Ask HN: Apple dropping support for iPhone SE. What to do now? Apple is dropping support for the 1st generation of the beloved iPhone SE. Many people liked the form factor of it. What are your plans to do with the last small iPhone? What are the possibilities? Jailbreak or use it as a paper weight? |
As much as I liked the original SE form factor, I really appreciated some things like bigger and better screen and face id.
I use mine as an mp3 player connected to some speakers at home.
If I were in your position I’d just get an iPhone 13 Mini since it’s the last iPhone with a small form factor.
Another option is to look for smaller android devices, but i doubt anything will be as small as the iphone mini
If I ever upgrade, it will be to a 13 mini right after they get discontinued.
As a compromise I've been using the Palm Phone[0] for a while now (before that the Unihertz Atom, which is quite the chonker, albeit with a small screen). It's the size of a credit card and has terrible battery life, but it can do all the things I need so I've just learned how to deal with it.
I don't really have a solution for music on the go yet, as you can't connect normal headphones to modern phones without adapters (and those adapters actually draw a surprising amount of power if they have a DAC!) and Bluetooth is completely useless in large and densely populated cities. Maybe some iPod-like devices are still around ...
am I the only one who finds this horrifying
You can sometimes work around parts of it. For example there are still taxi dispatchers you can call (but with what? Maybe if you have at least a dumb phone ...) but drivers might be more hesitant to accept those jobs (less precise pickup locations, more ambiguity about destinations etc.). You can rent some of the public bikes using a public transport card, but none of the scooters - and those are much more available.
In highly modernised places there is simply a baseline assumption about the tech that everyone has available to them ...
The fact that there are entities out there that want to steal every drop of your attention when you are on your phone does not nullify the usefulness of modern technology. Nor does it guarantee them success.
I'd say that many people happily use technology to improve their lives and dodge all the other crap. For that group the modern age is absolutely great.
recently had an idea: what if we installed small, public computers on city blocks, much in the same way that we did phone booths
Eg, if you're calling a taxi, what are you going to call one from, if not a phone? A phone is the best tool for the job because if they come and can't find you, then can call you back.
-Socrates
So, it's safe to assume GP meant modern life with modern comforts, rather than "my oxygen is only available with an iCloud subscription".
The walled city of Athens when Socrates lived measured about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in diameter.¹
Moscow is among the world's largest cities; the city covers an area of 2,511 square kilometers.²
Access to personal transport is an essential part of modern daily life, without which it is difficult to work, live, and even, sometimes, eat.
Do they? Intuitively I would imagine that they do not consume much more than the same DAC inside the phone. I use such adapters a lot and never really noticed anything out of the ordinary related to battery life nor the part with the DAC getting warmer.
On the other hand, the sound quality of these adapters is surprisingly good, in the same league as dedicated audio interfaces[0].
I actually went through a few adapters to find one that worked, because some of them (e.g. the one Apple makes) actually only wire up a DAC inside the phone to the physical 3.5mm connector. The Palm phone doesn't have a DAC though ...
Maybe the one I have (by a company called Baseus, which I've never heard of before) just sucks and it shouldn't be drawing as much power as it does. Thanks for the link to that video, might be some good alternative in there!
iPod, extremely light and long playing.
And none of that Bluetooth cutout while traversing through many AirPods zones.
What problems do you experience in day to day life?
When I lived in London I used to take Bluetooth-enthusiasts to a specific spot in Victoria station that is a complete Bluetooth-killer for some reason. Cables just don't have these problems ...
Then out on the street, I would have no problems in the middle of a block, but on every intersection, the connection would cut out again until I got far enough from the corner.
Back to wired IEM's with a little dongle in the lightning slot :)
I have made up my mind that I won't buy another iPhone due to their design choices in the past years (mainly, removing headphone jack, but also in general undermining reparability while preaching sustainability).
So for me the must-have features are 3.5mm jack and relatively small form factor. I ended up getting a Asus Zenfone 9 (actually saw the post from HN first). Have been using it for about a couple weeks and I don't have too many complaints switching to Android. Only gripe I have was that the screen is still way too big. A bigger screen and very thin bezels are of course visually nice, but it's impossible to reach the upper and lower left corner when I use it with my right hand. Welp, I guess that's the compromise that I have to make in exchange for the features more important to me.
I'm really opposed to buying a phone with FaceID - give me a fingerprint sensor, please.
Also, the second picture is a bit misleading because it compares the SE to a container that itself is larger than the mini (as you can see in the third picture).
[0] Numbers from Mactracker. SE is 4.87" x 2.31" = 11.2497"^2. Mini is 5.18" x 2.53" = 13.1054"^2. That's a 16.5% increase in surface area
I still think the iPhone 13 mini is the best choice, though.
But also 2016 is only 6 years ago. It's not just Apple thing, but it really doesn't feel sustainable for us to keep write off our hardware every half a decade.
I feel like expecting 6 years of updates out of the iPhone 4 would have been kind of ridiculous!
I’m still using my SE, and will continue until it dies
It's a bit larger, but it's a good change as it's actually more comfortable. Ymmv, of course.
Apple has been silently maintaining iOS12, releasing 12.5.6 in August 2022 for eg:
> Available for: iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation).
None of these devices are expected to be in support, as per Apple's policies. However, Apple is still pushing updates to these, and I'm hoping something similar would happen for iOS15.
I just wish Apple would actually write down its supported device+OS combinations somewhere, instead of us all having to guess (https://endoflife.date/iphone)
Personally I switched to the iPhone mini, which, while not as nice a form factor as the SE, is still okay-ish for one-handed use. I’m hoping that Apple will again release a new small phone a few years down the line before the mini becomes unusable. They could refresh the iPhone mini in a similar cadence as they do for the iPad mini.
My advice is to get a PopSocket; they can make almost any size of phone usable with one hand. At this point it seems like that's the best we're going to get
But my options are limited.
I hate the Home-Bar thing where you need to swipe.
I don't really like the haptic Home buttom, mechanical feels much nicer.
I don't like how the actual screen has rounded corners.
I don't like the notch.
I don't like the the really long aspect ratios.
If I settle for the SE 2nd/3rd generation, I'm not sure how long the support that screen size will last, mostly from 3rd party apps, already I have used apps where things are cut off because of the screen size and there's no way to access the contents.
To be honest, my favourite model was 4s ;)
I imagine it'll remain there until I move, then it'll be sold or (more likely) recycled.
I imagine I'll only get a couple of quid out of it so it's not worth bothering unless I'm batching it with other crap to sell (e.g. during a house move)
Assuming you have a working phone, why would you not just keep using it?
I have a bunch of old Nokia phones that still work. They’ve not received an update in years and probably never will, but as long as they support carriers frequently, they’ll work.
It’s a phone, not an app… and even apps don’t need to be constantly updated.
I was planning to keep it running until the next Apple phone with 3.5mm jack. Are there any 3rd party companies providing security updates to keep such working hardware running?
It is on discount now on several retailers.
Since apple is dumping the mini, ill switch to an android compact — the zenfone asus looks good right now.
If it’s dead and you’re looking to replace the iPhone mini 12 or 13 (refurbished or new 13) are great options.
[0] https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphoneSE,iph...
> The iPhone SE shares the same physical design and dimensions as iPhone 5S
> iPhone SE (2022) shares the same physical sizes and dimensions as the iPhone 8
The former is 4", while the latter is 4.7" (display size)
How happy are you with it? Especially the camera?
Regarding the camera, I have to say that I don't really know. Moving up from 1st gen SE camera, I don't really have an reasonable point of reference. All I can say is that, it's definitely better than the SE (duh), but not like mind-blowingly better. Well I'm not really into shooting photos so ymmv.
Small phones get a ton of love on HN, it's a perennial winner.
But as an anecdotal counterpoint, I am six foot seven with hands (and thumbs) to match, and never met a phone which seems even remotely too large. Even the most phablet-themed Androids with a reputation for cartoonishly giant screens strike me as pretty reasonable.
The trend towards ever-larger phones is great IMHO, I consider it compensation for a lifetime of airplane seats and whacking head on doorways etc.
I'm coming to hate Apple more and more with each passing year. For one thing, I refuse to give iCloud my data, and iTunes, already one of the worst pieces of software in history, has declined into an unusable mass of fail. I would like to be able to play my own music on my next phone, something I've never been able to do with an iPhone, since iTunes insists on transcoding my entire music library and scrogging all my album covers if I let it touch my music. I will not live long enough to undo all the damage it did.
Also, I want an actual headphone jack, rather than having to spend another few hundred dollars on Bluetooth radios I'd rather not have in my ears.
If I have to live with a bigger phone, then I'm going to get something in return - I'm seriously thinking that I might be able to live with a Surface Duo - it is larger, but thin, powerful, and even has bezels(!) so touchscreen scrolling works properly. (The Samsung Z-fold is probably still too large and chunky, but interesting, if still lacking in the bezel department.)
Anyway, it appears that Apple no longer cares about those of us who only want phones that actually fit in a pocket, so I'm done with the bastards. Good riddance, but there are no good small phone options anymore, now that the manufacturers have decided to sell only phablets at $1000+ price points.
Maybe Purism or Pine will eventually not suck. Not holding my breath, though...
I don't think the battery was bad though, but instead the new iOS version being more power-hungry given the new models and chipsets coming out every year. The new battery was already at 92% health only 4 months after it was installed, which was a bit surprising for me.
At this point I just accepted that it was at the end of its lifespan.
Around a third of the people I see at the grocery store in Santa Rosa, CA are wearing masks. A lot of people still don't want to spread germs, even though the pandemic is "over"
I don't think they even offer the physical card+cardreader combo anymore.
That App is needed for access to Internet Banking via a web-browser as it sends a challenge to the App.
Both the USB-C and the Lightning versions are all digital on the port side.
There are very few USB-C analog -> 3.5mm adapters, strictly because there is so many compatible issues (i.e., you need to support the alternate mode, AND you need to map the pins correctly).
I'm happy for your old computer running a distro of linux that still supports 32 bit processors, though.
I personally have never booked anything on a smartphone, and I'm content and perfectly well connected in 2022 in a first world country.
I book things in a browser when I need to book something online, and that is generally on a laptop. It's no less convenient.
In fact, I don't even have a mobile data plan, I just use WiFi. I prepay $10 every 6mo for voice calls, everything else can wait til I have WiFi.
I'm not a surgeon and taking calls while I'm driving isn't going to help anyone in any way that can't wait half an hour.
Phones are overrated, full of ads and casinos, and not as revolutionary as we often suggest.
The average person loses more time and money than they gain by having a mobile phone, I bet.
I do own a car, and it can go anywhere, carrying many people and goods very quickly and cheaply with no reservation or app required. It's also available in the event of natural disaster when all the rentals vanish. My family woke up to an earthquake that led to a tsunami warning at midnight in 2016, and there are fires and other problems one can foresee...
I do appreciate subway systems and find them very convenient for moving myself around, but dislike the idea of hiring someone else's machine every time I need to purchase groceries for a family or take 3 boxes of hardware to some place...
I think we may in some respects be regressing.
I've never had an auto generated password get broken into. Password databases should've been the solution everyone pushed, not 2FA.
Also, it's really an attempt for these services to cut down on fakes and bots. Its easy to make new emails, but hard to get new numbers that aren't already black/brown listed.
A username/email and password is pretty simple and straight-forward. If I lose a password, I can reset it via my email. Therefore, the only account that should even consider MFA should be my email, since it's a gateway to everything else. But that also means my email shouldn't have to be connected to 20 other services.
I’m kidding of course, but those systems that kept the city running are probably obsolete and forgotten about in the 2020s.
So you're correct if you don't mind the quality of life.
Even during the entire 2020 Covid lockdown craziness (which was quite properly never really taken seriously here in Texas - even Austin!), we ordered food delivered exactly twice. All other food was either bought at the grocery store and cooked at home, or from restaurants (I actually miss being able to walk into any restaurant that was open and be instantly seated and served!)
* iPhone 5: 4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30
Volume: 3.37491
Volume: 3.8
Volume: 3.877632
I would argue that 9% is far from marginal.
The increase from a 12 mini to an iPhone 6 is very minor; the increase from a 6 to 8 is marginal.
From a 5 to a 6 or 12/13 mini is substantial.
The fact is the iphone mini wasn't popular despite some demand for a small phone, phones are heavier due to the evolving chip architectures plus the necessity to stretch every millimetre of screen size. Likewise for laptops (Like many I would pay over the odds for a modern Thinkpad that felt just like a x220) but in reverse, laptops get lighter and thinner with worse keyboards whilst phones get bigger and heavier.
This depends on where you are! In Moscow, food delivery can be a 25 minute affair delivering you something from your favourite (vetted by you!) restaurant.
In Stockholm for example (at least when I used to live there), the number of restaurants that sign up for delivery is very low and you mostly just get shitty "Swedish pizza" (curry banana shrimp pizza, anyone?)
London is somewhere in between. Maybe it's just a function of city size, something something economies of scale.