With all of that additional hardware comes several other features from the 6s: a "Retina" front-facing flash; hands-free Siri commands; and support for faster LTE and 802.11 AC Wi-Fi speeds. Unfortunately, there's no 3D Touch support in the SE, but I'd imagine that hardware would be difficult to fit into such a tiny case (and Apple has to leave something exclusive to its top of the line phone).

Apple says the iPhone SE's hardware upgrades make it twice as fast as the 5s when it comes to CPU performance, and its GPU speeds are three times faster. And while I'd worry about what all of that hardware would mean for battery life, Apple says it has "improved" battery performance compared to the 5s.

While rumors suggested that the iPhone SE might get a curved-edge design similar to the iPhone 6, Apple really didn't change much from the 5s. The only noticeable difference now is that the edges are matte instead of polished, which will hopefully make them less scratch prone. Given that Apple is probably focused more on wowing us with the next flagship iPhone, it makes sense for it to basically recycle an existing design. (As an iPhone 6s user, I've honestly missed the compact feel of the 5s.)

The iPhone SE is particularly interesting because it marks the first time Apple has plugged in faster hardware into an older iPhone case design. Instead of just keeping older iPhones around to sell at a lower cost, Apple actually had to design and build an entirely new device. Its price is also intriguing, since it'll likely appeal to people who refuse to deal with cellphone contracts anymore.

Get all the news from today's iPhone event right here!