Six years later, first-gen iPhone SE runs the latest iOS & it's great

Six years later, first-gen iPhone SE runs the latest version of iOS – and it’s still good

9to5Mac By José Adorno

[{"selector":"#anim-81266713-7dbc-4f13-afff-469f843d9526","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Every year, a new iPhone is released with better cameras and faster processor. At the same time, the older iPhone models are still there receiving iOS updates, which is great for people who don’t upgrade their phones every year.

[{"selector":"#anim-486ed20d-47b9-4457-ab96-2b6d4caf2088","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] But how decent are these old iPhones running the latest version of iOS? Well, I tested a first-generation iPhone SE with iOS 15, and it’s still surprisingly good.

[{"selector":"#anim-b80850b7-9aee-4332-a623-f8b5c1cac4a0","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] I decided to write this article after seeing a tweet comparing the iPhone 6s with the Samsung Galaxy S6. Both flagship phones were introduced in 2015, but while iPhone 6s came with iOS 9 and runs iOS 15, Galaxy S6 was released with Android 5 and was completely discontinued two updates later with Android 7.

[{"selector":"#anim-982ff389-bfed-4e92-9acd-40d3855fc69c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] I don’t have an iPhone 6s, but I do have a first-generation iPhone SE. For those who don’t remember, the first iPhone SE was introduced in early 2016 as a cheaper alternative to high-end iPhones.

[{"selector":"#anim-1c8ed415-f753-4caf-83ba-ea5782395e56","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] It features the same design and four-inch display as the iPhone 5s, but with the same A9 chip and 12 Megapixel 4K camera as the iPhone 6s.

[{"selector":"#anim-114cc85a-9e38-49b9-a89b-f98960f364d8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] By comparison, the first iPhone SE was priced at $399 in the US, while the Galaxy S6 was launched at $599. So how is the first-generation iPhone SE six years later?

[{"selector":"#anim-01ab5cb1-0a8f-4531-a363-5d807c321391","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] To my surprise, the first-generation iPhone SE is still quite usable even with iOS 15. When using it for basic tasks like surfing the web, listening to music, or opening social networking apps, it’s hard to notice apps that are unresponsive or running slowly.

[{"selector":"#anim-24db36bc-635a-4181-b714-8bfc67aba516","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Having access to the latest version of iOS on a six-year-old phone means that you can get at least some of the same features available on the latest iPhone 13. The iPhone SE has Focus Mode, redesigned notifications, rich Spotlight results, new Emojis, and all the latest privacy and security improvements that come with iOS 15.

Follow along as I go into greater detail about my experience running the latest version of iOS on a first-gen iPhone SE at 9to5Mac.com.

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