The new iPhone SE is a cheaper option for those iPhone users not wanting to upgrade to a 6 or 6S.
As with any Apple release, the details are carefully leaked to privileged commentators well in advance, to build up the excitement and anticipation.
Judging from world technology forums, the new iPhone SE has passed the test.
The phones will be available for ordering in New Zealand from tomorrow for a recommended retail price starting at $749 - presumably for the 16GB model. The iPhones will be actually available to buy from March 31. There will also be a 64GB model. Both will be available in space grey, silver, gold and rose gold metallic finishes.
It will be the smallest smartphone in Apple's current line-up and the first smartphone to be released with a screen smaller than 4.7-inch (11.94cm) since the iPhone 6 was released in September 2014.
Greg Joswiak, vice-president of product marketing for Apple, said: ‘‘Some people simply love smaller phones. And the 4-inch phone is often their first iPhone. Some people asked and pleaded with us. So we're calling it the iPhone SE. Our most powerful 4-inch phone ever.''
The iPhone SE - possibly harking back in name to the Macintosh SE computer, which was released in 1987 - has a similar form-factor to 2013's iPhone 5S. It has a metal body, 4-inch screen, Touch ID fingerprint scanner and a flush camera lens, unlike Apple's most recent iPhones. Apple also launched its new 9.7 inch (24.6cm) iPad Pro weighing at less than 500g.
It features a new retina display with greater brightness, wider colour gamut, lower reflectivity, night shift mode and a new true tone display technology to adjust white balance.
Apple senior vice-president of world wide marketing Philip Schiller said the iPad Pro was a new generation to enable people to be more productive and more creative.
‘‘It's incredibly fast, extremely portable and completely natural to use with your fingers, Apple pencil and smart keyboard and now it comes in two sizes.''
The iPad Pro comes with a recommended retail price of $1049 for the 32GB with Wi-Fi model and and a recommended price of $1269 for the 32GB Wi-Fi plus cellular model.
It will be available for ordering from tomorrow and available for purchase on March 31.
