Why are people still buying an iPhone with a Home button in 2026?

There has been no successor since February 2025

On February 19, 2025, Apple introduced the iPhone 16e and discontinued the SE on the same day. The 16e uses Face ID. This means Apple has sold no iPhone with a Home button for the first time since 2007. Touch ID itself is still available in the Power button of iPad Air, iPad mini, and the entry-level iPad, as well as in every current MacBook. As of now, Touch ID is no longer available in an iPhone.

That is the heart of the matter. If you want Touch ID on an iPhone, you are not choosing between models. There is exactly one device, and it is no longer available new. That is why the SE still has its fans, and why it is a deliberate choice in the Refurbished market.

What Touch ID does better in everyday use

The Home button does not win everywhere, but it does in some situations. The phone is lying flat on the table or sitting in the car mount: Put your thumb on it and it unlocks. No picking it up, no leaning forward, no swiping. Helmet on, scarf up to your nose, ski goggles on your face: Face ID struggles with that, while the sensor in the button does not. And it is one movement instead of two, because unlocking and returning to the Home screen are the same press.

There is also a point that is difficult to measure but still matters: muscle memory. A button is always in the same place and provides feedback. You do not need to look at it to find it. Face ID is faster when everything is right, but it requires you to look at the phone.

And it is not just about unlocking. Every Apple Pay payment, every password authorization, and every App Store purchase requires confirmation. Over the course of a day, that adds up to many small moments in which either your thumb rests on a button or your face has to point in the right direction. Anyone who has used this process for years will not see the switch as progress, but as an extra step.

Honesty works both ways. Touch ID is not magic. Wet fingers, grease on your thumb, flour, dry skin in winter, gloves: The sensor fails just as reliably as Face ID does under ski goggles. Anyone who works with their hands all day does not automatically benefit from Touch ID.

The Home button is not a button, but a way of interacting

The SE is 4.7 Inch, 138.4 mm tall, 67.3 mm wide, and weighs 144 grams. It can be operated with one hand without contorting your fingers, and it disappears into any trouser pocket. Anyone who loved classic iPhones such as the iPhone 8, 7, or 6s as much as we did does not need to relearn anything: Returning to the Home screen means pressing once, and opening the app switcher means pressing twice. No swiping up from the bottom, no dragging from the edges.

That is exactly what makes the SE one of the few sensible first devices for children, an obvious choice for parents and grandparents, and an unobtrusive second or work phone. And for people who generally struggle with swipe gestures, a physical button is not nostalgia, but the difference between usable and unusable.

Technically, it is more capable than it looks

The SE (2022) contains the A15 Bionic, the same chip generation as the iPhone 13. This has two practical consequences. First, iOS 27, which Apple introduced in June 2026 and which will become available this fall, runs on the third-generation SE, because no iPhone will lose support this year. Second, Apple Intelligence requires at least an A15. The SE meets this requirement; the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 do not.

The fact that Apple put the then-current chip into a 2017 enclosure in 2022 is paying off today. The SE looks like 2017 and performs like 2021. It also offers 5G, IP67 protection against dust and water, a 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, and Qi wireless charging.

Where the SE is honestly weak

The battery is where it hurts. 2018 mAh is not much, and a day of navigation, music, and camera use is not possible without recharging. If you want the phone to still have 40 percent at six in the evening, this is the wrong choice.

That leads to an important buying tip: With a device from this model year, the battery is the wear item, not the chip. So pay less attention to the visible signs of use and more attention to the Battery condition. You will notice the difference every day; after a week, you will no longer notice the small scratch on the frame.

The display is a 4.7-Inch IPS panel with 60 Hz and a typical brightness of 625 nits, with bezels at the top and bottom. In direct sunlight, you will be reading with narrowed eyes. The camera has one lens: No Ultra Wide, no telephoto, no Night mode. It takes good pictures in daylight, but not in low light.

It charges via Lightning. Anyone who has switched their household to USB-C will have to carry a second cable again. Magnetic MagSafe accessories do not attach to the SE, although wireless charging still works. And 64 gigabytes is tight: It is more than enough for email, messaging, streaming, and photos in iCloud, but not for downloaded offline series and a large local photo library.

Who it is the wrong device for

If Touch ID is not a selling point for you and only the price matters, the SE is not the best choice. With the iPhone 12, you get more screen and a second camera, but with Face ID and without Apple Intelligence. We examined this device in detail elsewhere. Anyone who takes a lot of photos, watches series on the go, or needs long days without a power outlet should also look elsewhere.

One point in the other direction: Do not buy the SE out of nostalgia you do not feel. If you have never owned an iPhone with a Home button and Face ID has never bothered you, Touch ID is not a reason to buy it, but simply another way to reach the same goal. Then the only thing that matters is what you get for your money, and depending on your budget, there are better answers.

The offer in September

In September, the iPhone SE (2022) with 64 gigabytes in Starlight is available for CHF 170.85 instead of CHF 201.–, which is a 15 percent discount, valid until September 30. The discount applies to all conditions, so you can decide how many signs of use you are willing to accept.

For a device Apple no longer makes, Refurbished is the only remaining option anyway. The SE is no longer available new, and a private classified listing provides neither a warranty nor tested functionality. Revendo is an Apple Authorised Service Provider. Every device comes with a one-year warranty, extendable to three years, as well as a 14-day right of return and Stores throughout Switzerland where you can hold the device in your hands beforehand.

View the last Touch ID iPhone

A toast to Touch ID, then. Not because everything was better in the past, but because this one detail has never been replaced for some people.