The iPhone SE Will Make My Next iPhone Upgrade a Tough One

I’m due for my next iPhone upgrade next month, and the introduction of the iPhone SE makes it even more difficult deciding what I want to do. My 5S has served me well over the last two years. My only complaint against it has been the 16GB of storage. And that’s it. Its performance is still great, the screen is excellent, and the camera is good enough as a point-and-shoot.

Apple Pay was the biggest upgrade in the 6 for me

When NFC finally came to the iPhone with the iPhone 6, I was pissed. It came not long after I retired my 4S for my current 5S, and NFC was a feature I wanted Apple to get its act together on for years. The adoption of NFC in the US has been painfully slow. Its larger screen and thinner form factor I saw as bonus features; I don’t need a larger screen, nor do I really want one. I’m perfectly happy with the 4 inch one on my 5S. Plus, my Apple Watch has Apple Pay, one of the big sellers of the Apple Watch for me.

The iPhone+ is more like the iPhone Stupid

While the additional stabilization in the camera is nice, I’m still happy with my increasingly out-of-date Sony NEX 5N. Sure, the 5N is lacking in a lot of features compared to other cameras now, but it still takes photos and video pretty well and that works for me. The camera in the iPhone 6[S]+ would be drastically better than my 5S’ camera, but I’m not willing to trade portability for a better point-and-shoot. My 5N is large enough. I don’t want a phone with a stupidly huge screen and identity crisis.

3D Touch is a gimmick, but I’d consider it

The major difference between the 6 and 6S series, in my opinion, is the 3D Touch. Sure, Live Photos is a gimmick too, but I’d file it under bonus gimmick. With Force Touch on my Apple Watch, Magic TrackPad 2, and MacBook Pro, it’s a feature I’ve become used to, and it can be genuinely useful at times. But, even as a feature I’m now used to, I don’t know that I’d be willing to shell out the extra money just to save a couple of seconds doing some tasks.

Tired design, but just as powerful as the 6S series

Now let’s consider the iPhone SE. Same size as my 5S, which means it actually fits all of my existing iPhone accessories. Solid design: it looks more professional than the 6 in my book, and I’ve dropped mine plenty of times with no dents, scratches, or shattered screens. The 5S is a pocket tank in my book, and with the SE having the exact same power as a 6S, the SE would be an even more powerful pocket tank that wouldn’t need new accessories to go with it, just a renewal of the mobile contract and AppleCare.

And so, April shall be an interesting month. There’s always the option of not upgrading too. It’ll be interesting to see what new features the iPhone 7 brings – if any.


iPhone SE image © 2016 Apple