Mumbai: Apple on Monday announced the latest iPhone SE, which is an amalgamation of iPhone 6S’ up-to-date hardware and 5S’ boxier design.
Read: Apple announces smaller, cheaper iPhone, 9.7-inch iPad Pro
While the device has been touted to be “the most powerful 4-inch device ever created”, fresh reports indicated that the 4-inch borrows the iPhone 5S’ fingerprint scanner, and an older display in comparison to the powerful iPhone 6S.
The iPhone SE employs a lower display ratio and reduced viewing angle as seen on the iPhone 5S. This will surely come as a big disappointment to customers who are currently using the latest 6S, but looking forward to buy the smaller, more power-packed iPhone SE.
Old TouchID
While the display ratio and viewing angles on the iPhone SE is more than two years old, there is a bigger setback to this device—the fingerprint scanner. Surprisingly, the new 4-inch iPhone uses the first-gen TouchID sensor—the same one of the 2013 5S model.
Although the TouchID works more or less flawlessly—apart from being a little buggy at times—on the older 5S, it is still significantly slower than the upgraded, hassle-free TouchID on the larger iPhone 6S.
With the launch of the iPhone 6S, the company made significant improvements to the device’s fingerprint scanner, which was touted to be faster, more accurate, and error-free.
Other stones that were left unturned include the older 1.2MP front-facing camera from the iPhone 5S, which is also old in contrast to the 5MP HD Facetime camera on the upgraded 6S model.
The iPhone SE will be available in India from April at a starting price of Rs 39,000 for the 16GB variant.
Read: Apple shoots up iPhone SE price by Rs 9,000 for India
While reports suggested that this was Apple’s strategy to regain its stronghold on emerging economies, the high price in contrast to the aging equipment on this handset might not turn out to be a sensation among the masses.
For pictures, you can check out our gallery on the iPhone SE.
