Apple Announces Second-Generation iPhone SE Starting at $399

[MacInWin]

Verizon will charge a fee whether you do it yourself or they do it for you. Even if you just take it out of one phone and put it in another, you get hit with a "registration" fee, I think it is called.

 

[chscag]

I thought Verizon and AT&T did away with those fees if one already had an account with them? (T-Mobile does not have a activation or registration fee.)

 

[MacInWin]

I got charged the fee by Verizon last fall when we upgraded phones (my wife and I). I swapped the SIMs, got hit with the fee on each.

EDIT: Later in the year, I moved the Verizon account to the e-SIM, so that I could put in a SIM from UK for a trip I was going to make. No charge for that, but I did have to go to the store to get a tech to make the move to eSIM. Dual SIMs is actually pretty cool. I changed the active account on the flight, while it was in Airplane mode and when we landed, the UK SIM connected and I was in within seconds. Very nice!

 

[chscag]

That certainly is not a good way to keep customers happy. I realize the fee is not going to make or break someone, but it seems like it's something they could do away with since it certainly does not cause them to do any more work. The telephone number that's assigned to the phone does not change by that process. So why the fee?

Sue them Jake!

 

[Marrk]

Thanks to both chscag and MacInWin.

chscag, you raise an issue that I wanted to double-check with you. Will the SIM from my 12-yr-old phone go right into a new SE? !2-yrs seems like a long time in technology years.

 

[MacInWin]

Have a read here: What is a SIM card and what does it do? | iMore. If the SIM is 12 years old, it may be too large for the SIM tray. You might think about getting an Apple SIM. Theoretically they work with multiple carriers. SIMs don't cost much, so if you want to go the easy route, the Apple SIM, if it works with your carrier, might be easiest.

 

[chscag]

Will the SIM from my 12-yr-old phone go right into a new SE? !2-yrs seems like a long time in technology years.

Yeah, you will definitely need a new SIM card. Older iPhones (12 years ago) used a larger SIM that will not fit in any of the newer iPhones. I had to get a new SIM card from T-Mobile some time ago and they charged $10 which included programming it. The SIM card includes the phone number and any particular options and updates from the carrier.

 

[usagora]

Just got my 2020 SE today. I'm loving the size and feel of it. One major gripe, though. I just discovered that for some bizarre reason, the SE does not have the "tap to wake" feature? Seriously, what the heck? According to this article:

"This is directly linked to the missing Face ID feature. Since the iPhone SE does not have Face ID, it also misses out on the handy tap to wake feature. This means you cannot wake up the display of the device by simply tapping on it. However, since there’s Touch ID on the iPhone SE, you simply need to tap the home button to wake the device up. Still, given that tap to wake is a common feature in every smartphone nowadays, the lack of this feature might just surprise many users."

But that makes NO sense to me. Why on earth would it be tied to Face ID? What if I just want to tap the screen to see the time and if there are new notifications without unlocking my phone? Yes, I know I can press the home button or raise to wake, but a light tap anywhere on the screen is far easier. Very, very strange decision on Apple's part to lock that software option to Face ID phones.

 

[chscag]

What did you expect from a entry level iPhone that sells for $399.00? Start adding features like FaceID and "Tap to Wake" and you can forget about paying $399.

I'm amazed at what folks will complain about when Apple finally produces something in the lower price range.

 

[usagora]

What did you expect from a entry level iPhone that sells for $399.00? Start adding features like FaceID and "Tap to Wake" and you can forget about paying $399.

I'm amazed at what folks will complain about when Apple finally produces something in the lower price range.

LOL, how is "tap to wake" comparable to a major feature like FaceID? Seems to me to be a bottom-level basic feature that should be just as standard as auto-brightness. Come on. This phone has the latest processor, but adding a simple software feature was just too much? Ok....

I sure hope they fix this in a future iOS update.

P.S. I could afford any iPhone that I wanted. I went with the SE mainly because I wanted a break from larger phones, and I didn't mind the smaller screen, bezels, no Face ID (I prefer Touch ID anyway), lack of multiple cameras, etc. Those are the major things I was aware of. Never even entered my mind to ask, "Gee, I wonder if they removed a basic software feature from the Accessibility menu?" It's not by any means a deal-breaker, but just seems like a really odd development decision, when tap-to-wake is such a ubiquitous feature on so many devices nowadays, from cheap to expensive. Oh, and my Apple Watch has tap-to-wake and obviously no Face ID.

 

[pm-r]

Very, very strange decision on Apple's part to lock that software option to Face ID phones.

Not really if you think about it from their point of view... I think some call it marketing, And Apple is pretty **** good at that according to their stock and wealth I'd say...

If you want or need the feature, you buy the model that uses it. Or translated, think more money!!!

Or you can fool them at their game and buy an older refurbished and cheaper model that has the feature you want.
But good luck with that idea!!! At least with any Apple refurbished iPhone product.




- Patrick
======

 

[Rod]

I have “Raise to Wake” on and it works just fine for me. It only stays on for 5 secs if I do nothing. I guess it depends on how you use it, of course I never had “Tap to Wake” coming from a iPhone 7 so I don’t miss it.

 

[pm-r]

BTW: I'm not an iPhone user, but what's the difference if one can just wake the iPhone SE just by pressing its Home button???

However, since there’s Touch ID on the iPhone SE, you simply need to tap the home button to wake the device up. Still, given that tap to wake is a common feature in every smartphone nowadays, the lack of this feature might just surprise many users.

2020 iPhone SE Misses Out On These 5 Features

But still, it does appear that Apple did forget a rather basic feature amongst nearly all current Mobile Phones.





- Patrick
======

 

[usagora]

Not really if you think about it from their point of view... I think some call it marketing, And Apple is pretty **** good at that according to their stock and wealth I'd say...

Good grief, I guess I never realized that tap to wake was considered a major feature that Apple marketed...I don't recall seeing anything about that on their website about the 11 as something they highlight. To me, it just seems like a baseline feature in 2020. Like I mentioned, my bottom-of-the-line aluminum Apple Watch has tap to wake. Wouldn't it seem ridiculous to limit that feature to the stainless steel models? Well, same logic applies to the iPhone, imo.

Like I said, it's not a deal breaker and definitely not something I'd base my iPhone selection on and I doubt many others would (thus I don't buy the "marketing" angle), but it just seems really petty for them to do that for what I consider a very minor (yet very convenient) feature. Face ID, cameras, screen, etc. are on a totally different level of "feature" that involves exclusive hardware, not just a software setting.

Whatever. Rant over. Carry on.

EDIT: just saw your 2nd post:

BTW: I'm not an iPhone user, but what's the difference if one can just wake the iPhone SE just by pressing its Home button???

Because it's easier to lightly tap anywhere on the screen than deliberately pressing the "button." Same argument could be made for raise-to-wake (which the SE does have, making the lack ot tap to wake even more puzzling). If they weren't useful features, they wouldn't exist.

 

[ferrarr]

@usagora, why do you perceive it as a major feature? It's only a feature.

 

[usagora]

@usagora, why do you perceive it as a major feature? It's only a feature.

I was being sarcastic, because people replying to me were acting like I was crazy for expecting it to be included on the SE, as if it's some luxury feature. I simply never dreamed it would be excluded. And when you consider that they list it as an accessibility feature, it makes it all the more unbelievable.

 

[pm-r]

@usagora

Because it's easier to lightly tap anywhere on the screen than deliberately pressing the "button." Same argument could be made for raise-to-wake (which the SE does have, making the lack ot tap to wake even more puzzling). If they weren't useful features, they wouldn't exist.

Thanks usagora. As a non-iPhone user it's nice to get a user's perspective, and I really wonder why Apple does some things sometimes, many of which really don't make any sense to me.


EDIT:
BTW, You are certainly not alone with your opinion:

The thing I absolutely miss from my iPhone 11 Pro Max is Tap-to-Wake. For checking the time or notifications, tapping the screen to wake it is so much better than pressing the home button on the SE.

The New iPhone SE, Like Accessibility, Is All About Perspective






- Patrick
======

 

[chscag]

I can't believe folks complaining about "Tap to Wake" being missing from an entry level iPhone. Sorry, but I am totally unsympathetic to those complaints. If you think an entry level iPhone costing $399.00 US does not have all the features you desire, then don't buy it.

The quote above from Patrick about someone missing Tap to Wake on his SE and comparing it to an iPhone 11 Pro Max is ridiculous. Anyone care to compare the price of the SE against that of the 11 Pro Max?

 

[usagora]

I can't believe folks complaining about "Tap to Wake" being missing from an entry level iPhone. Sorry, but I am totally unsympathetic to those complaints. If you think an entry level iPhone costing $399.00 US does not have all the features you desire, then don't buy it.

The quote above from Patrick about someone missing Tap to Wake on his SE and comparing it to an iPhone 11 Pro Max is ridiculous. Anyone care to compare the price of the SE against that of the 11 Pro Max?

I clearly explained the logic behind my complaint in multiple posts above and also clearly stated it wasn't a deal-breaker. Not sure why you're being so dismissive. It's a legitimate complaint, and adding (or more accurately, not removing) this feature adds nothing to the cost of the phone since it's just a software setting that the phone's hardware is obviously capable of supporting. It's either an oversight on Apple's part or a really dumb decision. Either way, it has nothing to do with the cost of the phone, so I'm not sure why you keep acting like this is some major thing that would add to the cost. I really like the SE and have no plans to return it, but the lack of that feature is just really lame. I read up on the phone before purchasing, and no video review or anything on Apple's website made note of this, so it's not like I bought it knowing this and then decided to complain. It simply never entered my mind that this would be something they'd take away, especially since it's considered an Accessibility setting.

Hope that helps you see my point of view, since apparently my other posts failed to do so (or you didn't read them...not sure).

 

[chscag]

Hey....

I understand your point of view and not trying to be dismissive with you or anyone else. Hopefully you understand my point of view.

Anyway, let's drop it. And have fun with your new SE.