Last week, Apple updated the 2020 iPhone SE on its official website.
The previous generation of this particular phone was released four years ago, and perhaps because of this, it received an unprecedented amount of attention.
Today, after a week, the product is available worldwide. But we believe there are still people who are not quite sure if they need this product, or have not been Apple product users before and are not familiar with Apple's buying channels.
So on the opening day of the iPhone SE, I'm writing this shopping guide for this segment of users.
1) Which users is it suitable for?
It's a small-screen product, and in the current state of flagship phones with increasingly large screens, it's unique that Apple has rebooted the SE series and paired it with the latest A13 series chip (instead of the A12).
Although it was last year's flagship chip, today there is still no other chip in the entire mobile industry that exceeds it in performance, whether it is for everyday use or for relatively extreme uses such as AR games, the A13 is more powerful than the Snapdragon 865.
And as a small 4.7-inch screen, it's more portable. This also happens to be a scarce feature of mobile phones these days.
Also, the $3299 price is a bit of a surprise in a year when Android's flagships have gone up in price.
Because of the A13 boot, to make this Apple's low-priced phone has a better experience than the flagship iPhone 11 Pro series, many people who still use the iPhone 6 or even the old phone must be its users, can not hesitate to change the new.
If it is already an iPhone 11 series, it is not necessary to replace it, but it can be considered as a second spare. The Home key in this particular period of the epidemic may be more realistic than the faceID.
And for those who are currently using Android phones, the value of the iPhone SE is more in the ecology of iOS.
This includes both the App Store, which is much more regulated than the Android world, and Apple's protection of important information such as privacy (which is the biggest pain point for domestic Android users), as well as innovative uses such as AR.
It's even connected to Mac computers, headphones (AirPods), watches (Apple Watch), cars (Carplay) and other outwardly extending parts.
The iPhone is only one of the links, but it's really the closest and most important one to the user, and at $3299 it gives Android users a little less of a burden to enter Apple's ecosystem.
2) The channel is also important.
After determining the need, the second question is, where to buy it?
Indeed, for Apple fans, this may not be a problem at all, just open the official Apple website, or visit an offline Apple Store retailer in person.
But for those less familiar with Apple, it's still possible to get sidetracked by various third-party channels.
Especially in China, where users are used to shopping online, there are a relatively large variety of third-party online channels, but it's important to note that not all are reliable channels.
In China, the exclusive iPhone SE pre-order channels include JD.com and Tmall's authorized Apple online resellers, as well as Apple's own channels, Apple Store retail stores, Apple.com.cn, which is their official website, Tmall's official Apple Store flagship store and Apple's official WeChat public number.
The official website and Apple Store are the most worry-free channels we recommend, and experienced users know that Apple's own channel service is also the best (e.g. 14-day unconditional returns and exchanges); JD.com and Tmall's authorized online resellers are also more reliable.
Also, Apple has partnerships with carriers in China, and China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and Apple Authorized Resellers are also shipping the iPhone SE today, which are also great options.
Having said the more reliable options, there are naturally some unreliable ones.
Because Apple products are famous and popular in the country, it is natural for unscrupulous people to see this opportunity.
Two years before that, the media had reported the existence of the cottage Apple Store.
Many people are not so familiar with Apple, there is no way to tell whether the decoration style and even the staff clothing are highly similar to the genuine Apple Store store is a cottage version.
Also more difficult to distinguish is the online storefront, they are under the banner of official authorization, but selling may be cottage / refurbished products, maintenance is also the level of the small shop on the street, service is more likely to be just an empty word, the product is really wrong, may never be able to find someone.
It's also easy to tell which online channels are officially authorized by Apple. In fact, there is a list of authorized Apple online resellers on the Apple website, https://www.apple.com.cn/buy/reseller/internet.html.
