Apple’s smartphone range could also be gaining the iPhone 13, but it’s also quietly retiring one among the Cupertino company’s budget-minded models at an equivalent time. While the choice to axe the iPhone 12 Pro now that the iPhone 13 Pro is on the agenda was well-publicized – and understandable – within the aftermath of Apple’s fall event earlier in the week , the iPhone SE range has also shrunk.
Launched early in 2020, the second-generation iPhone SE picked up the reins of its predecessor. Priced from under $400, it borrowed the planning of an old iPhone – during this case, the now-familiar iPhone 8 – but combined it with a more modern chipset.
Fast forward to today, and in late 2021 the iPhone family lineup looks a touch different from what it did back when the iPhone SE (2020) first launched. Apple has discreetly sent the foremost expensive configuration of that phone bent pasture. Where once you’ll get a 256GB iPhone SE, that’s not the case.
Instead, your choices are the 64GB iPhone SE for $399 and the 128GB iPhone SE for $449. The 256GB configuration was previously priced at $549.
Since Apple doesn’t escape individual iPhone model sales because it reports its quarterly results, much less on an SKU-by-SKU basis, it’s hard to understand just what percentage of the 256GB iPhone SE the corporate actually sold. Given the handset was pitched as a budget device, it seems perhaps likely that the most significant demand would’ve been for the smaller-capacity models. After all, as we observed in our review, competition starts to urge a touch tougher once you get to the $549 point.
Paring back the lineup to only two variants should make life a touch easier for Apple. After all, a smaller number of variations is usually more straightforward to handle from a stock point of view. Meanwhile, it could find yourself making things more lucrative too, for those that simply aren’t willing to compromise on having 256GB of storage. subsequent cheapest thanks to getting that’s the iPhone 12 mini, from $749: a $200 premium over the old 256GB iPhone SE.
What’s unclear is whether or not the continued chip shortage played a task in Apple’s decision in the least. Though the corporate seemed fairly well insulated from the semiconductor crunch facing the industry and automotive and other segments, a minimum of to start with, with fewer chips to travel around it, could be that Apple opted to prioritize the larger memory for its newer flagships.
If you actually , actually need an iPhone SE with 256GB of storage, there are still stocks at retailers aside from Apple. Amazon, for instance , has the 256GB version listed still, altogether three color options – White, Black, and (PRODUCT)RED – though you’ll need to comply with a carrier deal to urge it.
