Apple iPhone SE: Top 10 features

Apple has finally launched the compact iPhone SE which is equipped with a 4-inch Retina Display. The new iPhone goes on sale in select countries from March 31 onwards. While Apple didn’t announce on stage about the launch in India, but it is expected to go on sale in early April. The prices will start from Rs 39,000. Here is a quick look at the top 10 features of the iPhone SE.

Retina Display: Though Apple has brought down the screen size of iPhone SE to 4-inch, the company has not compromised on the display quality. It has a resolution of 1136x640p, resulting in pixel density of 326ppi, also known as Retina display. According to the company, the human eye cannot distinguish individual pixels beyond this display resolution.

A9 Processor: iPhone SE becomes a powerful smartphone with the A9 chipset, which is the same processor that powers iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The chipset contains a 1.8GHz dual-core processor and is coupled with 2GB of RAM for smooth performance.

Camera: The iPhone comes with a 12 megapixel iSight camera with dual-LED, two-tone flash on the back. The camera features Focus Pixel autofocus, Auto HDR image capture, 4K video recording, and time lapse and slow-motion videos while recording 4K videos.

Apple accessories: Apple has also launched two accessories along with the new iPhone SE; the leather cases and Lightning Dock. The Apple-designed leather cases will be available in black and midnight blue and will be priced at Rs 2,900 while Lightning Docks in color-matched metallic finishes are priced at Rs 3,700.

Price: The 16GB variant will be available at $399 (approximately Rs 26,000 and the 64GB variant is priced at $499 (Rs 33,200 approximately). It is a great phone with powerful features and amazing price.

iOS support updates: iPhone SE comes preloaded with iOS 9.3, but Apple is likely to give the smartphone three more iOS updates. This will put the new iPhone at par with iPhone 6S in terms of OS updates and ahead of iPhone 6 and 5S.

Live Photos: iPhone SE supports Live Photos and also allows users to turn short video clips of photos they click. The feature works by recording videos 1.5-seconds before and after a photo is clicked using an iPhone SE, 6S and 6S Plus. Live Photos can also be viewed in the gallery and put on the lockscreen as the wallpaper and uploaded on Facebook.

Hey Siri: iPhone SE also gets support for always-on Hey Siri, the feature that lets users interact with Siri without pressing any button. Just say Hey Siri anywhere and Apple’s digital assistant will be at your service.

Apple Pay: iPhone SE comes with an NFC chip in order to support Apple Pay, the company’s digital payments platform. Apple Pay lets users make payments als in retail stores with just a tap and is available only in the US, the UK, China, Australia and Canada so far.

Rose gold colour: Apart from iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, iPhone SE is the only other Apple phone with the rose gold colour option. It is a great way for buyers to distinguish their new purchase from iPhone 5 and 5S, which look nearly similar to the new iPhone SE.