How fast is the iPhone SE 3 compared to the iPhone SE 2 it replaced? How fast is the iPhone SE 3 compared to earlier iPhone models?

In the corporate press release for the iPhone SE 3, Apple promotes the device as "powerful" in the title and subtitle alike and mentions performance six times.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Black iPhone SE 3)

In general terms, Apple states:

The new iPhone SE features impressive upgrades including the performance of A15 Bionic, which powers advanced camera capabilities and makes nearly every experience better, from photo editing to power-intensive operations like gaming and augmented reality.

With an emphasis on performance and the A15 same processor as the high-end iPhone 13 family available at the same time, it is a reasonable bet that performance is solid and similar. However, it is worth noting that technical analysis shows that the iPhone SE 3, iPhone 13 mini, and iPhone 13 all have 4 GB of RAM whereas the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max have 6 GB of RAM.

Furthermore, the only specific claim is that the "iPhone SE [3 is] up to 1.8x faster than iPhone 8, and even faster compared to older models." The iPhone 8 was introduced in 2017, so it is particularly worthwhile to compare the iPhone SE 3 to other recent iPhone models. One would assume that any just about any mobile device released today would be substantially faster than one from five years earlier.

Benchmark Performance Overview

For a helpful general overview of the performance differences between the iPhone SE 3 and other iPhone models like the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 sold as new at the same time; the iPhone SE 2 that the iPhone SE 3 replaced; and earlier iPhone models as well as the iPad and iPod touch, Everyi.com's own Ultimate iComparison makes it quick to compare side-by-side Geekbench benchmark averages for hundreds of possible performance comparisons.

Compared to other recent iPhone models, the iPhone SE 3 performs accordingly using the Geekbench 5 benchmark:

iPhone SE 3 Compared To:	Percent Faster (Single Core)	Percent Faster (Multicore)
iPhone 13 mini/13/13 Pro/13 Pro Max	0%	0%
iPhone 12 mini/12/12 Pro/12 Pro Max	9%	14%
iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max	30%	39%
iPhone XS/iPhone XR	56%	75%
iPhone X/iPhone 8	87%	102%
iPhone 7	133%	243%
iPhone 6s	219%	355%
iPhone SE 2	31%	62%
iPhone SE (Original)	216%	349%

With a review of the above, you clearly can see that the Geekbench 5 benchmark shows the extra RAM in the iPhone 13 Pro/iPhone 13 Pro Max does not result in a significant difference in performance compared to the iPhone SE 3 -- the extra RAM most likely is consumed pushing more pixels to the larger, higher-resolution displays -- but the iPhone SE 3 performance starts to pull away more notably starting with the iPhone 11 first introduced in 2019.

The Geekbench 5 benchmark does not show that the iPhone SE 3 is as fast as Apple reports compared to the iPhone 8, but it still is much faster. Of course, performance gains for the iPhone SE 3 are faster still compared to even older models from earlier years.

Real-World Performance Comparison

For how the iPhone SE 3 compares to the iPhone 11 that Apple also sells as new -- the two cheapest new iPhone options at the time the iPhone SE 3 was introduced -- this video from YouTuber Brandon Butch also is quite useful:

As you can see, hands-on usage commonly reflects the Geekbench benchmark results, but a substantial boost in benchmark results is not always as significant in the real-world.

Performance Summary

Ultimately, the iPhone SE 3 is the same speed as the more expensive iPhone 13 line, provides a bit of a speed boost compared to the iPhone 12 line, and provides a more significant performance increase compared to earlier models.

The iPhone SE 3 definitely is high performance for the price, although real-world results can vary depending on the task performed.

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