould also be a good addition, possibly not for you but for the carriers and networks who are very focussed on pushing the new, faster network standard out as fast as possible.
Other leakers have suggestedbetter battery life, and that theMagSafecharging system introduced with theiPhone 12could be another feature.
But it still seems that my main issue with the previous iPhone SE will again be an issue here. All the leaks and rumours point to a phone that looks just like it did in 2020. This is bad as I found the design felt outdated then, so it’s going to feel outright archaic now.
After a few years of, in my opinion, so-so iPhone designs, Apple hit back hard with the gorgeous iPhone 12 series. The sharp edges, flat sides and durable glass put it above thebest Android phoneswhen it came to design. Why not use some of that work here and make the iPhone SE 3 the iPhone 13 Lite everyone’s been wishing for. The home button could stay, but the rounded design should be ditched to get some of that iPhone 13 influence injected in. It would be new, it would feel modern and just generally be a whole lot more exciting than what the rumours are currently suggesting.
Of course, there are reasons why this wouldn’t happen. The iPhone SE 3 needs to remain a cheaper device, and developing a whole new design might not allow Apple to price it quite so competitively. There’s also theiPhone 13 Minito think about – I am sure Apple doesn’t want to cannibalise sales of its smallest phone.
But with all that being said, the right decision, for me, would be to freshen up the design and really make the iPhone SE 3 stand out. Will Apple agree? There’s not long to wait to find out. Make sure to follow our live coverage of the Apple event from 6pm (GMT) . 10am (PST) today.
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Max is the Editor of Trusted Reviews, and has been a mobile phone and technology specialist for over nine years. Max started his career at T3 straight after graduating from Kingston University. Max ha…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
