Usually, one of the world's leading smartphone manufacturers, Apple, will not release a new smartphone until September every year.

But they just did.

Early Thursday (16 April) morning, Apple unveiled their band new smartphone - the iPhone SE.

Same same, but different.
If you're wondering why the iPhone SE name rings a bell, that's because they first released the original iPhone SE back in 2016.

And if you're unfamiliar with Apple products, the iPhone SE is sort-of like their entry-level, budget phone.

So, what's new with the second generation iPhone SE? Turns out, quite a fair bit:

#1 A 4.7-inch display in a sleek design

It looks like the iPhone 8, but more powerful.
While the design of the first gen iPhone SE is nearly identical to that of the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5S, the 2020 iPhone SE borrows the design elements from the iPhone 8, which has since been discontinued.

The iPhone SE features an aerospace-grade aluminium and durable glass design. According to Apple, the rear glass finish is made using a seven-layer colour process for precise hue and opacity.

It has the Home button we all like.
In the front, you'll find a 4.7-inch Retina HD display with True Tone capabilities, which offers incredible colour accuracy. Apple also revealed that the iPhone SE supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 playback, as well as Haptic Touch for Quick Actions — such as animating Live Photos, previewing messages, rearranging apps and more — as well as contextual menus.

The iPhone SE also comes with the familiar Home button and the popular Touch ID security feature, a feature that was last seen in the iPhone 8. It feels like a major throwback, right, guys?

#2 It has the new A13 Bionic Chip

The Chip is good for everything, even gaming.
Yep, it's the exact same chip you'll find in the more expensive iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.

Apple is calling the A13 Bionic the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, as it provides unparalleled performance for every task the iPhone SE handles. Perfect for photography, gaming and augmented reality experiences, A13 Bionic makes every action feel fluid.

Built for efficiency, the A13 Bionic also enables great battery life for the iPhone SE. Speaking of battery life, the iPhone SE also now supports wireless-charging and fast-charging, giving you up to 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes.

#3 New Camera Experience Powered by A13 Bionic

The cameras are now more powerful.
The iPhone SE now comes with the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone, with a 12-megapixel f/1.8 aperture Wide camera, and uses the image signal processor and Neural Engine of A13 Bionic to unlock even more benefits of computational photography, including Portrait mode, all six Portrait Lighting effects and Depth Control.

Using machine learning and monocular depth estimation, the iPhone SE also takes stunning Portraits with the front camera.

The colours are more vibrant.
But the most impressive stat about the new iPhone SE is that it now supports high-quality video capture at 4K and up to 60fps. Oh, with the advanced Camera and Photo features in iOS 13, native editing is even more comprehensive and intuitive through Apple's famed powerful tools.

Take your pick.
To be honest, although the iPhone SE is supposed to be Apple's budget iPhone, but the features and hardware are anything but.

The iPhone SE starts at a pretty reasonable RM1,999, and it's available in three models (64GB, 128GB and 256GB) and colours: black, white and (PRODUCT)RED.

Pre-orders start Friday (17 April), so if you've always wanted to own an Apple smartphone, this should be it.