In the early morning of March 9, Apple held a spring conference through the online form, releasing a total of 6 new products in the new color matching of iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, the new iPhone SE, M1 Ultra chip, and Mac Studio and Studio Display.
This spring conference is the largest number of new products released by Apple and the most widely distributed product positioning in recent years. From the third-generation iPhone SE of 3499 yuan, to the M1 Ultra chip using "hyperconverged technology", to the Mac Studio of the M1 Ultra version that has reached 59999 yuan.
For the average consumer, mobile phones and tablets are the most concerned. As expected, the conference brought two phones, one is the third-generation iPhone SE that supports 5G, and the other is the new color version of the iPhone 13.
The third-generation iPhone SE has the same design as the previous generation, with three colors: black, white, and red. The core upgrade is to replace the same youth version of the A15 chip as the iPhone 13 series and support 5G. At the same time, Apple said that the third-generation iPhone SE is equipped with a super-porcelain crystal panel, has a significantly improved battery life, and supports wireless charging. Officials did not mention the battery capacity of the new iPhone SE, only that the A15 consumes better energy than it does.
In terms of price, the first two generations of iPhone SE started at $399, and the price of the National Bank version was 3288 yuan and 3299 yuan, respectively. The new generation of iPhone SE starts at $429, and the price of the National Bank Edition is: the 64GB version costs 3499 yuan, the 128GB version costs 3899 yuan, and the 256GB version costs 4699 yuan. Compared to the previous generation of iPhone SE, the starting price of the new model is 200 yuan more expensive.
At the same time, Apple has launched two new colors for the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13: Cangling Green and Green, which has been the second consecutive year that Apple has brought a new flagship iPhone series color matching at the spring conference.
The newly unveiled iPad Air 5, the appearance remains unchanged, the chip is upgraded to M1 (MacBook Air and iPad Pro are the same), with a 12 million pixel wide-angle front. The addition of 5G versions and colorful colors become the main eye-catching points. In terms of price, it remains unchanged from the previous generation. There are gray, pink, purple, blue, white 5 colors to choose from, the 64GB version is priced at 4399 yuan, and the 256GB version is priced at 5499 yuan. For reference, the iPad Pro starts at 6199 yuan, the iPad mini costs 3799 yuan, and the iPad costs 2499 yuan.
At this conference, Apple did not launch the M2 that was much discussed by the outside world, but launched an upgraded version of the M1 series - M1 Ultra. Officials say the M1 Ultra can be understood as "a product that uses UltraFusion to connect two M1 Maxes together."
As a cost-effective product in Apple's product system, the release of the new iPhone SE will further expand the price range of the iPhone series and challenge low-end mobile phones and Android manufacturers.
According to Omdia, the first-generation iPhone SE recorded shipments of 21.1 million units in 2016, with an average selling price of $454. The second-generation iPhone SE shipped 24.2 million units in 2020, with an average selling price of $451, the lowest price of an iPhone model in the world's top ten list that year.
Bank Securities said that with the launch of the 5G iPhone SE series, it will supplement the gap of low-cost 5G mobile phones, which is expected to further stimulate the replacement demand for 5G iPhones, and it is expected that iPhone shipments in 2022 will reach 245 million units.
However, some people disagree, believing that the sales of the iPhone SE in the past are more general, and the main reason why consumers choose Apple is to value the positioning of its high-end brand.
Image source: Apple