Apple Goes Smaller but More Powerful With iPhone SE

Apple launched a smaller iPhone (the SE), unveiled another edition of the iPad, previewed iOS 9.3 and offered an update on Apple TV.

CEO Tim Cook started by addressing the current hotly contested issue of how much control government should have when it comes to encrypted data on personal electronic devices. “We built the iPhone for you, our customers, and we know it is a deeply personal device,” he said. “With that, comes a significant responsibility. We need to decide, as a nation, how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy. We owe it to our customers, and we owe it to our country. This is an issue that impacts all of us, and we will not shrink from this responsibility.”

The 4-inch iPhone SE isn’t a new version of the iPhone 5 or 6, it’s just the iPhone SE. It features a 12-megapixel camera, has an improved battery, works hands-free by calling out “Hey, Siri,” and features a 64-bit A9 processor and M9 motion coprocessor. Oh, and it’s now available in four colors, including rose gold.

With its 64-bit A9 processor and M9 motion coprocessor, the iPhone SE provides as powerful a CPU performance as an iPhone 6S and twice as powerful as an iPhone 5, Apple claims.

As shown by the data points on this slide, Apple has bumped the camera performance way up on the iPhone SE. “It’s the most powerful 4-inch phone ever,” product manager Jeff Williams said. Pricing starts at $399 for the 16GB model, with the 64GB tagged at $499.

The iPhone SE also has the ability to shoot and capture 4K video, a first for Apple. iPhone SE pre-orders begin March 24, with availability starting March 31.

The iPhone SE also features a 802.11ac WiFi radio and the ability to make phone calls using WiFi only. Its networking has been clocked at up to 433M bps—three times faster than the iPhone 5s.

Some of the highlights, in case you cannot read them on this slide, are as follows: 64-bit A9 chip, wide-color Retina display, four-speaker audio, 4K video, 12 megapixel iSight camera, Retina flash and iOS 9.3.

The new iPad Pro starts at $599 for the 9.7-inch, 32GB model for WiFi only, and ranges up to $1,099 for the 12.9-inch, 256GB iPad Pro.

Cook noted that there are now more than 5,000 apps for Apple TV in the AppStore, including dictation, Siri, iCloud Photo Library, and Folders for images and video.

Cook noted that the Apple Watch, launched two years ago, is now the “No. 1-selling smartwatch in the world,” without giving sales numbers. He observed that “about one-third of Apple Watch users change their bands regularly,” so the company showed some colorful new choices for those folks. Apple has lowered the entry-level price for the watches to $299.

Apple Senior Vice President Lisa Jackson showed a video that highlights an Apple-designed and -made robot, called Liam, that is used to take apart recycled iPhones to reuse some of the components. It unscrews screws, pulls out silver and gold parts, discards unusable components and generally helps the environment by doing all this.

Cook said the next Apple event will be held in a futuristic new auditorium on its new campus in Cupertino—located on the same lot Hewlett-Packard used for more than two generations.