Apple Inc is releasing a new iPhone that it said would be vastly cheaper than the models it rolled out in the fall last year when the economy was booming and the COVID-19 pandemic had yet to force people to rethink their spending.
The second-generation iPhone SE introduced on Wednesday is to sell for as little as US$399, a 40 percent markdown from the most affordable iPhone 11 unveiled last year. Higher-end versions of the iPhone 11 are to sell for more than US$1,000. Online orders for the iPhone SE were to begin today, with the first deliveries expected on Friday next week.
Even before the pandemic, many people had begun to balk at the substantial price tags for smartphones that were not that much better than the ones they already owned.
Photo: AP
That pushed Apple to step up its emphasis on music and video services to the more than 1 billion people who carry at least one of its Internet-connected devices.
High-priced gadgets are expected to become an even tougher sell as the economy plunges into its deepest downturn in more than a decade.
Apple maps out its products many months in advance and the new iPhone SE is not a direct response to the economic meltdown hatched by the pandemic.
However, even before most states ordered lockdowns as the novel coronavirus spread in the US, Apple had been hit hard by efforts to contain it in China. Besides being its third-largest market behind the US and Europe, China is also where Apple makes most of its iPhones.
The new iPhone SE is an update to another low-cost model that Apple released four years ago. Apple stopped selling the original iPhone SE in 2018.
The updated Phone SE is essentially the same as the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which came out in 2017. The iPhone SE does not share the same displays and cameras carried by the newer iPhone 11 models, but it will be powered by the same A13 processing chip that is inside the more expensive iPhone 11.
The original iPhone SE was a hit with budget-conscious consumers, or those who preferred a smaller, 4-inch screen as newer phones grow increasingly large. The new model is slightly larger than the original, with a 4.7-inch screen.
In what could be another popular twist, the new iPhone SE brings back the home button. That is a notable change from the iPhone 11 line, which ditched the once-familiar button to accommodate larger screens that can handle the highest-quality video and photographs.
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