Update, Sunday Feb 2, 2025: This article has been updated with details on the iPhone SE price range.
With Apple expected to launch the iPhone SE in the next few months, why could this iPhone be one of the best smartphones to buy in 2025?
iPhone SE And Apple Intelligence
First of all is Apple’s implementation of artificial intelligence. Generative AI will play a significant role in shaping iOS and Android during 2025 and beyond. Apple is working hard to catch up and arguably will take most of this year and into 2026 to reach parity with the competition. Many of the tools, such as ChatGPT, can be found built into both systems.
While Apple is late to generative AI, it continues to innovate with other techniques that contribute to the iPhone experience. You’ll find Apple’s Neural Engine built into the Axx chipsets, which allow for on-device language processing, image recognition, and data processing through machine learning.
When there is so much talk of moving personal data into the cloud or processing (as well as the intense energy demands of generative AI), many will look at Apple’s efforts to keep data on the device and find it a more personable decision.
iPhone SE Specifications
Then, you have the power needed to run Apple Intelligence. Your phone needs a lot, which means the flagship-level specifications for the current generation of smartphones are needed. Apple has been working to separate the iPhone and iPhone Pro by equipping the former with an older processor. Yet the AI revolution saw Apple introduce the A18 chipset for the iPhone 16 Pro and the vanilla iPhone 16. In addition, the smaller amount of memory on the vanilla iPhones has been upped as well, all to accommodate the demands of Apple Intelligence.
It would be a courageous move to launch the iPhone SE without the option to run the Apple Intelligence suite—although there is an argument that holding back some features and limiting the AI on the SE may reduce the cannibalization of the iPhone 16 market. In either case, the iPhone SE specs will be higher than you would typically expect from Apple at this price point.
iPhone SE Price
And the price point is significant. This will be the cheapest new iPhone on the market, and it will be close enough in performance to the regular iPhone line-up that many consumers will not notice the difference. It will be an iPhone both in name and in use.
Update, Sunday Feb 2, 2025:
Outside of Apple’s dedicated community, one of the key factors that will determine the ultimate success of the iPhone SE is the cost. Writing for the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman highlights the potential for Apple to increase the sticker price of the iPhone SE and the impact this may have on global sales.
Considering the inclusion of a notched full-screen display and FaceID, as well as the A18 chipset and increased memory, Gurman suggests a retail price of $499 for the entry-level model, some $70 more than the current model. In a world where Apple has worked hard to keep the price increase on the cardinal numbered iPhones to a minimum, a sixteen percent increase on the SE is a significant step up.
While that may be comfortably endured in Apple’s key territories of North America and Europe, the increased price will make it harder for the SE to compete in the growth markets, including the BRIC countries.
Is it the perfect smartphone? No. It’s not even the perfect iPhone. With compromises demanded in the design process of every smartphone, every smartphone is built around the choices of what to include and what not to include.
Whether the iPhone SE is the best smartphone for you comes down to the decisions Apple has made and how many of them fit with what you want in your smartphone. Countless millions agree with the decisions that have led to the iPhone.
Apple expects that its decision around the iPhone SE will match with enough consumers to turn its upcoming mid-range smartphone into a winner.
Now read about one potential weak spot in the iPhone SE specifications…
