There are only a few differences between Apple's brand-new iPhone SE and the iPhone 7 — here are the most important changes

Lisa EadiciccoApr 18, 2020, 18:25 IST

Apple

Apple's $400 iPhone SE has a lot in common with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7, but does offer a few notable improvements.
It has the same processor as the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, and unlike Apple's older iPhones it also supports Portrait Mode.
If you're thinking about upgrading from an iPhone 7, the biggest changes you can expect to see are in performance and the addition of Portrait Mode to the camera.
Otherwise, the iPhone SE offers wireless charging, more storage at the base level, and different color choices.
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Apple's new $400 iPhone SE may not look new at all to longtime iPhone owners, but it does come with some important changes compared to the nearly 4-year-old iPhone 7.

Both the iPhone SE and iPhone 7 have a 4.7-inch screen with a home button underneath it, Touch ID, a 12-megapixel camera, a water-resistant design, and similar battery life.

If you're wondering whether the iPhone SE is worth the upgrade, there are a few things you should consider if you own an iPhone 7. There are more differences between the two phones than you might think, but only a few of them will probably have a meaningful impact on your daily usage.

The biggest changes include:

A noticeable performance boost compared to the iPhone 7 since the SE runs on a much newer processor
Portrait Mode, the feature that lets you sharpen the subject of a photo against a blurred background
Twice as much storage at the base level.

Otherwise, not much has changed other than the available color options and the addition of wireless charging support.

Here's a closer look at the biggest differences between the iPhone SE and iPhone 7.

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Is the iPhone SE right for you?

If you're upgrading from the iPhone 7, the iPhone SE probably won't feel like too much of a difference other than its faster performance and Portrait Mode camera. You'll have to decide if those two improvements (along with the additional storage) are worth a $400 upgrade.

If you have an iPhone 7 that's starting to feel a bit slow, are willing to spend a bit more, and don't necessarily care about having the latest iPhone, the $600 iPhone XR might be also be worth considering.

It has an older processor compared to the SE (it runs on Apple's A12 Bionic instead of the A13 Bionic) that should still feel faster compared to the iPhone 7, offers a larger 6.1-inch borderless screen compared to the 4.7-inch iPhone SE, has Face ID, and longer battery life.

And finally, the iPhone SE has dual SIM support, which means it can support two data plans, while the iPhone 7 does not.

The iPhone SE also supports wireless charging, unlike the iPhone 7.

Apple brought wireless charging to the iPhone in 2017 with the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X, one year after it introduced the iPhone 7.

The two phones also come in different colors.

The iPhone SE is available in black, white, and red, while the iPhone 7 came in black, silver, gold and rose gold.

The design is also slightly different; the iPhone SE has the glass and aluminum design of the iPhone 8, whereas the iPhone 7 has an aluminum finish.

The iPhone SE is available in black, white, and red, while the iPhone 7 came in black, silver, gold and rose gold.

The design is also slightly different; the iPhone SE has the glass and aluminum design of the iPhone 8, whereas the iPhone 7 has an aluminum finish.

The iPhone SE also has more storage at the base level.

The entry-level iPhone SE comes with 64GB of storage space, which is double the 32GB that the cheapest iPhone 7 came in.

So if you bought the least expensive version of the iPhone 7 when it launched in 2016, you can expect to get twice the onboard storage if you buy the $400 iPhone SE.

The entry-level iPhone SE comes with 64GB of storage space, which is double the 32GB that the cheapest iPhone 7 came in.

So if you bought the least expensive version of the iPhone 7 when it launched in 2016, you can expect to get twice the onboard storage if you buy the $400 iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE's selfie camera can also shoot in Portrait Mode, unlike the iPhone 7's front camera.

But the iPhone SE has Portrait Mode, a photography feature that lets you sharpen the subject against a slightly blurred background.

Portrait Mode debuted with the iPhone 7 Plus in 2016, but it's only available on the larger model. The regular 4.7-inch iPhone 7 doesn't support Portrait Mode.

The iPhone SE not only supports Portrait Mode, but also includes all six of the lighting effects Apple has added.

There are also a few other subtle differences when it comes to the camera:

The iPhone SE also has more advanced HDR for photos compared to the iPhone 7.
The iPhone SE can record 4K video at up to 60 frames per second, while the iPhone 7 can only shoot 4K videos at up to 30 frames per second.
The iPhone SE supports QuickTake, the feature that lets you switch from photo to video mode by pressing and dragging the shutter button.

Portrait Mode debuted with the iPhone 7 Plus in 2016, but it's only available on the larger model. The regular 4.7-inch iPhone 7 doesn't support Portrait Mode.

The iPhone SE not only supports Portrait Mode, but also includes all six of the lighting effects Apple has added.

There are also a few other subtle differences when it comes to the camera:

The iPhone SE also has more advanced HDR for photos compared to the iPhone 7.
The iPhone SE can record 4K video at up to 60 frames per second, while the iPhone 7 can only shoot 4K videos at up to 30 frames per second.
The iPhone SE supports QuickTake, the feature that lets you switch from photo to video mode by pressing and dragging the shutter button.

The iPhone SE and iPhone 7 both have 12-megapixel main cameras.

Both phones have a single lens 12-megapixel camera with an aperture of f/1.8. (The larger iPhone 7 Plus has a dual-lens camera).

They're also both capable of zooming digitally up to five times and support optical image stabilization, which should prevent any blur from shaky hands.

Both phones have a single lens 12-megapixel camera with an aperture of f/1.8. (The larger iPhone 7 Plus has a dual-lens camera).

They're also both capable of zooming digitally up to five times and support optical image stabilization, which should prevent any blur from shaky hands.

But there are two minor differences between the iPhone SE and iPhone 7 when it comes to their screens.

The iPhone SE has Apple's True Tone technology, which enables the screen color temperature to adapt to the light in your surroundings. This makes the display look warmer and strips away that blue-ish hue common on electronics' screens.

The iPhone 7's display lacks this feature.

The iPhone SE's display also supports Haptic Touch while the iPhone 7 has 3D Touch. They're essentially two different technologies that offer similar functionality. Haptic Touch is the feature that lets you launch certain app shortcuts, like pressing and holding an app icon on the home screen to quickly launch a certain action within that app.

3D Touch is the older iteration of that feature that requires you to apply a little bit of extra pressure to launch that sub-menu.

The iPhone 7's display lacks this feature.

3D Touch is the older iteration of that feature that requires you to apply a little bit of extra pressure to launch that sub-menu.

The iPhone SE and iPhone 7 have almost identical displays.

Both phones have a 4.7-inch LCD screen with a 1334 by 750 resolution that packs 326 pixels per inch. Their screens are also equally bright. (The larger iPhone 7 Pro has a 5.5-inch display).

The iPhone 7 runs on a chip that's more than three years old.

Apple's A10 Fusion chip from 2016 powers the iPhone 7.

The iPhone SE has Apple's newest processor.

Apple's iPhone SE runs on the A13 Bionic, the processor that powers the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.

That means you can probably expect some significant performance enhancements if you're upgrading from an older phone. Apple claims that the CPU performance far surpasses that of 2018's A12 Bionic in the iPhone XR and other older rivals like the Galaxy S10 Plus.