On Tuesday, Apple announced an upgrade to the affordable iPhone SE, which has 5G capability and the same Apple A15 CPU as the 2021 top iPhone 13 series. These two improvements are substantial, but the iPhone SE 2022 also offers a number of other noteworthy features.
Apart from small aesthetic differences, the third version of the iPhone SE appears to be similar to the previous model released in 2020. The phone retains a 4.7-inch display with large top and bottom bezels. It also has a Touch ID and preserves the Home button, making it suitable for people who don’t want to utilize face recognition to unlock their phones.
Backglass with a higher strength
The new iPhone SE appears nearly the same as the previous generation, but it now has tougher glass than the 2020 iPhone SE, which used the same aged glass as the 2017 iPhone 8. Because Apple employed the same glass that it uses on its iPhone 13 line, the new iPhone SE’s rear cover should last longer.
The strengthened glass back is a nice addition, but it’s unclear if it will change the form of the new iPhone sufficiently to make it incompatible with existing covers and accessories. Even though the new phone is somewhat lighter, the proportions are identical.
Sub-6 GHz communication is possible, but mmWave is not.
The iPhone SE’s most interesting new feature supports higher internet speeds via 5G Mobile networks.
Note that the iPhone SE doesn’t support all types of 5G networks; for example, it won’t work on networks that use the fastest mmWave 5G, which is now only accessible in city centers and stadiums.
With the iPhone SE, you can connect to any low- or midband frequency in so-called sub-6 5G, which can transport data far faster than present 4G LTE networks, so most consumers won’t worry.
We’re currently determining out which carriers’ 5G networks the iPhone SE can connect to when they build out their networks in 2022 and beyond. For the time being, we know that the iPhone SE uses C-band frequencies in the 3.7GHz to 3.98GHz range, which have recently been available to US carriers.
Better performance and more: iOS upgrades with the A15 Bionic processor
The A15 Bionic chipset is Apple’s most sophisticated mobile silicon, first released in September with the iPhone 13 series. It gives the iPhone SE a few extra features and a 5G connection.
The iPhone SE is expected to be faster than most other inexpensive phones and will use iOS 15’s capabilities. It should also receive iOS upgrades for the same amount of time as the iPhone 13, which could be up to seven years or longer depending on how long Apple is presently patching its older phones.
On the camera front, the upgraded processor should allow the iPhone SE to capture better images than its predecessors, but only thanks to advancements in computational photography and AI techniques. The new phone features the same cameras as the 2020 model: a single 12-megapixel rear camera with an f1.8 aperture and a 7-megapixel front-facing camera with an f2.2 aperture.
