Don’t let the iPhone SE’s retro look fool you—it’s a fantastic smartphone.

Don’t let the iPhone SE’s retro look
fool you—it’s a fantastic smartphone.
For nearly two weeks I’ve been using a
rose gold iPhone SE as my primary
phone. Not once during those two weeks
have I been asked if I was using the new
iPhone. In fact, whenever I pointed out
that it was indeed Apple’s latest
smartphone, I was met with a
beleaguered look, followed by: “When
did they announce that?”
Come September, when Apple
( AAPL 0.17% ) usually unveils its latest
and greatest iPhones, you can bet my
inbox is full of questions about new
features, pricing, and launch date. Not
this time.
In some regards, the lackluster reaction
to the iPhone SE—a smartphone that
looks identical to a device Apple
released over three years ago—is
expected. Apple is the largest technology
company in the world, one with
seemingly unlimited resources and a
sterling reputation for its design
prowess. The thought of it releasing an
iPhone with minimal external changes
seems disappointing, at least on the
surface, and news articles flirted with
calling the model a failure the moment
it launched.
But this iPhone wasn’t built for the
customers who line up in front of Apple
stores days in advance just to have the
latest model. The $399 iPhone SE was
built for people who continue to prefer
the smaller proportions of the iPhone 5S
or who simply seek a budget-friendly
smartphone. (The iPhone 6 starts at
$549 without contract; the 6S, $649.) An
atypical model for Apple? Absolutely.
But this break with convention makes
business sense.
For more, read: “ The New iPhone SE Is
More Nostalgic Than You Think”
Shortly after Apple announced the
iPhone SE, I had the chance to ask Phil
Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of
worldwide marketing, the meaning of
“SE” in the phone’s name, which
deviates slightly from its previous “S”
format. SE is an abbreviation for
“Special Edition,” Schiller said, a name
that, to him, recalled the Macintosh SE,
a computer the company released in the
late 1980s.
The nostalgia is well placed. The iPhone
SE is virtually indistinguishable from an
iPhone 5 but for a slight change in the
chamfered edges of the device, which
now have a matte finish. It’s available
in silver, gray, gold, and pink—that is,
“rose gold,” in Apple parlance.