The iPhone SE - that's short for Special Edition! - was released at the end of March 2016, in a deviation from Apple's flagship iPhone model. While the original iPhone will continue on from the 6S, presumably in the shape of the iPhone 7 later in 2016, the SE is an accompanying phone for a different audience, and without the additional features that you would expect from a new iteration of a flagship phone.
So who is the iPhone SE aimed at?
The iPhone SE is Apple's first lower cost iPhone, opening Apple up to a whole new audience of people. Starting at just AU$679 for the 16GB version of the handset, and AU$825 for the 64GB version, as opposed to AU$1079 and AU$1229 for the iPhone 6S respectively, the phone represents a different slice of the market.
This makes the phone ideal for kids, students, those who are saving money and who would like to own an iPhone but simply can't afford to do so, and those who need and iPhone upgrade but can't justify the expense.
The SE also reverts back to the smaller size of the iPhone 5S, which makes it a better choice for kids or people with smaller hands who need the phone to fit in their palm.
The external specs
The main chassis of the iPhone SE is exactly the same as the iPhone 5S, albeit with a larger range of colours to choose from and matte edging, available in silver, space grey, gold, and rose gold. The phone features a 4 inch Retina display. The screen itself is a throwback to the iPhone years of old, lacking the certain sharpness of current models, however it's more than enough for most users.
The internal specs
And here's makes the iPhone SE a clever choice for Apple and its customers alike - the phone shares most of its internal features with the iPhone 6S. The phone contains the lightning fast A9 processor, with M9 motion coprocessor, and 2GB of RAM and 64-bit architecture, making it a leading handset in its size and price ranges.
It's got the 12MP forward facing camera which allows 4K video shooting, and the cool live photos feature that we've come to love from the iPhone 6S. The front facing, or selfie/FaceTime, camera comes in at 1.2MP.
The phone features the Touch ID feature for safe, easy phone unlocking, however the screen does not support the standard 3D Touch feature of the iPhone 6S, which is yet to be fully capitalized on.
The battery life of the phone is impressive, with up to 14 hours of talking, or 13 hours of surfing the internet, brought to you by a 1624mAh battery.
What accessories will the iPhone SE need?
Thankfully, Apple haven't revealed their new, rumoured, backwards incompatible headphone jack just as yet. The headphone jack on the iPhone SE works with all versions of headphones that we have previously worked with before, meaning you don't have to upgrade your expensive noise cancelling headphones or your in car jack.
The phone has the Lightning data connection and charging port that has been the iPhone standard for a few years now. This means if you are upgrading your iPhone from an iPhone 5S, or previous model, then you will need to throw out your old charging and data connectors, or put them away in a cupboard somewhere.
iPhone SE accessories that you can purchase include a Lightning car charger, a Lightning AC travel charger, a Bluetooth headset, a Bluetooth speaker, a Lightning dock and charger, an emergency Lightning charger, a Bluetooth car kit, a PayPal mobile chip and PIN card reader, along with the all-important iPhone case to protect your phone from damage.
March 2017 Update
Apple announced an upgrade to the iPhone SE. Storage for the SE will be doubled across the range, making it available in 32GB and 128GB memory capacities without an increase in price. Read more
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