New iPhone SE delivers iPhone 13 performance for $270 less

By William Gallagher

Geekbench test scores for the new iPhone SE show that its performance is in line with that of the 2021 iPhone 13 family.

It's not surprising that the new iPhone SE's performance is on a par with that of the iPhone 13 range, as it sports the same A15 Bionic processor. However, it does mean that the performance is now available in a $429 iPhone, instead of the $699 of the base iPhone 13.

According to the early scores on Geekbench, the iPhone SE has a single-core performance of 1695. Listed under Apple's internal name of "iPhone14,6," it has a multi-core performance of 4021.

For comparison, one Geekbench result for the base iPhone 13 puts its single core score at 1729, with the multi-core one at 4532.

Mac Studio desktop computer

iPhone SE 3


The 2022 iPhone SE starts at $429, but wireless carriers are offering aggressive incentives on the budget-friendly smartphone with 5G support.

Similarly, scores for the iPhone 13 mini in one testing, show 1739 single-core, and 4711 multi-core. An iPhone 13 Pro test earned 1743 single core, and 4888 multi-core.

And an iPhone 13 Pro Max returned results of 1728 single-core, plus 4715 multi-core.

Geekbench is specifically a processor benchmarking system, so in this case, it solely focuses on the performance of the A15 Bionic. There are other factors affecting the overall speed of a phone, though.

iPhone 13 in Blue

iPhone 13


Apple's iPhone 13 features a ceramic shield front, Super Retina XDR display with True Tone and an A15 Bionic chip.

For one, the new iPhone SE has 5G but it is not the same fast, mmWave version in the iPhone 13 range - at least in the US.

Then, too, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max have displays with 120Hz ProMotion, which makes the phones feel considerably more responsive.