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Quick thoughts on the 2020 iPhone SE Apple's 'smallest' iPhone is new and yet very familiar

Week 130.0 — 20th April '20

When the iPhone SE debuted in 2016, I was stunned that it's price was two-thirds of it's bigger brothers. This time though, I was really surprised because it's closer to half the price this time. Replacing the iPhone 8 (no more Plus-sized phone with Touch ID). it's the only Touch ID iPhone left.

iPhone SE first gen vs iPhone SE 2nd gen

Screen size is going to be the most obvious different but it's been 4 years since the original SE debuted so it shouldn't be a surprise. I am looking forward to listening to John Gruber's take on The Talk Show as it's a device he's commented on many times discussing how popular the size was and that it perhaps took Apple by surprise.

It looks like it has the same camera config as the iPhone XR but with the A13 chip, it offers more versions of Portrait Mode. You can get up to 256GB of storage, it runs iOS 13 and offers wireless charging.

As well as getting rid off the 4" screen format, they've also completely dropped 3D Touch, now its all down to Haptic Touch. I like 3D Touch and find it better than long pressing but would I miss it? Apart from using it for app switching, it wouldn't be the end of the world. It even feels like my 3D Touch compatible phone seems like it's ignoring the pressure applied in certain scenarios.

If my kids were a few years older and looking for their first phone, this is what they'd get.

The TL;DR is that this is an awesome phone at an awesome price. The latest CPU at just $399 (£419), a no-brainer for anyone looking to move from Android or anyone looking to upgrade from any iPhone that came out before the 7.

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Notable

Quick links and commentary on interesting articles, videos and more throughout the week.

  1. 130.1 – Monday
    1. "Proximity" trailer Shout! Studios on trailers.apple.com
    2. Wild animals roam in cities under coronavirus lockdown axios.com
    3. The A-Z of AI atozofai.withgoogle.com
  2. 130.3 – Wednesday
    1. The full rotation of the Moon as seen by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter @universal_sci on twitter.com
    2. Where's Waldo? in the social distancing age kottke.org
    3. Apple Maps "Look Around" coverage expands to Chicago justinobeirne.com
  3. 130.4 – Thursday
    1. Earth puzzle   $25 blessthisstuff.com
    2. Earth Day 50 theatlantic.com
  4. 130.5 – Friday
    1. Pluto 1994 vs 2018 @MichaelGalanin on twitter.com
    2. Porsche launches CarPlay radios for classic Porsches   €1,350+ macrumors.com
  5. 130.6 – Saturday
    1. Building a Lego camera lens Matthieu Stern on youtube.com
    2. "I May Destroy You" trailer BBC on youtube.com
  6. 130.7 – Sunday
    1. The life cycle of a sneaker TED-Ed on youtube.com

Jump to notable items for Week #129, Week #131 , view the notable archive or my favourites.

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