The second-generation iPhone SE (also known as the iPhone SE 2 or the iPhone SE 2020) is a

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

developed and marketed by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

It is part of the 13th generation of the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

, alongside the

iPhone 11 The iPhone 11 is a smartphone developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple. It is the thirteenth generation of iPhone, succeeding the iPhone XR, and was unveiled on September 10, 2019, alongside the higher-end iPhone 11 Pro at the Steve Jobs Th ...

and 11 Pro/Pro Max models. Apple announced it on April 15, 2020, coinciding with the discontinuation of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. Orders began on April 17, 2020, and the phone was released on April 24, 2020. It was released with a starting price of , and positioned as a budget phone. Following the pattern of the first iPhone SE (which shares the form factor of the iPhone 5s, with the internal hardware of the iPhone 6s), the second-generation model shares the form factor of the iPhone 8, with internal components from the iPhone 11 lineup. It has components such as the Apple A13 Bionic

system-on-chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and da ...

, which allows the phone to utilize the single wide-angle lens Portrait Mode, as on the

iPhone XR The iPhone XR is a smartphone developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the twelfth generation of the iPhone, alongside the higher-end iPhone XS/XS Max models. Pre-orders began on October 19, 2018, with the official release on Octo ...

. It also features Smart HDR-2 photos, which are marketed as being better than Smart HDR photos on the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.

History

A successor to the first-generation iPhone SE had been rumored since 2017, the year after the original was released. The name was also subject to speculation. Guesses included (most prevalently) iPhone SE 2, iPhone SE 2020, and iPhone 9 due to design similarities with the iPhone 8. In March 2020, cases for the phone were reportedly being supplied to

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

, showing an iPhone with an

iPhone 8 The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eleventh generation of the iPhone. The iPhone 8 was released on September 22, 2017, succeeding the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, respectively. T ...

-sized body and a single camera lens.

Belkin Belkin International, Inc., is an American consumer electronics company headquartered in El Segundo, California. It produces mobile and computer connectivity devices and peripherals for consumer and commercial use. These include wireless charger ...

screen protectors for the iPhone SE were also listed on the online

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

, cross-compatible with the base models of the iPhones 6, 6S, 7, and 8. However, references to the iPhone SE were quickly removed. On April 15, 2020, the second-generation iPhone SE was announced in a press release note on Apple's website. It was marketed as "A powerful new smartphone in a popular design", and was released worldwide on April 24, 2020. The second-generation iPhone SE was discontinued on March 8, 2022, following the announcement of its successor, the third-generation iPhone SE.

Specifications

Design

The iPhone SE features an aluminum frame, paired with a glass front and back. It shares the same physical sizes and dimensions as the

and is externally identical, except for a centered Apple logo and the removal of the iPhone branding in the lower midsection. As a result, phone cases made to fit the iPhone 8 will also fit the iPhone SE. The iPhone SE is available in three colors: Black, White, and a Product Red edition. Though the offered colors line up with those of the iPhone 8 (Silver, Space Gray, and Product Red respectively, with no equivalent to the Gold model), the iPhone SE uses a noticeably deeper shade of black, a brighter shade of white, and a lighter shade of Product Red. The black and white colors are reminiscent of those on the

, while the Product Red looks very similar to that on the

. Unlike all prior white and silver iPhones from the

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...

to the iPhone 8, except for the

iPhone 5C The iPhone 5c is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the sixth generation of the iPhone. The device was unveiled on September 10, 2013, and released on September 20, 2013, along with its higher-end counte ...

, the 2020 iPhone SE features black bezels around the display on all models, matching the color schemes of the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR.

Size

With a screen diagonal of , the second generation of the iPhone SE was among the smallest mainstream in-production smartphones at the time of its release. However, it is still thirty percent larger than the first generation variant, whose screen diagonal measures . Dan Seifert from ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'' declared the second-generation SE a "nail in the coffin" for small phones. This was affirmed by CNET, who stated that "Apple's decision to not build a brand-new 4-inch screen phone is telling. It signals that the company will probably never bring back the tiny iPhone, no matter how badly people crave it."

Hardware

The iPhone SE incorporates the Apple A13 Bionic (7 nm) architecture

system on a chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or Electronics, electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with computer memory, ...

(SoC), with an integrated M13 motion coprocessor and third-generation neural engine. It is available in three internal storage configurations: 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. The SE has the same

IP67 The IP code or International Protection code indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. It is defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under the international standard IEC 60529 which classifies ...

rating for dust and water resistance as the iPhone 8. The phone lacks the

ultra-wideband Ultra-wideband (UWB, ultra wideband, ultra-wide band and ultraband) is a radio technology that can use a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications over a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB has traditional applicat ...

features enabled by the U1 chip found in the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. Despite the phone's smaller size which may lead to increased thermal throttling, the SE's A13 SoC runs at the same peak CPU frequencies as the iPhone 11. Like the iPhone 7 and 8 that were previously available in the same form factor, but unlike the iPhone 6, 6S and first-generation iPhone SE, the second-generation iPhone SE does not feature a standard 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack.

Display

The iPhone SE features the same HD

Retina display Retina display is a branded series of LCDs and OLED displays by Apple Inc. that have a higher pixel density than their traditional displays. Apple has registered the term "Retina" as a trademark with regard to computers and mobile devices with t ...

found on the iPhone 8, using IPS technology with True Tone and wide color gamut ( Display P3). The display has a resolution of 1334 × 750 pixels, like the previous iPhones. The pixel density is 326 PPI, the same as on all iPhones with LCDs since the introduction of the Retina display on the

, excluding the Plus models. The pressure-sensing

3D Touch Force Touch is a haptic pressure-sensing technology developed by Apple Inc. that enables trackpads and touchscreens to sense the amount of force being applied to their surfaces. Software that uses Force Touch can distinguish between various ...

feature found on the iPhone 8 has been replaced with Haptic Touch on the iPhone SE, which initially did not work for notifications, but was later fixed in

iOS 14 iOS 14 is the fourteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for the iPhone and iPod touch lines. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020 as the successor to iOS 13, it was rel ...

. It can play

HDR10 HDR10 Media Profile, more commonly known as 'HDR10'', is an open high-dynamic-range video (HDR) standard announced on 27 August 2015, by the Consumer Electronics Association. It is the most widespread HDR format. HDR10 is not Backward compatibil ...

and

Dolby Vision Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. It includes dynamic metadata that define the aspect ratio and adjust the picture ...

content despite not having an HDR-ready display, done by down-converting the HDR content to fit the display while still having some enhancements to

dynamic range Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' " power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics), the study of forces and their effect on motion Brands and ent ...

, contrast, and wide

color gamut In color reproduction and colorimetry, a gamut, or color gamut , is a convex set containing the colors that can be accurately represented, i.e. reproduced by an output device (e.g. printer or display) or measured by an input device (e.g. ...

compared to

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

content.

Camera

The iPhone SE has a rear 12 MP camera with a single lens, similar to the single lens camera system of the

, capable of recording 4K video (at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps), 1080p HD video (at 30, 25 or 60 fps), or 720p HD video (at 30 fps). The camera has an aperture of ƒ/1.8,

autofocus An autofocus (AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system h ...

optical image stabilization Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure. Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pi ...

, and a quad-LED True Tone flash. The phone can also take panoramas up to 63 MP, and shoot photos in burst mode. The front camera is 7 MP with an

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

of f/2.2 and autofocus, capable of shooting 1080p HD video at 30 fps. The camera interface adopts "QuickTake" from the 11 and 11 Pro, which allows the user to long-press the shutter button to take a video. The burst function can now be accessed by swiping the shutter button to the left. The new image signal processor and neural engine of the SE support several camera functions not supported on the iPhone 8. Like the 11 and 11 Pro, the rear camera supports next-generation Smart HDR. The rear camera also supports extended dynamic range video up to 30 fps, stereo recording and cinematic video stabilization. Both the front and rear cameras of the iPhone SE support Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting. Like the 11 and 11 Pro, Portrait mode has depth control and an advanced bokeh effect (blurring effect of the out-of-focus background around the portrait). However, the usage of older sensor hardware results in some limitations—the iPhone SE does not support the Night Mode or Deep Fusion features of the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. The SE's implementation of Portrait mode only natively supports images of humans, as the hardware does not produce depth maps through the use of focus pixels and instead relies on software-based machine learning.

Software

The iPhone SE was originally supplied with iOS 13.4, supporting

Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. Supported on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro, Apple Pay digitizes and can replace a credit or debi ...

and the

Apple Card Apple Card is a credit card created by Apple Inc. and issued by Goldman Sachs, designed primarily to be used with Apple Pay on an Apple device such as an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Macintosh, Mac. Apple Card is available only in the United Sta ...

. iOS 13.4.1, an update fixing bugs related to

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

and

FaceTime FaceTime is a proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS device with a forward-facin ...

, was released on April 23, 2020 (a day prior to the device's official release), making it a day-one software update. The iPhone SE has received updates to every version of

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

since, including the latest version,

iOS 18 iOS 18 is the eighteenth and current major release of Apple's iOS operating system for the iPhone. It was announced on June 10, 2024, at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). It was made publicly available on September 16, 2024, as ...

, released in 2024.

Controversy

Power adapter and EarPods

Apple, citing an environmental initiative, removed the EarPods (except in France) and power adapter from all new iPhone boxes beginning in October 2020, including the iPhone SE (2nd generation). Apple claimed that removing these items will reduce

e-waste Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined for refurbi ...

and permit a smaller iPhone box, allowing more devices to be shipped simultaneously to decrease

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

. However, Apple now includes a USB-C to Lightning cable which is incompatible with the existing USB-A power adapters that Apple previously shipped with their devices. Upgraders can still use their existing iPhone power adapters and cables, but users wanting fast charging capabilities will have to purchase a USB-C power adapter separately.

References

External links

* – official site {{Apple hardware since 1998 SE (2nd generation) Mobile phones introduced in 2020 Mobile phones with 4K video recording