Apple’s 4-inch iPhone SE price starts at US$399; Pre-order begins March 24

Apple has announced its most powerful 4-inch iPhone to date. At an event in California on Monday, Apple introduced the much anticipated iPhone SE.

Price and availability

Available in Space Gray, Silver, Gold and Rose Gold, the iPhone SE comes in 16GB and 64GB internal storage variants. The 16GB model of the iPhone SE costs US$399 (AU$526), while the 64GB variant is priced at US$499 (AU$657).

Beginning Thursday, March 24, customers in Australia, Canada, the UK, the US, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the US Virgin Islands will be able to place their orders. The new iPhone SE will go on sale from March 31, 2016.

The new iPhone can be bought from Apple’s retail stores, online stores, Apple authorized resellers and select carriers. US customers can also get the new iPhone for 24 monthly payments starting at US$17 at Apple’s retail stores.

“iPhone SE is an exciting new idea — we started with a beloved, iconic design and reinvented it from the inside out. The result is the most beautiful and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world,” said Philip Schiller, senior vice president for worldwide marketing at Apple.

Specifications

Here’s a quick roundup of the new iPhone SE specs and features.

Apple’s 4-inch iPhone SE come packed with a stunning Retina display. With an advanced 64-bit A9 chip with M9 motion co-processor, the device has “two times faster CPU and three times faster GPU performance compared to iPhone 5s ,” Apple announced.

Running on iOS 9, the new 4-inch iPhone sports Touch ID with support for Apple Pay.

Other iPhone SE specs include a 12-megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash capable of recording 4K video and Live Photos. The device boasts of Wi-Fi that is three times faster than its predecessor. Its LTE connectivity is supposedly up to 50 percent faster than the iPhone 5s.