iPhone SE: Apple confirms that new phone’s name stands for ‘Special Edition’

The answer might seem obvious — but previous names, like the iPhone 5c, went forever unexplained

Apple Vice President Greg Joswiak introduces the iPhone SE during an event at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California March 21, 2016 (REUTERS/Stephen Lam)

Apple has finally confirmed what the SE in its new iPhone’s name is for.

The new phone’s name stands for Special Edition, according to Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing. The senior vice president confirmed the name to journalist Jason Cipriani.

The name might seem like an obvious guess, given that it is a special, smaller edition of the iPhone and that a range of other products have the SE name.

But Apple hasn’t disclosed the proper name of its products in the past — the iPhone 5c’s name was never elaborated on, and the S that is stuck on the name of its phone models every other year remains a mystery. It’s also possible that the name could be short for small edition, given the phone is like a shrunken iPhone 6.

The question had troubled many on Twitter after the announcement, and even before. Others had suggested that it might stand for “Super Encrypted” — a reference to Apple’s dispute with the FBI over security technology — smaller experience, or senseless edition.