Apple has announced a new addition to its iPhone line-up at a press event in Cupertino yesterday, Monday. The company is going to start selling a new 4-inch iPhone soon, which is being called the iPhone SE.
The new device will feature many of the same insides as the iPhone 6S, including the same processor. It will also be available in the same colors as the iPhone 6s, including the pink shade that Apple calls rose gold.
The device will start selling for $399 for a 16GB model, with a 64GB version to be available for $499. Pre-orders will start on March 24, and the device will ship on March 31. Apple will also make the phone available through its monthly installment plan, starting at $17 per month for the 16 GB model. The company wants to have the device available in 100 countries by the end of May.
It also offers 4K video recording, and can access the Internet with LTE speeds of up to 150 MBps. Apple Pay is available with the device, thanks to an integrated NFC chip.
The announcement didn’t come as a shocker to many in the audience, or anyone who follows Apple closely, for that matter. News of a smaller iPhone had leaked back in January, with 9to5Mac reporting at the time that the new iPhone would be refreshed version of the iPhone 5S.
Even the name had been leaked and wasn’t too big of a surprise, judging from past Apple moves. The company moved away from numbers in its iPad nomenclature back in 2013, when it decided to call what would have been the iPad 3 the new iPad instead.
The logic behind the product itself is twofold, Apple executives said on Monday that many consumers prefer the smaller size; in fact, the company had sold 30 million 4-inch iPhones in 2015. But the lower price should also help Apple, especially as it fends off lower-priced Android-based competitors in emerging markets like China.
Source; Variety
