The second-generation iPhone SE (also known as the iPhone SE 2 or the iPhone SE 2020) is a
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...
designed, developed, and marketed by
Apple Inc. It is part of the
13th generation of the
iPhone, alongside the
iPhone 11 and
11 Pro/Pro Max models. Apple announced the second-generation iPhone SE on April 15, 2020 coinciding with the discontinuation of the
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. The iPhone SE succeeded the smaller and lighter
first-generation iPhone SE. Pre-orders began on April 17, 2020, and the phone was subsequently released on April 24, 2020.
It was released with a starting price of , and positioned as a budget phone.
Following the pattern made by the first-generation iPhone SE (which shares the dimensions and form factor of the
iPhone 5S
The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C.
...
, with the internal hardware of the
iPhone 6S), the second-generation model shares the dimensions and form factor of the iPhone 8, while sharing selected internal hardware components from the iPhone 11 lineup, including the
A13 Bionic system-on-chip
A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memor ...
(as opposed to the
A11 Bionic system-on-chip found in the iPhone 8 series), which allows the phone to utilise the single Wide angle lens Portrait Mode, as on the
iPhone XR. It also features the next generation 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 a source of rumor stemmed in 2017, the year after 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 rebra ...
,
showing an iPhone with an
iPhone 8-sized body and a single camera lens.
Belkin
Belkin is an American consumer electronics and networking company headquartered in El Segundo, California. It produces mobile and computer connectivity devices and peripherals for consumer and commercial use. These include wireless chargers, po ...
screen protectors for the iPhone SE were also listed on the online
Apple Store
The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...
, 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
iPhone 8 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
Product Red, stylized as (PRODUCT) or (PRODUCT)RED, is a licensed brand by the company Red, stylized as (RED), that seeks to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in eight African countries, namely E ...
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
iPhone XR, while the Product Red looks very similar to that on the
iPhone 11. Unlike all prior white and silver iPhones from the
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
to the iPhone 8, except for the
iPhone 5C
The iPhone 5C (marketed as iPhone 5c) is a smartphone that was designed 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, alon ...
, 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 news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...
'' declared the second-generation SE a "nail in the coffin" for small phones. This was affirmed by
CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
, 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 or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memor ...
(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 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 applicati ...
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 found on the iPhone 8, using
IPS technology with True Tone and wide color gamut (
Display P3
P3 is an RGB color space. DCI-P3 (Digital Cinema Initiative) is used with digital theatrical motion picture distribution (DCDM). Display P3 is a variant developed by Apple Inc. for wide-gamut displays.
__TOC__
History Development of the stan ...
). 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
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
, excluding the Plus models. The pressure-sensing
3D Touch
Force Touch is a haptic technology developed by Apple Inc. that enables trackpads and touchscreens to distinguish between various levels of force being applied to their surfaces. It uses pressure sensors to add another method of input to Apple's ...
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. It can play
HDR10 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 are used to adjust and optimize each frame of the ...
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
Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base ...
, contrast, and wide
color gamut compared to
standard content.
Camera
The iPhone SE has a rear 12 MP camera with a single lens, similar to the single lens camera system of the
iPhone 8, 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 (or 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 ...
,
optical image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce motion blur, blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure (photography), exposure.
Generally, it compensates for panning (camera), pan an ...
, 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, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
An ...
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
An image processor, also known as an image processing engine, image processing unit (IPU), or image signal processor (ISP), is a type of media processor or specialized digital signal processor (DSP) used for image processing, in digital cameras or ...
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. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...
and
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 Apple devices such as an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac. Currently, it is available only in the United States, wit ...
.
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 limi ...
and
FaceTime, 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 supports
iOS 15. The iPhone SE can currently be upgraded to iOS 16.1, the newest update available.
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 and permit a smaller iPhone box, allowing more devices to be shipped simultaneously to decrease
carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
. However, Apple now includes a USB-C to Lightning cable, 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.
See also
*
List of iOS devices
*
History of iPhone
*
Comparison of smartphones
This is a comparison of the various internal components and features of many smartphones.
Hardware and OS
2020s 2022
2021
2020
2010s
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2000s
2009
...
*
Timeline of iPhone models
References
External links
* – official site
{{Apple hardware since 1998
IOS
*
Mobile phones introduced in 2020
Mobile phones with 4K video recording