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Apple iPhone SE (2020)

Oluniyi D. Ajao

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· Updated 28 April 2026

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2 min read

Apple iPhone SE (2020)

Apple has announced a new iPhone SE that it touts as the most affordable iPhone. The iPhone SE (2020) features A13 Bionic, which is marketed as the fastest chip in a smartphone, and the best single-camera system in an iPhone.

Targeted at the lower end of the market, the second-generation iPhone SE features a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and comes with Touch ID for security. The single-camera system offers the benefits of computational photography including Portrait mode and is designed to withstand the elements with dust and water resistance.

iPhone SE is available in black, white and (PRODUCT)RED — and will be available for pre-order in the United States from Friday 17th April starting at $399. They will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models.

“The first iPhone SE was a hit with many customers who loved its unique combination of small size, high-end performance and affordable price; the new second-generation iPhone SE builds on that great idea and improves on it in every way — including our best-ever single-camera system for great photos and videos — while still being very affordable,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone SE features the industry-leading performance of A13 Bionic that enables great battery life, takes stunning Portrait mode and Smart HDR photos, shoots amazing videos with stereo audio, is great for games and super fast web surfing, and is built with the same industry-leading security features our customers expect. We can’t wait to get iPhone SE into customers’ hands.”

Price in South Africa

The price and release date of the Apple iPhone SE (2020) has not yet been announced by the major distributors in South Africa. Calculating based on the SA pricing of current iPhones relative to the US, we can project that this iPhone is likely to be priced from R11 154,33 South African Rands. SA pricing of iPhones tends to be based on the current USD/ZAR exchange rate, import duties, VAT, shipping costs and local profit margins by the distributors and retailers.

iStore South Africa, an Apple Premium Reseller, announced their pricing for the Apple iPhone SE (2020) in the 2nd week of May 2020. Their initial pricing is listed below.

ModelPricing
64 GBR9 999
128 GBR12 499
256 GBR14 999
The prices of the models are not influenced by the colours Black, White, (PRODUCT) Red

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Oluniyi D. Ajao Avatar
Oluniyi D. Ajao
Oluniyi D. Ajao is an Internet Entrepreneur and Tech Enthusiast. Follow him on X (fka Twitter) @niyyie for more tech updates.

Comments

  1. RichH Avatar
    RichH

    I bought an XR 64 a year ago for R599pm x 24, it is now R599 x 36, that equals a R7200 increase in twelve months, why are South African being ripped like this? The SE is now R599 x 24. CORE needs to be taught a lesson for their greed!

    Reply
    1. Oluniyi D. Ajao Avatar
      Oluniyi D. Ajao

      Waoh! :O

      Reply
  2. Lenhle Avatar
    Lenhle

    Hold up! I thought this was a $400 phone..🙆

    Reply
  3. Tubal Avatar
    Tubal

    LOL. Apple introduced this phone at $50 cheaper than the iPhone 8. Here iPhone 8 is R9999 on istore. APPLE SOUTH AFRICA do the right thing. This MUST be cheaper than current iPhone 8 prices be it cash or contract.

    Reply
    1. Leano Avatar
      Leano

      Apple is discontinuing the iPhone 8 so we won’t see them in stores.

      Reply
  4. Vote withfeet Avatar
    Vote withfeet

    There is something you can do, get a buddy to ship one to you, from overseas, make sure the spectrum band is correct and its unlocked. I got a buddy to but my mac mini in new york and it was cheaper than SA.
    Remember the 399USD overseas includes import to THAT country, its taxes, and markups, so there is no reason why we should be paying more, Vote with your feet and get it else where.

    Reply
  5. Sebastian Rusconi Avatar
    Sebastian Rusconi

    I 🤔 think… if you got it on a contract you could probably get it at an ok price

    Reply
  6. Allex Avatar
    Allex

    R11k for 5-year old tech! Why?

    I mean the tech from android devices half this price could take you to Mars and back.

    Apple – Not worth my money.

    Reply
  7. Frank Avatar
    Frank

    What a way to rip money from people. Overpriced.

    Reply
  8. Gerald Avatar
    Gerald

    Lol! That’s all I can say.

    Reply
  9. Mondli_SA Avatar
    Mondli_SA

    Nah not convinced. When I first saw this I thought maybe finally iPhone has convinced me to move to it as an Android user. But no this is still was expensive. R11K! That’s too much. And if what u say, that it’s based on the exchange rate, that’s incorrect. It can’t be R11K. I am still sticking to the real budget phone on Android not this. If this R11K pricing is the case, this ripping people’s money. No thank you iPhone

    Reply
  10. Allan Thöle Avatar
    Allan Thöle

    The problem is SA is Core Group (sole SA distributed of Apple products) that charges a hefty markup on all their products because they can. I few years back (not sure if this still stands) SA was the second most expensive country to buy Apple products through the local distributors. This is quite sad seeing as we have a pretty poor average income versus cost of living in comparison to other 1st world countries where Apple products are close to or the same as the American retail price.

    Really frustrating but nothing we can do about it.

    Reply
  11. Dazzer Avatar
    Dazzer

    The iPhone SE is made with the idea that it is the affordable that everybody can afford R11k is not affordable and beats the whole idea off Apple making a device to compete with Android devices with those selling prices.. It’s just an upgrade on the iPhone 8 with a few tweeks here and then won’t pay over R8K for this phone.

    Reply
  12. Cheryl l Avatar
    Cheryl l

    iPhone is sometimes ridiculously expensive in my opinion, especially the older models including the CPO phones.

    Reply
  13. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    $399 to R11154 is exchange rate of 27.9??? I assume the $399 would include profit margin for RSA distributor as that is the retail price in USA and distributor will not pay retail price.

    Reply
    1. Chazz Princeton Avatar
      Chazz Princeton

      Lol I did simple maths. I reckon R10500. Sad thing is the older models don’t get cheaper.

      Reply
      1. Oluniyi D. Ajao Avatar
        Oluniyi D. Ajao

        Care to share your formula? 🙂

        Reply
    2. Oluniyi D. Ajao Avatar
      Oluniyi D. Ajao

      The speculated R11,154 is not based on the exchange rate alone. Aside the current poor USD/ZAR rate, Apple devices in South Africa never sell at the same price as the US. There are shipping, import duties and VAT costs to consider on top of the profit margins for the local suppliers.

      Reply
  14. Jeshurun Naidoo Avatar
    Jeshurun Naidoo

    R11k?? Nope, I’m going for a Samsung Galaxy a71. This is supposed to be the affordable iPhone. That’s not affordable at all.

    Reply
    1. Lance Pillay Avatar
      Lance Pillay

      Consider going for Xiaomi. Better specs for half the price

      Reply

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