Various iPhones are no longer offered for sale new by Apple since the latest 2018 iPhone range was released; in particular the compact 4” screen SE is missed.
New ‘X’ range of iPhones spells the end for older predecessors
While Apple releases a new line of iPhones each year, they usually continue selling models from the previous two or even three generations so as to offer a wider range of price points to those looking to upgrade an older iPhone or join the Apple smartphone family.
This means that when a new iPhone is released, one or two of the older iPhones that were still offered for sale ‘drop off’ the range and disappear from the Apple Store as newer models appear.
The oldest iPhones still available new
With the arrival of the iPhone ‘X’ range it means just the two immediate predecessors, the iPhone 7 from 2016 and the 8 from 2017, are the only other smartphones available from Apple brand new. It also means all new iPhones now don’t feature a headphone socket as this was dropped when the 7 was originally released.
This still makes for a decent choice of phones and price points: the 7 and its phablet stablemate the 7 Plus and the 8 and its bigger brethren the 8 Plus mean four distinct smartphones to go with the latest three ‘X’ phones, so offering seven in total.
It means Apple’s iconic smartphone now covers the price range £450 to a fraction under £1,100 with various price points in between.
Apple deleting models from its range is good news for used iPhone buyers as prices correspondingly reduce on older models such as the refurbished iPhone 6 Plus.
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Original iPhone X’s short shelf life
Of the replaced models, the iPhone 6S is the oldest having first appeared in autumn 2015 but the youngest is the iPhone X. It was only released in the UK in November 2017 as the then flagship iPhone, and the first since the 6 appeared in 2014 to feature an all-new body design with its slim bezel, and the first iPhone to feature an OLED screen.
It created headline news as being the first iPhone to cost four figures but nevertheless caught on and sold well.
No smaller screen option for iPhone
With the disappearance of the compact 4 inch screen SE from the iPhone line up, it means there is now no small screen option available to buyers. It also raises the starting prices for Apple’s smartphone significantly as the SE was available for comfortably under £400 when new.
The SE used the ‘old’ iPhone body design that ran until the 6 and 6 Plus came out in 2014 with their large screens. Many users liked this as the SE offered a compact yet still powerful smartphone; it more or less offered the same performance as the 6S.
It looked at one stage as though a replacement for the SE would be offered; one rumour predicted the new body now featuring in the ‘X’ range of iPhones would be used in a smaller screened version to create an all-new SE model.
Bigger screens or nothing?
So the nearest iPhone to the old SE is a phone with a 2.1 inch larger screen in the new XR model with its 6.1 inch screen, but the £750 starting price is a long way from the sub-£400 SE. There is a smaller screened option with the 5.8 inch iPhone XS but this starts at £999 so even further away from the old SE on price.
For SE fans looking to change it’s either keep what you’ve got for a while longer or maybe consider an iPhone 7 or 8.
