Iphone SE 2022
(The new iPhone SE (2022) is here. Apple officially unveiled the new affordable iPhone at its Apple event, with hardware upgrades galore. It features the same processor that the iPhone 13 has, plus 5G and better battery life.
Here's everything you need to know about the iPhone SE (2022).
iPhone SE (2022) key facts
- Available for pre-order on March 11 and available to purchase on March 18
- Starts at $429 with 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB options
- Comes in three colors: Midnight, Starlight, and Product(RED)
- Features the same A15 Bionic system-on-chip that the iPhone 13 has, which means better performance, faster image processing and a bunch of machine learning capabilities
- Sports the same design as the iPhone SE (2020), keeping the big bezels and home button
- Apple claims that "internal design updates" coupled with the more efficient A15 Bionic means that the iPhone SE (2022) will have better battery life
- The body is made from glass and aluminum with Ceramic Shield coating the front and back, just like the iPhone 13
- You do not get a Night mode with the iPhone SE 3 or mmWave 5G support.
iPhone SE (2022) price and release date
The iPhone SE (2022) pre-orders start on March 11 and the release date is March 18.
The iPhone SE (2022) jumps $30 in price this year. The iPhone SE (2020) started at an attractive $399, making it the best bang for your buck in most regards. But at $429, the iPhone SE (2022) scrapes up against some other great handsets, like the $449 Google Pixel 5a.
The 64GB will run you $429, the 128GB costs $479, and the 256GB is a pricey $579. See our iPhone SE 2022 deals page for all the latest offers. However watch out for potential delays in delivery due to new lockdowns in areas of China where iPhone factories are located.
iPhone SE (2022) specs
The iPhone SE (2022) features the same A15 Bionic chip as the iPhone 13, just in a smaller body. That means best-in-class performance in a phone that costs just $429, which is nothing to sneeze at. You won't find anything that will perform this well at this price point. Early Geekbench results for the iPhone SE (2022) also show performance is on a par with the iPhone 13.
The A15 Bionic makes the iPhone SE (2022) 1.8x faster than the iPhone 8 and it enables all of the latest iOS 15 AI tasks, like Live Text and on-device Siri and dictation. The A15 has a powerful image signal processor that enables Photographic Styles and super fast picture processing.
The GPU will fly through any game you can throw at it, even the most demanding Apple Arcade titles. And with 5G onboard, you can play anywhere with reduced latency, given you have strong signal.
We've also since discovered that Apple has boosted the RAM slightly from the previous model. It now seems to have 4GB instead of 3GB. That's not a lot compared to what Android phones offer, but that's just how Apple builds its phones it seems. Either way, more RAM is good news, meaning smoother multi-tasking when swapping between apps, browser tabs and so on.
The bad news is that the iPhone SE 2022 does not support mmWave 5G, so you won't be able to enjoy the fastest speeds on Verizon's 5G network.
iPhone SE (2022) design
The iPhone SE (2020) used the same exact body as the iPhone 8. It was an effective cost-saving measure, even if that phone’s design looks severely outdated by today’s standards. But the iPhone SE (2022) sticks to this old design, for better or for worse. At $429, maybe most buyers won't care about how dated it looks.
The newest iPhone features the home button, which doubles as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor — that immediately gives the iPhone SE 2022 an advantage over the iPhone 13.
iPhone SE (2022) cameras
The iPhone SE 2020 takes good-looking photos, thanks to Apple's computational photography, but it packs only a single lens. That hasn't changed with the iPhone SE (2022). This year, you get a 12MP (f/1.8) sensor and that's it. There's no ultrawide or telephoto lens here.
Thanks to the A15 Bionic, however, the iPhone SE (2022) enjoys many of the latest computational photography advancements that Apple has made recently. That includes Photographic Styles, which are like real-time filters that dynamically adjust based on your conditions.
The phone also supports Smart HDR 4 and Deep Fusion for richer colors, stronger contrast, and sharper details. Videos will also see an improvement over the previous SE, with truer skin tones, better white balance, and less noise.
Unfortunately, the iPhone SE 2022 does not support Night mode, which is a pretty big missing feature. So you should not be able to get good looking photos in very low light, although we will test the camera to see how it performs. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 5a includes a Night mode and it's in the same price range.
iPhone SE (2022) battery and charging
A notable weakness for the most recent iPhone SE was the battery life. In the Tom’s Guide battery life test, the iPhone SE (2020) managed 9 hours and 18 minutes, and that was over 4G. Fortunately, the A15 Bionic processor should help the iPhone SE be more efficient, and it seems like Apple thinks so, too.
While we don't know the official capacity, Apple says the iPhone SE (2022) features better battery life than its predecessor. We hope that means more than 10 hours in our battery test, because 5G is a hungry beast.
The iPhone SE (2022) supports "fast charging," but we don't know the exact wattage right now.
iPhone SE (2022) vs cheap Android phones
It will be interesting to see how the iPhone SE 3 vs. Google Pixel 5a potential showdown turns, as this could be the big budget phone battle of the year. Of course, there's another Pixel budget phone coming later in the spring, so it's also worth considering an iPhone SE 3 vs. Google Pixel 6a comparison.
iPhone SE (2022) outlook
At $429, the iPhone SE (2022) is quite compelling given that we know the A15 Bionic is the most powerful chip in a smartphone. But the new cheap iPhone lacks things many other rivals have, like a secondary camera, slimmer bezels, and night modes. (Apple has also not told us the screen technology, but we'd guess it's LCD unlike other phones that have OLED panels.)
If you're firmly in the Apple camp and want the best iPhone for the money, the iPhone SE (2022) is the way to go. It packs in 5G, powerful hardware, and what is set to be a great camera experience. But we hope you're okay with the five-year-old iPhone 8 design because Apple says that's here to stay.
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