iPhone SE (2016)

iPhone SE (2016): 6s power in the 4-inch body of the 5s, from $399.

Specs

Launch

Introduced on March 21, 2016 at the 'Let us loop you in' event in the Town Hall on Apple's campus, presented by Greg Joswiak; pre-orders opened March 24 and it went on sale March 31 from $399. Joswiak justified it with a figure: over 30 million 4-inch iPhones had been sold in 2015. Re-released on March 24, 2017 with 32 and 128 GB, it was discontinued on September 12, 2018.

Marketing

Pitched as 'the most powerful four-inch phone ever' ('A big step for small.'): the 6s's A9 chip with 2 GB of RAM and 12 MP camera inside the 5s design. At 113 g it was one of the lightest iPhones, only topped by the 5 and 5s (112 g). It was the last iPhone with a 4-inch display, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and 16 GB of base storage.

Flaws and fixes

The first teardown showed that many of its internal parts came from the 5s and the 6s. For support, the last branch was iOS 15.8.x and iOS 16 dropped it: alongside the 6s and 6s Plus, it was among the first iPhones to receive seven major iOS versions (9 through 15).

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Updated: October 25, 2026 · Compare this product