The iPhone 9 aka📱 SE is perfect for my Dad!!!

The new iPhone SE is the perfect phone — for my parents

And the iPhone SE 2020 will probably last that long because it's got the same A13 Bionic chip seen in the iPhone 11 (as well as my even-pricier iPhone 11 Pro Max). On the Geekbench 5 general performance benchmark, the SE 2020 netted a 3,226, which is comparable to the 3,251 score from the iPhone 11 — a phone that costs $300 more.

 And the iPhone SE 2020 will probably last that long because it's got the same A13 Bionic chip seen in the iPhone 11 (as well as my even-pricier iPhone 11 Pro Max). On the Geekbench 5 general performance benchmark, the SE 2020 netted a 3,226, which is comparable to the 3,251 score from the iPhone 11 — a phone that costs $300 more

The iPhone SE 2020 may not be the tiny successor to the original, but I'm sure it's my parents' next phone. Like many younger folks who are more familiar with technology than their relatives, I'm constantly asked for product recommendations, and when I saw our iPhone SE 2020 review go up, I breathed a small sigh of relief at how easy this next buying decision will be.

While there are certain adjustments they'll need to make from their iPhone 8 Plus phones in terms of screen size and cameras, this transition should be incredibly easy for my parents. Here's why I'm pointing them towards the new iPhone SE.

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The iPhone SE 2020's best feature is its price — and Apple's history The iPhone XR and iPhone 11 (both 5.9 x 3 x 0.3 inches) are also smaller than the 8 Plus, and since they cost $200 to $300 more than the iPhone SE, what's a third of an inch here and 0.4 inches there?

The value of the iPhone SE 2020 gets even better when you check out its display, which produces a whopping 653 nits of brightness and emits 111.2% of the sRGB gamut based on our tests. How Apple fits a screen that bright and colorful into a phone this affordable is beyond me, but it checks off another thing I could have been concerned about when telling my parents to buy a sub-$500 phone.

The iPhone SE 2020 looks like it should go the distance

My parents don't ever want new phones — they just hit that point where they need to upgrade. They're the exact opposite of me, an annual upgrader on the iPhone Upgrade Program. When they buy a new phone, they just use it until it won't work. 

It's a trait that I admire greatly, and part of why I push my parents to always buy iPhones. It's not just because we can use iMessage (I can swallow my pride and do a Zoom like anyone else), but because Apple's phones generally last longer than most other companies' devices. Their iPhone 5C's lasted them about 5 years, so I'm just hoping that the iPhone SE will still be in Apple's lineup in 2023, when I expect their iPhone 8 Plus' to become due for replacement.

And the iPhone SE 2020 will probably last that long because it's got the same A13 Bionic chip seen in the iPhone 11 (as well as my even-pricier iPhone 11 Pro Max). On the Geekbench 5 general performance benchmark, the SE 2020 netted a 3,226, which is comparable to the 3,251 score from the iPhone 11 — a phone that costs $300 more.

When it comes time to actually buy a new phone, my parents want to get in and out of the local AT&T store (I try and push them to the Apple Store, or to order online, but c'est la vie). They also want to spend as little as possible on a phone that should last them a while. 

So, I can't wait to tell them that their next phone will cost half as much as their previous phone. Somehow, in 2018, I talked them both into getting the iPhone 8 Plus, which started at $799. This happened because I had the iPhone 8 Plus, and I explained why I liked it.

I talked to my dad on the phone for this story, and while he's gotten used to the iPhone 8 Plus' 6.2 x 3.1 x 0.3-inch size, he was completely OK with the 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.3-inch iPhone SE once I told him how cheap it is.

"I'll get used to it," he said. And looking around Apple's product line, he's probably going to have to adjust if he wants a phone that isn't over $1,099 — as the iPhone 11 Pro Max is the only new phone Apple makes with the same measurements as the 8 Plus.