Thinking about buying an iPhone SE and have some questions

By Kelsey Nicolay, 23 December, 2016

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hello,
I am looking into getting my first iphone soon. Once I get my iphone, I plan to keep it as long as possible. I know the latest phone is the iphone 7, but I do not like the fact that there is no actual home button. I need to have a physical home button since it helps me orient myself on the screen. Therefore, the two phones I am emnsidering are the 6s and the Se. I know the Se does not have 3d touch, but to me, that is not a big deal. I listened to the podcast that compares the two phones and learned some great information, but I was wondering which phone you think would be the better phone in terms of longevity. How long will the 6s and Se be able to receive updates? I don't use braille screen input on my ipad since I have a braille display, so screen size is not an issue in that respect, but in terms of the onscreen keyboard, would the Se be too small? I'm just not sure which of these phones would be the better option. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments

By DPinWI on Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 23:13

As an iPhone 7 owner, I can assure you there is in fact a real, honest to goodness home button. It is easily felt, and while it doesn't move like the previous versions, it has a satisfying click when operated.

I use it for screen orientation all the time.

The iPhone SE may be the perfect phone for you, but I did not want to leave you with the false impression of the iPhone 7.

By Carrie Schaffer on Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 23:13

Hi there its carrie from the jobs list! Send me an email with some times you are free and i will help you! I have the iphone SE and love it! Call me and we can chat!

By Betsy on Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 23:13

My daughter has a 7 and after reading about the new home button I was surprised to find that it is actually quite obvious to the touch

By gailisaiah on Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 23:13

Hi Kelsey, I too have the SE. Since I cannot read the screen for pictures or print, I prefer the smaller phone. It fits nicely in a pocket. I have iOS 10.2 and haven't had any issues. Good luck with whatever choice you make. There's lots of helpful information on this site, as you probably know.

By Siobhan on Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 23:13

The iPhone SE probably has one, maybe two more updates, before you won't be able to take advantage of what Apple pushes out. Like the five C I think theya re moving more toward a 4.5in display, rather then the four inch you are looking for. The six S will be faster, I find myself anoyed as the updates slow down the older devices, that's just me. You'll want to maybe hold both of them, operate them for a minute to see what you want.

By Toonhead on Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 23:13

It's unfortunate, but Apple does this thing where they offer a smaller phone for folks who want that size of a display, but after a while, they stop updating it, and they optimize iOS for working with the latest and greatest which, in this case is the iPhone 7. Yes, it does have a larger display but it does still fit into a pocket quite well, and I can absolutely assure you that the home button feels very much like that of a regular, physical home button on earlier models. In fact, if you go into the settings screens, there's a section in there called home button which, when launched, will allow you to, as Apple says, choose your tap. in other words, it lets you choose the amount of feedback you get when pressing the home button. There are 3 settings you can choose, from lightest to heaviest. I chose setting number 1 which is the lightest and it feels exactly like a regular physical home button when it's tapped. Now of course, when the phone is turned off it's just going to be a round circular button that doesn't do much of anything but when it's turned on, it does work quite nicely. I would go for that, only because you can be right up with the latest and greatest technology. In the vastly changing world of the iPhone, the average shelf life of an iPhone, no matter what model it is is about 2 years or so. After that, the software updates are optimized for the latest version, and older phones really do start to lag. So you'll want to consider this idea.

I don't agree with this. The SE is smaller, yes, but internally it is the same as a 6s, so it should get updates for the same amount of time. I think picking between the two phones comes mostly down to screen size and whether or not 3d touch is important to you.