iPhone SE Receives A15 Bionic and 5G Upgrade Alongside Improved Battery Life

To many, the SE represents the entry door to the world of the iPhone even though it may have a dated design. Two years after the rollout of the A13 Bionic-based 2nd gen model, here comes its successor which has just been unveiled at tonight’s Peek Performance event.

To make the iPhone SE relevant to users in 2022, the new iteration is now powered by A15 Bionic which is the same processor that is being used in the higher-end iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. This allows the new phone to be up to 1.8x than iPhone 8 according to Apple which may seem like an odd comparison but it may signify the kind of crowd that Apple is targeting for the 2022’s SE.

When it comes to photography, the listed hardware for the new SE is relatively the same as per its 2020’s predecessor which also relies on a 12MP f/1.8 main camera and 7MP f/2.2 front camera. However, the usage of A15 Bionic has now enabled new computational photography features such as Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, and Photographic Styles.

Another big upgrade that Apple has implemented for the 2022 SE is the support for the 5G network. The company also pointed out it managed to improve the battery life on the new model as it can last up to 15 hours for video playback – two hours longer than the 2020 model.

As you can see from the images so far, the general design of the phone remains the same as per its predecessor though. This includes the usage of the 4.7-inch Retina HD display and the physical round Home button with support for Touch ID although Apple noted that the new SE is now protected by the same glass panel (Ceramic Shield was not specifically mentioned though) as per iPhone 13 Series.

With up to 256GB of storage, the 3rd gen iPhone SE will be rolling out into the market starting from 18 March with a general price tag of USD429 (~RM1,795). As for the Malaysian release, check out our report right here whereby you can learn about the 2022’s iPhone SE’s pre-order and release dates as well as its pricing.