A couple of months ago, the week before my birthday, I was writing down a list of things that had made me upset that day, trying to parse out why I was in such a mood. In between the work bullshit and the regular horror show that is American political life in the 21st century, I wrote “knowing the new phone isn’t going to help”. So at least I’m realistic about this.
Nothing about the iPhone SE 2020 is materially *worse* than the iPhone 8 it replaces, and in a lot of ways, nothing is materially worse than the iPhone X it’s going to replace for me. Smaller battery? Sure, but also a more modern and efficient processor. Smaller display? Sure, but also a wash – the bigger AMOLED display is a greater drain whenever it’s lit up. No TrueDepth sensors for Animoji and FaceID? OK, but also, there’s TouchID – which actually works with a mask on, which matters a lot in California these days. Only one camera? Sure, but the computational power behind it more than makes up for a second telephoto lens.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to: it’s smaller and it’s mine. When I bought the Moto X, it felt a little too big. Then I got the iPhone 6 and the Moto went from being a little big to a little smaller. Similarly, the SE 2020 is going to be a little smaller than the iPhone X, and as soon as I’ve migrated everything, the iPhone X is getting wiped and going in a drawer for safekeeping until time to give it back. I also need to find a good home for the original SE, depending – if iOS 14 doesn’t support its chipset (increasingly likely given that the newest iPod touch and cheap iPad have an A10) then it’ll be time to put it out to pasture and finally, truly, have just one phone.
And it’ll be my phone. Even if it has work apps and a work SIM in it, it has become deeply personally important to me to have a phone that belongs to me as my one device again. I really don’t know how or when I’ll be able to find another job, but I want this one to be as un-present in my life as I can make it. The money’s better, but in all other respects I’m right back where I was – or worse – five years ago. And when you don’t know what the future holds, better to lock in now on a device with the current processor and a solid update future, but has the cheap AppleCare, the cheap battery replacement, the cheap screen replacement, et cetera.
It’s 2020 in America. Optimism is a luxury.