iPhone SE Review: Smaller Gets Smarter With Better Battery Life to Boot

Apple’s powerful new 4-inch iPhone has the size and battery performance that many have been waiting for

Most smartphones now come in two sizes—big and huge. Apple’s new iPhone SE is the first one made for everybody whose thumbs lack the wingspan of eagles.

The phone, which goes on sale Thursday, packs Apple’s best phone processor and camera into a width of just 2.3 inches. And it does it with significantly better battery life and Apple’s lowest-ever starting price, $399.

After years of the “phablet,” the small phone is back with a vengeance.

This is about more than fads—it’s about physiology. The iPhone SE is an acknowledgment that picking a smartphone should be like choosing shoes. Style and function are parts of the equation: You might not be caught dead without heels, but their fit and comfort matter. When you consider your phone, it matters how you’ll hold it, and where you’ll stash it.

The first time I held the iPhone SE, whose screen measures 4 inches diagonally, it felt comically tiny to my fingers and eyes, which are now accustomed to much more. I wouldn’t want to use it as my everyday phone, but as many as 20% of Americans would prefer a 4-inch phone. Apple says it sold 30 million older, slower (and cheaper) models at that size last year. Yet remarkably, no other major manufacturer offers a high-end phone at this size in the U.S.

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The iPhone SE, left, lasted two hours longer than the 6s, right, in a Wall Street Journal battery test. The compromise is the screen: The SE’s screen is smaller with fewer pixels, and it lacks the 3D Touch function.PHOTO: EMILY PRAPUOLENIS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

The iPhone SE is a win for ergonomic choice, but Apple doesn’t score any points for originality. The new phone is nearly indistinguishable from the three-year-old iPhone 5s, which is a hair thicker and less pleasantly rounded than Apple’s more recent designs. (The SE even fits in most existing 5s cases.) The SE will come in Apple’s newer rose-gold hue, but it lacks design improvements you’ll find in Apple’s competitors, such as waterproofing and expandable storage.

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It’s almost as though Apple is transplanting new brains into old iPhone 5s bodies. (Apple isn’t literally doing that, though the concept does seem like it could be a big boon for the environment.)

On most important functions, the iPhone SE doesn’t disappoint. Its A9 processor, exactly the same one that’s in the iPhone 6s, zips through apps and the most graphically challenging mobile games. (By a test called GeekBench, it’s about 70% faster than the 5s.)

The 12-megapixel rear camera is capable of Apple’s Live Photos video trick, and performs admirably in most settings—though, like the iPhone 6s, it’s now bested in low-light shooting by Samsung’s new Galaxy S7. The iPhone SE even includes Apple Pay, so you can leave your wallet at home at least some of the time.

The standout news is battery life. Unlike many other recent Apple products, the iPhone SE’s is a significant improvement over its predecessors’. In my lab stress test, which cycles through websites with uniform screen brightness, the SE lasted 10 hours—more than two hours longer than both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 5s, and nearly three hours longer than the Galaxy S7.

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The iPhone SE, top, is a bit thicker than the iPhone 6s, bottom. With its 4-inch screen, the SE is the same size as the old 5s. But it is much faster, and its battery life is longer. PHOTO: EMILY PRAPUOLENIS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

The compromise you must accept for that performance is the SE’s screen, which is not only smaller but also packs in fewer pixels and noticeably less contrast than the iPhone 6s. It also isn’t pressure sensitive, so it can’t do Apple’s 3D Touch trick of popping up menus with a hard press of your finger.

Some people will be drawn to the SE for its price. At $399 without a contract—$250 less than its larger sibling—the iPhone SE might appeal to parents, corporations or people on a budget who are considering their first iPhone. But keep this in mind about the real cost: The 16 gigabytes of storage at that price is hardly sufficient to take advantage of all the latest apps and photo capabilities, let alone cover you for years into the future. If you want this phone, pay the Apple tax and get the 64GB version for $499.

The biggest reason you’d want this phone is because it’s a better size for your hand. So, in the absence of a shoe-measurement contraption for hands, how do you know the right size?

After consulting ergonomists and physical therapists, I can report there is some science to it. You must weigh three factors, all of them trade-offs:

What you can see. When it comes to productivity, bigger is better. The phablet trend was essentially chasing the ergonomic reality that we get more done—and even remember more of what we read—on larger screens. Larger phones also have larger virtual keyboards, and the largest phablets boast beefier batteries. The 25% difference in screen area between the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE could have an impact on your work.

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The iPhone SE is available in Apple’s newer rose-gold finish. PHOTO: EMILY PRAPUOLENIS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

What your thumbs can reach. Most of us use thumbs to operate smartphones, but they vary considerably in reach. You can do a quick test in a store: Go to the drawing mode in the iPhone’s Notes app (or pull up a free Web drawing app such as Awwapp.com). Hold the phone with one hand and swoop your thumb like a windshield wiper. The arc that you draw defines what your thumb can comfortably reach. (You can also see how your thumbs measure up on different screen sizes in our online Journal Hand-o-Meter.)

What you can comfortably hold. The more your hands have to stretch, the more uncomfortable it becomes to grasp a phone—and the more likely you are to drop it. As a test, try holding your hand like you’re making the shape of a gun, and then gripping the phone between your index finger and thumb. If the iPhone SE fits more snugly in the knuckle closest to your palm, it’s likely a better match. (The outer knuckle works too, but it’s a less secure grip.) And don’t forget where you’re going to store your phone: People who insist on stuffing phones into tight jeans might want a smaller size; people who keep them in bags may not care.

I’m happy to see the iPhone SE, partly because I think that the world needs a small phone. A selection of them, truthfully. This is a mini, yet mighty, start.

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iPad Pro screen freeze bug reported; Apple Inc responded with a quick fix

While we all thought that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) guarantees faultless gadgets, there is new news around the corner which clearly disproves this idea. The newly released iPad Pro is already experiencing a whole lot of problems and one of them is the Screen Freeze issue.

A whole host of electronic gadgets faces these issues, and now even Apple too cannot be entirely exempted from the list. These problems are now tainted the brand value of Apple, and customers are now turning disappointed. The technicians at Apple have agreed that this problem exists on most of the Apple iPad Pro device models and has to be critically considered to be resolved.

Update: Apple Inc has responded to the issue and released a note which gives iPad Pro users a temporary solution:

“Learn what to do if your iPad Pro doesn’t respond when you press buttons or tap on the screen, and the screen is black. To get back to using your iPad Pro, force restart it by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least ten seconds, until you see the Apple logo.”

The customers of iPad Pro faced issues recently in relation to the screen. They have observed that whenever the Apple iPad Pro was plugged in, the phone immediately started to get unresponsive. The screen was said to have turned black by multiple taps on the screen or button pressing. It further couldn’t be operated or used, and the problem was recently discussed about on Apple Support Communities. People do come up with assumptions of it being a mere charge related issue, and occurs only when the device is plugged in.

But, Apple didn’t leave its customers alone to deal with the problem, but instead has posted DIY instruction on its site to solve the issue. What Apple has instructed on its support community is about how one can resolve this issue by merely pressing and hold down of Sleep and Home button. This has turned to be a menace to most of the Apple users, as the solution provided doesn’t really go into the root of the problem, but superficially tries to resolve.

“At night it was down to 40% so I charged it and went to bed. When I woke up it was ‘dead.’ I couldn’t wake it up,” wrote one user, identified only as Darkfire.Shadows, on Apple’s community support website. “I needed to perform a hard reset to get it to come to life. Worked on it for a couple of hours and had to run an errand. Plugged it back in as I was going to need a full charge later that day. Came back to it, same thing. Dead.”

It has also been reported that it’s not just one model of iPad Pro that has been affected, but both, 32 and 128 GB. This is a clear indication that none of the models of iPad Pro are faultless, and every one of these comes with a hardware/software problem. This iPad Pro was supposed to be standing as a rival to all desktop computers due to its suitability on professional grounds. It was targeted towards the business and professional class, in order to make easier, productive work without the need of a desktop computer.

This concept of iPad Pro being the newest version of an iPad needed more publicity than other Apple devices in order to build its credibility for new product niches. With the nasty display issues taking a front seat, it has now been quite a challenging task for Apple to sustain the brand value it’s acquired over the years. Although, this is not the first time that Apple faced an issue like this, sales of the device would probably be affected if the problem continues.

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What's Next for Apple Inc.'s iPad?

Later this year, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) is expected to launch its next-generation iPad Air and iPad mini tablets. Given that Apple's iPad sales have continued to plunge over the last several quarters, with the year-over-year revenue decline steepening to 29% in the company's most recent quarter, Apple's going to bring extremely compelling products to the table with this year's iPad launches.

In this article, I'd like to make some educated guesses at which areas Apple will improve upon from last year's iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 with this year's devices.

iPad mini due for a complete makeover

The iPad mini 3 was a huge disappointment to many; Apple essentially took the iPad mini 2, included Touch ID, and offered the device in gold. It didn't, to my knowledge, bring any other improvements to the table.

This year, I suspect Apple will release a more compelling upgrade. A move to the A8 chip found inside of the iPhone 6/6 Plus would be nice, although the A8X would certainly be welcome. A move from 1 gigabyte of memory to 2 gigabytes, as we saw in the move from the iPad Air to the iPad Air 2, seems like a sensible move as well.

Additionally, a major criticism of the iPad mini 3 is the display. The display offers a very high resolution, but according to DisplayMate, it's severely lacking in many key areas. As a result of a narrow color gamut, DisplayMate says the colors on the device are "visibly washed out" and "distorted."

I'd be absolutely floored if Apple choses to ignore display quality on the next iPad mini.

I also expect Apple to transition from the old 802.11n Wi-Fi found in the iPad mini 2 and 3 to at least single-stream 802.11ac. Finally, I expect Apple to slim down the tablet's chassis from the relatively thick 7.5 millimeters (compared to the iPad Air 2, which is only 6.1 millimeters thick) it measures in at today.

iPad Air 3 doesn't need as much hardware work

The industrial design of the iPad Air 2 is superb, and I'm not convinced the company needs to make the device any thinner at this point. The improvements I hope to see aren't on the industrial design side of things.

One "obvious" improvement I'm expecting is an enhanced applications processor that will likely be called the A9X. The chip will surely have faster CPU cores, offer significantly enhanced graphics, and even more memory bandwidth -- the generational changes one would typically expect.

Apple might choose to go from two gigabytes of memory to, say, three or four in the next-generation iPad, but I don't think that upgrade will be necessary this time around.

Another area I think Apple will focus on is the display. In moving from the iPad Air to the iPad Air 2, Apple may have used the same display, according to AnandTech. The display is good, but AnandTech's review suggests there's a pretty big gap in quality/performance between the display found on the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air 2.

Given that the iPad Air 2 requires a much larger display than the iPhone 6/6 Plus do, it's probably cost-prohibitive to include a display of similar quality to modern iPhones on an iPad. That said, given that Apple needs to encourage customers to buy new iPads, I'm expecting a sizable jump in display performance in moving from the iPad Air 2 to the iPad Air 3.

The iPad Air 2 appears to support dual-stream 802.11ac, which is quite fast, so I'm not expecting Apple to upgrade the Wi-Fi in going to the iPad Air 3.

Apple may need to overhaul the iPad's UI

Although the iPad Air 2's hardware is solid, and the iPad Air 3's will surely be even better, Apple might consider significantly enhancing the user interface on the larger iPads.

Remember that one of the biggest criticisms of the iPad Air 2 from the WSJ's Joanna Stern was that the iPad Air 2 can only display one app at a time. This, she noted, is in contrast to competing tablets such as the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Surface and the Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF  ) Galaxy Tab.

If Apple introduces more aggressive multitasking/multi-window functionality, it would not only increase the demands on the processor/memory (potentially catalyzing iPad upgrades), but it would help further differentiate the iPad experience from, say, the iPhone experience.

Making the iPad an indispensable complement to the iPhone might help boost iPad sales even as iPhone sales continue to boom.

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iPad Pro rumor roundup: Everything we know about the release date, price and specs of Apple's possible big-screen iPad

With sales of the iPad declining for five straight quarters, Apple will be looking to make a statement with the next generation of its flagship tablet. Though the iPad remains the standard-bearer for the category, a gaggle of rivals -- from Samsung to a collection of mostly lower-end competitors -- have continued to cut into Apple's market share since the iPad Air 2 and Mini 3 debuted in October 2014.

That noted, Apple has introduced an array of interesting new features and products over the past few months including Force Touch, which brought pressure-sensitivity to the new MacBook trackpads; the Apple Watch; and its Apple Pay service, which continues to gain traction and add retail partners. There is speculation that elements of these technologies could find their way into the next iPad.

Apple could also inject new life -- and further profitability -- into the iPad line by creating a new high-end model with a larger screen.

Of course, Apple remains characteristically tight-lipped about all of this. Into this vacuum of fact-based evidence, the Internet is awash in rumor, theory, and hearsay about speeds, feeds, designs and features. Even the product name is a subject of conjecture, with "iPad Pro" and "iPad Plus" emerging as the most credible contenders.

With the important caveat that this is merely a rumored product -- and one which may never even see the light of day -- we present the top predictions that have bubbled to the surface.

Announcement and release dates

There's a long shot that the company could introduce the iPad Pro at its World Wide Developers Conference, scheduled to run from June 8 to 12 in San Francisco. (CNET will have live coverage of the June 8 keynote.) But given that Apple has debuted new iPads, large and small, in October or November since 2012 (about a month after the iPhone is generally unveiled), that timeframe is much more likely. An autumn release -- alongside, we assume, an iPad Air 3 and Mini 4 -- would also dovetail with the presumed availability of an updated iOS 9 mobile operating system, which Apple will almost certainly preview at its June WWDC event.Mobile app development

Design

Apple Insider theorizes that the new iPad Pro will feature a 12.9-inch touchscreen, which would give it a significantly larger profile than both the 7.9-inch Mini 3 and 9.7-inch Air 2. (Other reports peg the screen size at 12.2 inches.) It's difficult to imagine an iPad that's much thinner than the Air 2 (which measures 6.1 millimeters, just slightly thicker than the thinnest tablet on the market, the Dell Venue 8 7000).

New colors are always an option, however, and Apple could change things up by moving beyond the current generation's choices of gold, silver, and space gray.

Touch

It's quite conceivable that Apple will incorporate Force Touch into the next iPad, adding a dimension of pressure sensitivity to the device's interactive capacity.

There are also murmurs about the possibility of an Bluetooth iPen stylus that incorporates pressure sensitivity. Though there is something distinctly un-Apple about this -- Steve Jobs famously disparaged the accessory -- stylus-equipped tablets like the Surface Pro 3 and phablets like the Galaxy Note 4 have been enthusiastically received by many consumer and professional users.

NFC

Though the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 include support for online Apple Pay, they do so without near field communication capabilities (NFC), which enable tap-to-pay functionality. Apple included support for NFC in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, however, and more recently in the Apple Watch. The popularity of the iPad doubling as an electronic cash register in retail locations, and the increasing penetration of Apple Pay, which leverages the technology, makes NFC a possible feature for the next iPad.

Connections

Given that the USB-C port was included on the new MacBooks introduced in April 2015, it's entirely possible that Apple would use the same connection on the next iPad. Whether or not that would be in addition to or in place of the standard Apple Lightning port is anyone's guess, but the inclusion of USB-C could enable the larger iPad to be move flexible with accessories -- including keyboard docks and external monitors -- than the current models.

Less likely is support for inductive charging -- a feature found on the Apple Watch and an increasing number of non-Apple smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

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