I definitely agree and do think it is how you define budget. While at the same time I feel it’s more budget iPhone than mid range because for it to be mid range there has to be an iPhone cheaper than it.
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone SE (2016) Stop saying SE is a budget phone!
- Thread starter dubuilding68
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
There are tons of Androids that are cheaper. As I mentioned, it's a budget iPhone but a mid-range smartphone.
I’m personally speaking in terms of iPhones not smartphones in general. I would consider the iPhone 11 a mid range device more than I would the SE even if I was comparing smart phones in general.
Last edited:
$600-700 used to be high end. Wasn't really until 2017 with iPhone X that we got super expensive high end.
Nowadays, for smartphones in general, iPhone SE is more low mid-range and iPhone 11 upper mid-range.
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never heard of mid range being broken down to upper and lower lol. You learn something new every day
You usually have a range of price points within a certain tier.I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never heard of mid range being broken down to upper and lower lol. You learn something new every day
For example, with Intel desktop processors, you have Atom, Celerons and Pentiums in the low end/budget, i3 and i5 mid-range, and i7 and i9 on the high end. The i3 is low mid-range, i5 is upper mid-range.
$400 for an iPhone does make it a budget tier phone, but its not a budget phone in the traditional sense that its no compromise: its an upgraded version of the 8 which was a flagship 2 years ago. The only hardware compromise is omission of 3D Touch, but its been disabled software wise for a bit now so even 3DT equipped models are useless, in addition to the latest flagships not having 3DT in the hardware either.
I can get 2 of these for less than one 11 Pro. Seems like a budget model to me.
Lol, bought 3.
$350 256GB Black VZW
$350 256GB Red AT&T
$250 128GB White AT&T
Was going for Red on Verizon as well but the stock on Walmart fluctuates a lot so just grabbed whatever color I could in the desired capacity. I'll just swap SIMs after payoff and unlock.
At those discounted prices, they're definitely in budget territory (<$400).
Can someone explain to me why people care that some on a tech forum would refer to the SE2 as a budget iPhone? Does it really matter?
‘Oh my god look, they’ve got a budget iPhone hahaha’ - says no one ever away from Mac Rumours.
Get used to the SE2, you’re going to see lots of these phones about, especially in the business and corporate environments. It’s a reasonably priced smartphone that offers the same experience as any other iPhone currently on the market. It just doesn’t cost as much. The end.
‘Oh my god look, they’ve got a budget iPhone hahaha’ - says no one ever away from Mac Rumours.
Get used to the SE2, you’re going to see lots of these phones about, especially in the business and corporate environments. It’s a reasonably priced smartphone that offers the same experience as any other iPhone currently on the market. It just doesn’t cost as much. The end.
Well if someone’s looking to spend 3 bucks on a phone the SE is a ROLLS ROYCE but compared to my 11 Pro MAX, SE is a budget phone
I would say a 2012 model is, with the capability to swap out drives and memory.
Someone here is saying we are looking at it from a skewed perspective cause it doesn't apply worldwide but doesn't heed his own words. I think we all know who. ;p
I don’t remember any iPhone sold by Apple brand new being $399 apart from the SE, and those before it. The fact that everything in the world has become more expensive, for Apple to sell the new SE for the same price it did with the old one in 2016 but with much better tech, is a great deal.
^^Hahahaha
Name an iPhone prior to the X that ever sold for $399 or less without a carrier subsidy. Hint: Except the first SE there isn't one and you'd have to go back to the 3GS to even find a subsidized iPhone under $400.
$299 OG iPhone 4GB and $399 OG iPhone 8GB. They were $499 and $599 respectively upon release but gote $200 price drops just 2 months later.
That said, $600-650 has been flagship pricing since the days of subsidized iPhone 3G. At least that was the cost if you lose your iPhone and need to buy a new one off-contract from AT&T.
as of today $399US is 556$ CA... NOT 599$. it has been more or less so for months, even years. That’s near over 60$, with taxes, that Apple should charge considering exchange rates. So since you understand so much exchange rates...
Apple has consistently overcharge Canadians and Europeans as well. So not only do they make money on exchange rates on top of selling a disguised iPhone 8 with totally unnecessary A13 but make you believe their camera is astounding, which it is not; it is just barely good when comparing other 600$ phones on Android platforms But I give them something: they know how to recycle old design/technology into awesome this marketing parade. Come on! An old design with a 4.7 screen at 700$ with taxes?! Yes I know, you get that Apple logo on the back... and a full time job trying to text on it.
I doubt the "most" part of that in terms of the general populace.
On MacRumors, sure. I expect this forum has a disproportionately high percentage of well-heeled members.
Doesn't really matter in a sense, its apple's marketing of a budget phone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The US price doesn’t include sales tax, the price over here in the UK isn’t that much more and it’s all relative when the prices of the other iPhones are higher, so it’s still a cheap iPhone.
Apple don’t set the price for each country, they charge the same amount but import taxes, sales tax etc dictate the end cost to consumer.
People know what they are buying, it’s not a disguised iPhone 8 as that would imply it was old tech inside a fancy new body, this is the complete opposite.
Incorrect on the camera. In anything but low light you’d be hard pushed to actually tell which took which photo in comparisons between the SE and the 11 and 11 Pro using the same main camera. There’s also plenty of examples of it against the Pixel phones which is widely considered the benchmark of phone photography and it’s the same story with those pictures as well. You couldn’t tell, and when you take personal taste of how a photo should look the iPhone arguably takes the better photos.
And if it was such a bad phone, why is it sold out? Why are the Android forums going crazy about it and lots of people are buying it to move over or test out?
Apple have catered for the masses with this device, and it will be the best selling phone of the year.
Stop spouting rubbish and listen to the people that have the phone, have tested the phone, have bought the phone and are happy with the phone!
How many posts do you see of people complaining after they’ve bought it? Yeah, none...
I bought this phone along with an iPad mini 5 for about the price of an 11 with tax here, so definitely decently priced in Canada. Not Apple’s fault that our dollar sucks and will probably get even worse going forward.