Why Apple’s bizarre iPhone SE name change actually makes sense

Major tremors in the iPhone rumorsphere last week, with the news that Apple is planning a name change for the next version of the iPhone SE. Goodbye, iPhone SE; hello, iPhone 16E.

Here at Macworld our instinct when we hear reports like this is to respond first with skepticism and second with anger. It’s probably not going to happen, we mutter, and if it does then we’re going to get mad. Why would Apple change a perfectly good and widely recognized brand in favor of one that is unfamiliar and, let’s be honest, quite confusing? Does there really need to be five models in the 16-series iPhone range? And can’t we leave the “incomprehensible series of numbers and letters” branding to the Android side of the aisle?

But after the skepticism and the anger comes curiosity. Apple knows its marketing, so there must be some kind of logic here. What’s the rationale?

Well, we know that Apple likes its letters to stand for something, even if it’s frequently coy about what that something is. SE stands for Special Edition. (Which, by the by, has always felt a little Orwellian. What’s so special about recycling an old design?) The E in 2002’s eMac stood for Education–quite an easy code to crack, given its initial marketing to students and teachers. The C in iPhone 5c supposedly stood for Color, while the letter S stood variously for Speed (on the iPhone 3GS), Siri (on the iPhone 4s), Security (on the 5s), and Sheesh, Do We Really Have To Keep Coming Up With Words Beginning With S? in the years after until Apple gave up once and for all after the iPhone 11.

There are many things this E could stand for, some of them considerably more accurate tags for a budget iPhone than Special Edition. Economy, most obviously. Or Entry Level (unless that would be EL?). After all, the whole point of the exercise is to be cheaper than the iPhone 16, although it would be understandable if Apple chose not to focus on that aspect of the product. Everyone wants a cheap iPhone but no one actually wants a cheap iPhone, if you see what I mean.

Excellent, then? Or Effective? By all accounts the next version of the SE–sorry, E–is going to boast a sparkling set of specs and features, with the antiquated Home button design finally a thing of the past and the RAM and processor bumped up in order to support Apple Intelligence. Some pundits even believe the long-gestated Apple 5G modem will make its debut in this product, bringing us improved battery performance and a point of difference, in a positive sense, from the late-2024 phones.

The upcoming SE looks so promising, in fact, that it makes sense to create a new branding. Apple needs to mark a separation from the uninspiring 3rd-gen SE, and flag the fact that in tech terms this device is going to have a lot more in common with the iPhone 16. Ironically, the fact that the next SE really is going to be special means Apple can’t call it that any more. The currency was debased by the last model. And if everyone is special, no one is.

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

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