Please note that this A1724 iPhone SE model only is sold in mainland China and is intended for use on China Mobile. It is compatible with the same LTE and TD-LTE bands as the Global A1723 iPhone SE model sold around the world, including in mainland China, but this A1724 variant does not support CDMA EV DO Rev. A (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz).

Marketed as a "reinvented" 4-inch iPhone, the iPhone SE (Special Edition) models, regardless of network compatibility, are nearly identical in appearance to the iPhone 5s, apart from matte-chamfered edges rather than shiny ones, but have many innards more in common with the higher performance iPhone 6s.

All iPhone SE models have a 4" (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch IPS LED-backlit 1136x640 native resolution (326 ppi) "retina display" without 3D Touch support, dual cameras -- a rear 12 megapixel, 4K "iSight" camera with 1.22 micron pixels, an f/2.2 aperture, a dual LED "True Tone" flash and more as well as a much more modest front 1.2 megapixel, 720p "FaceTime" camera.

The iPhone SE is available in four metallic color options -- "Silver," which has a white glass front and a mostly silver colored aluminum back; "Space Gray," which has a black glass front and a mostly medium toned "gunmetal" gray aluminum back; "Gold," which has a white glass front and a mostly gold colored aluminum back; and "Rose Gold," which has a white glass front and a mostly pink-tinted gold colored aluminum back. Regardless of color, each also includes a first generation "Touch ID" fingerprint sensor embedded in the "home" button.

All iPhone SE models are powered by a 1.8 GHz 64-bit "Apple A9" processor and have 2 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, or 128 GB of flash storage (16 GB or 64 GB for devices sold from March 21, 2016 until March 21, 2017 and 32 GB or 128 GB for devices sold afterwards). They also support 4G/LTE, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, and NFC (for Apple Pay), have a bottom-mounted headphone jack and use the "Lightning" connector to hook up with a Mac, PC, dock, or power adapter.

Apple estimates that the iPhone SE models provide "up to" 50 hours of audio playback, 14 hours of talk time on 3G, 12 hours of Internet use on 3G, 13 hours of Internet use on 4G/LTE, 13 hours of Internet use on Wi-Fi, 13 hours of video playback and 10 days of standby time.

In mainland China, this model originally was available for RMB 3,288 and RMB 4,088 with 16 GB or 64 GB of storage, respectively, on China Mobile. On March 21, 2017, Apple upgraded the storage to 32 GB and 128 GB, but these higher capacity options were available at the same price points as their lower capacity predecessors. Finally, on September 12, 2017, Apple dropped the price to RMB 2,988 and 3,788, respectively. The device was discontinued entirely on September 12, 2018.