Apple Unveils the Latest Iteration of iPhone SE with an A15 Bionic Chip and 5G

Today, Apple updated its budget-model iPhone SE with a new A15 Bionic chip, 5G connectivity, better battery life, and other modern iPhone features.

As with the previous model, the new SE comes in three colors: Midnight, Starlight, and (Product)RED. With the new A15 Bionic chip, Apple says the new SE’s graphics are 1.2x faster than the 2nd generation model it replaces. The addition of the A15 Bionic means iPhone SE users can enjoy advanced features like Live Text too.

A combination of the new chip, different battery chemistry, and changes to the design also allows the SE to run for up to 2 hours longer on its battery in video playback tests. With a 20W charger, the SE can fast charge from 0-50% in 30 minutes too.

The iPhone SE has a 12MP camera with a sensor that is capable of Apple’s Deep Fusion technology. The update also supports Smart HDR 4 and photographic styles, which first appeared on the iPhone 13. Although the camera’s sensor and the hardware that drives it makes this a new camera system, the lens hardware itself appears to be unchanged.

The iPhone SE’s glass has received an upgrade too. It uses the same shatter-resistant type of glass as the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro lines.

Finally, the iPhone SE carries a $429 starting price tag. That’s $30 more than the prior generation.

Other features of the iPhone SE remain the same. The model uses Touch ID embedded in its Home button and has the same 4.7” display as the model it replaces. Like the previous model, the new SE is also IP67 rated for water resistance. The new SE offers 64, 128, and 256GB storage capacities too.

With an A15 Bionic chip, which powered the previous-generation iPad Air, the new iPhone SE is an excellent choice for anyone who wants a smaller iPhone. It would have been nice to see it adopt Touch ID in the power button, as the iPad Air did, but regardless, today’s announcement is a nice refresh of Apple’s most affordable iPhone.

You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.p

Replay Apple’s Peek Performance Keynote and Other Videos

If you didn’t follow the livestream or announcements as they unfolded today, you can replay it on Apple’s Events site and catch the product videos on Apple’s YouTube channel.

The keynote video can be streamed here and on the Apple TV using the TV app. A high-quality version will also be available through Apple Podcasts as a video and audio podcast. There is also an American Sign Language version of the event, which is available here.

More videos after the break.

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Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ Event – Apple Announces Availability of Green iPhones, iPhone SE, iPad Air, Mac Studio, and Studio Display

Apple announced the following pre-order and availability dates for the products announced today:

iPhone 13 and 13 mini in Green and the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max in Alpine Green

Pre-Order: Friday, March 11th
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries

iPhone SE

Pre-Order: Friday, March 11th
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries

iPad Air

Pre-Order: Friday, March 11th
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: 29 countries and regions, including the US

Mac Studio and Studio Display

Pre-Order: Today
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: Not specified

You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.

AppStories, Episode 263 – Beyond Doom Scrolling: Getting More Out of Twitter→

This week on AppStories, Federico and John talk about how to get more out of Twitter while avoiding doom scrolling, through a combination of advanced Twitter features, third-party apps, and Shortcuts.

[Subscribe here.](https://appstories.net/plans)

Subscribe here.

On AppStories+, Federico and John talk about the upcoming Apple ‘Peek Performance’ event, a curious bug John ran into in Shortcuts for the Mac, and Federico’s experiments with car-based shortcuts for dictation input.

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Last Week, on Club MacStories: Symlinks for Windows and macOS, File Organization Tips, Batch-Converting Saved Timers, and an Upcoming ‘Peek Performance’ Town Hall

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

Monthly Log: February 2022

Metroid running at 4K on Federico's MacBook Pro

Metroid running at 4K on Federico’s MacBook Pro

MacStories Weekly: Issue 310

Up Next

Next week on Club MacStories:

  • On March 8th, at 5:00 pm Eastern US time, we’ll be holding a live audio Town Hall in the Club MacStories+ and Club Premier Discord community. Join Federico, John, and Alex for reactions to the day’s events and to ask any questions you may have. More details about the Town Hall are available in the Announcements channel on Discord.
  • In MacStories Weekly 311, John will publish a shortcut for tweeting links to web articles via Typefully.

Nintendo Switch Online 2.0 Gets a Redesign and Adds a Few New Features

Since it debuted, Nintendo Switch Online’s utility has been primarily limited to initiating voice chats and other online features in the Switch games that support them. That’s still the core of version 2.0, but the app has been redesigned and adds a couple of nice new features.

The new design divides the screen into a scrolling row of friends along the top, thumbnails of the games you own that support online services, like Animal Crossing, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and Splatoon 2, and the app’s Voice Chat feature. It’s a simple, good-looking design, but the abundance of blank space, if you’re not using voice chat, reveals just how little else the app has to offer.

Tapping on a friend's Mii shows you what they're playing or when they were last online.

Tapping on a friend’s Mii shows you what they’re playing or when they were last online.

The row of friends indicates who is currently online and who you’ve marked as a ‘Best Friend,’ which pins their Mii avatars to the beginning of your friends list. Tapping on a Mii shows you what someone who is online is playing or when they were last online. The game-specific thumbnails act as launchers for each game’s service, and voice chat is only activated if you first start a game on the Switch in a mode that supports it.

Nintendo Switch Online walks you through the process of starting a voice chat and lets you manage your visibility to friends.

Nintendo Switch Online walks you through the process of starting a voice chat and lets you manage your visibility to friends.

A small but welcome touch is the ability to copy your friend code in the app’s settings. Previously you had to grab your Switch, dig into your profile, and manually copy the information if you wanted to send it to someone. Personally, that’s been a huge drag on how often I share my friend code, so I appreciate the change.

It’s good to see Nintendo Switch Online updated, but it’s still a little disheartening to think that it took the company five years to get to a version 2.0 with such modest feature additions. Still, the update is an improvement, and hopefully, it’s also a sign that Nintendo is prepared to invest more time and effort into the app as a way to enhance the Switch experience.

Nintendo Switch Online is available as a free update on the App Store.

Take Your Business Out Of The Dark With Daylite [Sponsor]

For small businesses, it can be difficult to stay on top of clients, leads, and projects that are evolving every day. Here’s how Daylite can help supercharge your team to shine brighter, handle more clients, close more deals, and execute more projects. Designed for Mac, iPhone, and iPad exclusively.

Daylite empowers small businesses by improving team efficiency and making collaboration easy—everything is organized, searchable, and accessible (even offline). You can easily access information and segment data tailored to your specific client’s history. You can manage and share everyone’s schedules, project status, and next steps. 

Seamless Apple Integration

Daylite is the only Mac CRM and productivity app that integrates with Apple devices and most of the built-in Apple apps and features, like direct Apple Mail integration. You and your team can capture all email communication in one place and create opportunities, appointments, and tasks right from your Apple Mail. 

Linking 

Its linking capability is what makes Daylite shine. You can link emails, notes, tasks, projects, appointments, and other records to existing contacts in Daylite. This enables teams to quickly and clearly view an organization’s structure and access the information they need in a unique way. 

CRM + Project Management

Daylite’s productivity-focused design helps you and your team get more done throughout the full customer lifecycle. From meeting prospects and winning business to managing the moving pieces on projects, all the way through to following up on referrals and repeat business, it’s all done in Daylite. 

If you live by the Mac, you’ll love Daylite. Start your free 30-day Daylite trial today!

Our thanks to Daylite for sponsoring MacStories this week.

MacStories Unwind: Elden Ring and Kimi

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This week, Federico shares why he’s enjoying Elden Ring so much, and John recommends Kimi, an HBO Max thriller with a tech twist.

Apple’s Upcoming ‘Peek Performance’ Event

On March 8th at 5:00 pm Eastern US time, we’ll be holding a live audio Town Hall in the Club MacStories+ and Club Premier Discord community. Join Federico, Alex, and me for reactions to the day’s events and to ask any questions you may have. More details about the Town Hall are available in the Announcements channel on Discord.

Federico’s Pick

John’s Pick:

Apple Announces March 8th Online Event

As tweeted by Federico, Apple has announced an online media event for March 8th, 2022 at 10:00 am Pacific:

Based on the latest speculation and rumors, Apple is expected to introduce a revision of the iPhone SE and iPad Air. Other announcements could include the base-model iPad, which has historically been revised in the spring, and new Apple silicon Mac minis.

Of course, MacStories readers can expect comprehensive coverage on MacStories and AppStories, which will extend to Club MacStories too.

You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.