Apple on Wednesday unveiled a new, cheaper iPhone with a relatively small 4.7-inch screen but powered by the same processor used in the more expensive iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models.

The new iPhone SE starts at US$399 for a base model with 64GB of storage and goes up to $549 for a 256GB version (there’s also a 128GB option at $449). Given the weakness in the rand/dollar exchange rate in recent weeks, South Africans can probably expect to pay well over R8 000 for the 64GB variant and more than R11 000 for the most expensive version.

In an era where smartphone screens are getting larger, the iPhone SE is a clear bet by Apple against the trend, but it may prove popular among those consumers who think that the move to bigger-screen devices has gone too far.

The SE uses the powerful A13 Bionic chip found in the much more expensive iPhone 11 Pro models, which start at more than twice the price (the base Pro model starts at $999).

The new phone has a single rear camera, with a 12-megapixel sensor, which Apple said on its website is capable of shooting video at 4K at up to 60 frames per second. The front camera is seven megapixels and can shoot 30fps video at 1080p.

The SE features a Touch ID button on the front with integrated fingerprint reader and appears not to support Face ID. It supports the new Wi-Fi 6 standard and LTE, but not 5G, has IP67 water resistance, and comes in black, white and red. — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media