GPU Performance

Real-world GPU Performance of the iPhone SE should be pretty much the best on any mobile device on the market right now. Apple’s A13 already outperformed any other chipset out there in the iPhone 11 series, and the fact that the new SE now comes with an even lower resolution 1334 x 750 means that on-screen performance will be even better than what you’d experience on an iPhone 11.

Basemark GPU 1.2 - Medium 1440p - Off-Screen / Blit GFXBench Aztec Ruins - High - Vulkan/Metal - Off-screen GFXBench Aztec Ruins - Normal - Vulkan/Metal - Off-screen GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 Off-screen GFXBench T-Rex 2.7 Off-screen

In all our 3D tests, we see peak performance of the iPhone SE be near that of the other A13-powered iPhones, take a few frames here and there. Sustained performance is also extremely respectable, as the phone keeps up with the 11 series in most tests, which is again very impressive given its much smaller form-factor and correspondingly smaller thermal envelope.

Again, because this is a low-resolution screen, I have doubts users will even find real-world workloads that actually stress the phone enough for it to dip below V-sync limits, meaning when it comes to gaming, it’s going to be a incredibly future-proof phone – as long as you have the battery capacity for gaming.

Compared to the iPhone 8, even though we’re “only” talking about 2 generations difference in the SoCs, the new iPhone SE is essentially double, in some cases more than double, faster than the A11-based counterpart.

System Performance Camera - Quick Evaluation
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  • euskalzabe - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link

    LineageOS does not support many devices out there. I should know, they've never supported any of the Moto or Nokia phones I've bought and wanted to install it on. Also, please a) don't lie about downgrading performance, it's been proven time and again that this is not necessarily so, and b) do not compare voiding your phone's warranty and performing a somewhat complicated phone flashing process VS simply installing an OEM-seeded OTA update. Those are two very, very different things.
  • liquid_c - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link

    Oh, really? With zero security which means zero banking apps. I’d like to see you use your credit card with LineageOS. Also, is your one+ or whatever bargain bin crap of a phone you’re using with 100% battery health? Or just as speedy as day 1, right?
    Jesus, i despise rabid fans such as yourself. All you can do is muster up some useless excuses for how bad “X” is and how good and long-lasting “Y” is.
  • SMOKEU - Sunday, May 10, 2020 - link

    I signed up to TH just to respond to your ridiculous comment.

    I've "used" credit cards on LineageOS for many years with one of the largest banks in this country with NO issues whatsoever. Even the official bank app works fine.

    OnePlus One was never a "bargain bin crap of a phone". It was a high end device when released.
  • cha0z_ - Thursday, August 6, 2020 - link

    You need to be burned just once to understand his comment. Using a credit card in 3rd party ROM/kernel and rooted phone has it's risks as it's a lot easier for a rogue app to steal your details, log your passwords and so on. Also I should tell you that it's common practice for stoled cards to not be used right away, but stored in database for future use before they expire. There is also always the risk that dev or someone helping the dev to put something in the ROM/kernel from the start. I can give you a lot of examples where people feel safe because it's open source only to end up that something rogue was there for years rofl and noone checked it out or found it.

    Why someone should even do with all those risks and time consuming things instead of buying iphone for less money than current samsung android phone? You get 6 years of day one full software support as their most expensive current iphone, you get better running apps with more features, hassle free and "it just works", a lot better screen mirroring that is so lag free and high quality that I use my 11 pro max as a console with my ps4 wireless controller, camera that takes the picture from the first try, video recording of insane quality with no rival at android front and whatnot + ios14 adds app drawer, widgets on your home screen, notification for incoming call instead of full screen when you use your phone, picture in picture so you can watch videos while doing something else or listen to audio while it's hidden... I mean, seriously. ios and android are not that different nowdays feature wise, but ios apps are just better with more features and better running, even google's own apps + you got 6 years of full support, better security, less spyware (say hi to google!) + my secondary 6s is great on the newest ios and totally ok for a daily driver phone. I also had 10 years of high end android phones history with my latest being exynos note 9 for 1k euro that is already not supported and still in me, I can tell you a totally different story how it was supported vs my iphone 11 pro max and ironically my iphone 6s that was literally supported the same great way as the 11 pro max, no discrimination at all.
  • Zerrohero - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link

    “ 5 years of updates that will make it 10% slower every year and remove 10% battery life every year.”

    My 4,5 year old iPhone 6s runs the latest iOS and it’s very zippy. No performance issues whatsoever.

    Battery replacement for SE is $49 or something like that, parts and labour, authorized service.

    So, everything you wrote is rubbish. But *of course* you know it perfectly well.
  • Speedfriend - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link

    My 4,5 year old iPhone 6s runs the latest iOS and it’s very zippy

    That is just rubbish, my work iPhone 7 has slowed down significantly to the point where I often tap at it twice thinking I didn't touch it properly. And it battery life in use is down significantly too.
  • hlovatt - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link

    My original, 4 year old, iPhone SE runs great on latest OS. So no, no slowing with OS updates. I did get the battery replaced about a year ago though.
  • cha0z_ - Thursday, August 6, 2020 - link

    Then you either got a defective phone or bugged down the ios. You know, there is no operating system in the world that is user proof to be gentle. :)
    I also have secondary iphone 6s that ran half of ios12, ios 13 from the beta and till the last one and currently ios14 beta with all the new features like picture in picture, app drawer, widgets and it runs smooth as silk + fast. So your problem is with your unit, either because there is something wrong with it or because the operating system is broken by you/someone who used the phone before you and need a fresh reinstall.
  • cha0z_ - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link

    I have second hand iphone 6s with changed battery, running ios 14 beta 3 and before that ios 13 with all it's subversions. It's as fast and smoother than my exynos note 9, so you are talking bs. :)

    Also lol at lineage argument. It's always NOT like officially released base + firmware + rom. I know, I am on XDA from over 10 years + gave my fair share developing (mainly for HTC phones). Also there are things like note line, running lineage will do what? Exactly, remove 50% what makes that phone a note and manually returning some apps will not fix that. Porting is the next option, but that also got it's flaws. Not to mention that development is far far far from what it was back around 2010-2014 peak.

    Ofc android is great and all, but don't take away points from apple and what they do right when android phone makers charge you the same or recently - MORE than what apple does, but they don't want to adopt apple's support policy. :)

    P.S. I also have iphone 11 pro max from almost a year and the battery is at 98%, because I am not stupid to use fast charger. Same thing with my note 9 - fast charging turned off in settings day one and the battery is in great shape. Fast charging speed up battery degradation by a lot. So dunno about your 10% every year, maybe if someone use unoriginal faulty cheap power adapter and/or cable - sure, even more in some cases.
  • sonny73n - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link

    Another sheep thinking updates actually make the phone better. Are you mentally ill? Haven’t you noticed FOR THE LAST 10 years, every time an iDevice got updated, it slowed down?

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