Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which incorporates all of the Apple information you missed final week in a helpful bite-sized roundup. We name it Apple Breakfast as a result of we predict it goes nice with a Monday morning cup of espresso or tea, but it surely’s cool if you wish to give it a learn throughout lunch or dinner hours too.
The pointless iPhone
Enjoyable occasions within the Apple rumorsphere final week, with an explosive iPhone SE 4 report. The upcoming machine, the location claims, will likely be primarily based on a unusually modified iPhone 14 design, bringing an OLED show and Face ID to the low-end line and, whereas sticking with a single digicam, it’ll acquire a 48MP digicam, USB-C port, and the iPhone 15 Professional’s Motion button. That’s a doozy of a funds cellphone.
It’s very seemingly, after all, that the report is mistaken, and that Apple’s plans for the fourth SE mannequin are very totally different. However then once more, it’s onerous to see any conception for the following SE that makes as a lot sense as its golden era from 2020. That machine was fortunate sufficient to take a seat within the window when Apple was switching from the Residence button to full-screen telephones, and when there have been individuals who missed the outdated design. That meant the SE might be greater than only a funds different: it was a hyperlink to a still-cherished design previous.
However that was 2020. As we noticed with the Third-gen mannequin final yr, there merely aren’t sufficient Residence button nostalgics left to help its personal iPhone mannequin—particularly at $429—which leaves the SE line in a limbo of irrelevancy. Within the absence of a significant retro design ethos–within the absence, in different phrases, of a significant design change in the principle line–then it turns into merely “a budget iPhone.” And we already get that from the earlier fashions that Apple retains on sale for a number of years after launch.
There was a time when it was clear who the iPhone SE was for: Individuals who needed new parts in an outdated handset design and had been keen to sacrifice some options for an reasonably priced value. The traditional 2nd-gen SE from 2020 was a group of compromises, but it surely additionally promised years of updates and provided belongings you couldn’t get from the remainder of the vary, particularly a retro design with a Residence button and a low price ticket. However it’s onerous to see how a Frankenstein iPhone XR-14-15-15 Professional outlined above might be bought for considerably lower than the iPhone 13, which remains to be out there from Apple’s retailer for $599.
It’s the identical conundrum Apple launched with the Tenth-gen iPad. When Apple unveiled the brand new mannequin final fall, it introduced some head-scratching selections—chief amongst them a non-laminated show with Apple Pencil 1 help—and a $449 price ticket. As if it knew the value was too excessive, Apple saved the Ninth-gen mannequin round on the identical $329 price ticket, making a second “funds” tier between the iPad and the iPad Air that didn’t appear crucial. (Why the Ninth-gen iPad isn’t the iPad SE we’ll by no means know.)
This rumored new SE appears to be the identical form of machine. It could nearly actually price $499, if not $549, and nonetheless deliver loads of compromises whereas additionally updating a really outdated design for the trendy period. However except Apple utterly stops promoting outdated iPhones, which might create one thing of an uproar, this new SE could be in an odd place of being too costly and never premium sufficient. And if Apple maintain promoting the present SE for $429, then neither mannequin makes a lot sense.
After all, we by no means truly know what’s happening with Apple’s decision-making course of. Who, for instance, might have predicted the corporate would launch a “premium” vary of iPhone circumstances with out apparently testing their capacity to resist scratches? However even probably the most credulous observer would wrestle to see the logic of an SE that blends collectively the previous 5 years of iPhone expertise. What’s the aim of promoting an SE primarily based on the iPhone 14 alongside an precise iPhone 14? Who could be anticipated to purchase it?
Thoughts you, there may be one possibility Apple might strive, one discontinued iPhone mannequin {that a} vocal minority often tells us they miss: The iPhone mini. It may not promote many models, however it will actually match properly in our pockets. And it actually could be particular.
Foundry
Trending: Prime tales
Why is the iPhone so profitable? It’s easy.
Properly, right here’s one other FineWoven mess Apple’s gotten into. Apple’s new iPhone circumstances are not a success.
Alternatively, if you wish to save the planet, you may need to dwell with a crap iPhone case.
The iPhone 15 Professional is less complicated to restore—so long as Apple is the one fixing it.
Podcast of the week
We’ve bought our fingers on Apple’s new iPhone, and we discuss the reason why you must–and shouldn’t–purchase one.
You possibly can catch each episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our personal web site.
Opinions nook
Our evaluations of the brand new Apple merchandise are beginning to land!
The rumor mill
The iPhone 16 would possibly bounce straight to the A18 chip subsequent yr as Apple splits its iPhone chips into Mac-like tiers.
Will new M3 Macs save us from Apple’s boring October?
Software program updates, bugs, and issues
Roman Loyola reveals every part it’s worthwhile to know in regards to the new options in Safari 17.
The iPhone 15 Professional’s overheating points could have been defined… and a repair is on the best way.
Apple has provided two doable fixes for watchOS 10 Climate app complication woes.
macOS Sonoma options an surprising battery repair for the 13-inch MacBook Air.
And past that… macOS Sonoma 14.1 beta is already out there with a repair for Distant Widgets.
iOS 17.0.2, in the meantime, fixes a setup switch bug.
And with that, we’re finished for this week’s Apple Breakfast. In case you’d wish to get common roundups, join our newsletters. You may also observe us on Fb, Threads, or Twitter for dialogue of breaking Apple information tales. See you subsequent Monday, and keep Appley.