iPhone SE is Apple’s missing link. Preserving fossils has a price

The fourth generation iPhone SE has leaked online. It includes the expected redesign to adapt it to the language of our times. The one on sale today retains the shape of the 2014 iPhone 6, as well as other leftovers: the 2021 A15 chip, the Lightning connector that the rest of the iPhone left behind in 2023, or the rear camera (single lens). already outdated.

SE had its meaning:

• An affordable gateway to the iOS ecosystem.
• The device is aimed at low-cost availability.
• Mobile for business parks that require iOS but don’t see the point in paying for advanced features.

However, leaving it as is, with specs that were already vulgar in 2022, and selling it presumably until early 2025, makes it an anachronism that defies market logic and even Apple’s own reputation. This is a manifestation of business inertia that is difficult to justify.

The SE’s value was already controversial in its last release in the spring of 2022. At least it offered Apple’s latest chip, albeit in a now outdated design and at a relatively low price. This did not quite match the company’s premium image.

If you leave it without updates for three years in a dynamic market like smartphones, it will lose a lot of its value. Is an informed consumer going to choose a ten-year-old design, an LCD screen and one camera for more than 500 euros?

The paradox becomes even greater when you consider Apple’s obsession with controlling every aspect of the user experience. How does offering a device that can’t adequately handle many of the latest iOS features fit into this philosophy?

The key may lie in emerging markets or in the stronghold of those unwilling to give up the button. HouseBut Even in these cases, SE supply weakens every year.sandwiched between Android competitors, cut-price penultimate models, or a recovered market.

The redesign, planned for 2025, will be an attempt to correct course, although it will come a little late. By then this design will be three years old. If Apple doesn’t take SE more seriously and keep updating it every three years, we’ll be back to the same thing in a short time.

The SE strategy raises vexing questions about Apple’s vision for its portfolio:

• Is SE a necessary evil to maintain market share in certain sectors?
• Is this a tacit admission that there is a group that just wants the lowest priced iPhone and doesn’t care about anything else?

It’s true that innovation in smartphones has been slowing down for some time. Apple openly supports continuity and stability and at the time already explained that the longevity of its designs is its strength. However, this bet contradicts its own narrative of constant progress.

The 2025 iPhone SE will have the difficult task of justifying one’s own existence in an increasingly competitive market, where its threats come from without (the unstoppable Android market) and from within (the cheapest 14 or 15, refurbished of any generation).

If Apple fails to offer compelling value and has more room to upgrade than it has thus far, perhaps it’s time to reconsider whether the concept of a “cheap” iPhone (put all the right quotation marks) has a place in its long history. – urgent strategy.

The final irony is that in trying to offer an affordable iPhone, Apple may be diluting the essence of what makes the iPhone special. Maintaining a product that’s born old can be more costly for a brand than Apple is willing to admit.

In Hatak | iPhone 16 Pro analysis: This is one of the best phones of 2024 that I care about the least

Featured Image | AB on Unsplash