If you’re looking for value in a smartphone, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal than Apple’s recently released iPhone SE.

Priced at $399, Apple’s next-gen SE boasts an A13 processor and, as a result, the device can outperform any number of pricier Android flagships. And as we covered earlier this week, even Android enthusiasts have taken note of the value proposition the iPhone SE brings to the table.

When the original iPhone SE was released in 2016, the device proved to be far more popular than even Apple executives anticipated. And just yesterday, during Apple’s earnings conference call, Tim Cook said that Apple has already seen a “strong customer response to the iPhone SE.”

What’s more, Cook anticipates that the value provided by the iPhone SE will help lure over Android users.

“And I expect some fair number of people switching over to iOS,” Cook said in reference to the company’s new wallet-friendly device. “And so it’s an unbelievable offer. It’s, if you will, the engine of our top phones in a very affordable package. And it’s faster than the fastest Android phones, and so it’s an exceptional value.”

As an illustrative point, here’s how the iPhone SE stacks up against a similarly priced Android device, courtesy of Android Police:

Almost across the board, the iPhone SE beats the current Pixel 3a, which is our favorite mid-range phone. It has an IP rating, the Pixel 3a doesn’t. It has a flagship chipset, the Pixel 3a doesn’t. The SE has wireless charging, amazing haptics, and ambient color-adapting True Tone. The Pixel 3a might have a better camera, but that’s just one point in its favor. In almost every other metric the 2020 iPhone SE meets or exceeds not just the Pixel 3a, but every other mid-range Android phone at the $400 price — outside the question of software, anyway. And it looks like the SE will probably beat Google’s upcoming Pixel 4a, too.

Honestly, I’m upset that there isn’t a $400 Android phone that’s as all-around good as the new iPhone SE, but Apple is just able to compete with its economy of scale here in a way that Android manufacturers can’t.

Even if we disregard price, the iPhone SE’s performance can easily outperform Android devices with Snapdragon 855 chipsets. What’s more, it even comes out on top when going toe-to-toe with top of the line Android handsets with Snapdragon 865 chipsets. In one review that made the rounds earlier this week, Apple’s iPhone SE was able to outmatch Samsung’s Galaxy S20+. And whereas the iPhone SE costs $399, the Galaxy S20+ will set you back $1,199.

Apple doesn’t release iPhone sales figures anymore, let alone provide sales breakdowns across specific models, but it stands to reason that the iPhone SE will prove to be an incredibly popular device over the next few months.

The novel coronavirus altered normal life in a way we wouldn’t have imagined a few months ago. The virus is very contagious and has the potential to kill anyone.

Yes, many people are asymptomatic or develop mild versions of COVID-19, and it’s usually the elderly or people with other existing medical problems that get a severe, potentially deadly case. But there are exceptions, and you have no way of knowing how your COVID-19 experience will be like. That’s why you have to stay indoors for as long as possible, wash your hands often, and clean regularly commonly used surfaces. When you go outside, you have to wear some sort of mask. Anything that covers your mouth and nose can be used at least until you find medical masks in stores. And you should do it every time you go shopping for essentials or to work. A mask is a barrier that will not completely reduce the risk of inhaling droplets containing the virus. There’s nothing that’s 100% effective against it. But it can reduce the risk of contracting an infection in public places.

However, the use of a mask practically ruins one of the best features the iPhone ever got, the Face ID 3D face recognition system. And once you get hooked to it, it’ll be very annoying to keep entering your password every single time you need to unlock the phone. With that in mind, I can’t help but wonder whether the current pandemic will affect Apple’s plans for Face ID.

COVID-19 is here to stay, and we’ll only get rid of it in the coming years, in a best-case scenario where we’ll have at least a vaccine to prevent the infection. That means we’ll be using masks for some time to come, maybe well into 2022.

And if you’re using masks while shopping for goods, or working, then you’d better make sure you use them correctly. That means the mask has to cover both the nose and mouth, and you have to avoid touching the external surface of the mask at all times. That implies not removing the mask and parking it on your chin for any purpose, unlocking the iPhone included. If you’re going to do that, then you’re better off without a mask.

With a mask on, Face ID won’t work, and you’ll need to type in your passcode. Luckily, Apple has made it a lot easier by changing the unlock screen in the latest iOS 13 beta so that you can type in the password faster than before. However, that’s still a huge inconvenience when you’re out and about.

I’ve always used a password with the iPhone, and I don’t plan on ever removing the screen protection that also encrypts the handset. Touch ID made it even easier to unlock the phone, and then Face ID came. I said before that I wouldn’t want to switch back to Touch ID now that I’ve experienced Face ID, and I won’t take that back. But what happens if wearing a face mask will become the new normal for the coming years? What if something terrible happens and the vaccines don’t work?

When Apple launched Face ID back in 2017, it was the most sophisticated phone unlock experience ever made. It still is, as very few smartphone makers replicated Apple’s 3D face recognition system. Face ID is more secure than Touch ID and works even better once you get used to it. And it’s not just for screen unlocking, as Face ID practically unlocks anything that has a password on the phone. It’s super easy to use and set up.

The face mask ruins all of that. Apple’s iPhone 12 models will all have smaller notches, several reports said, as Apple is looking to reduce the size of the notch. And it’s likely that next year’s iPhones will still come with Face ID support. But it’ll be interesting to see whether the COVID-19 pandemic will force Apple to add Touch ID back to the iPhone at some point in the future. And if it’ll happen, can Touch ID coexist with Face ID?

Apple did study the same under-screen fingerprint technologies that some Android handset makers have already deployed in their smartphones. Optical and ultrasound fingerprint sensors were detailed in Apple’s patents longe before the iPhone X launched. In fact, we all thought the handset will have an under-screen sensor in the months before that preceded the phone’s launch. And rumors do say that Apple is considering under-screen fingerprint sensors for future iPhones, maybe as soon as iPhone 12. But we’re far from getting any confirmation.

Then again, Apple could figure out a way to make Face ID work when the wearer is using a face mask. But that’s really wishful thinking from this particular Face ID user who’s now forced to wear masks.

If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic showed that Apple is ready to adapt rapidly to what’s happening with the world. Apple has been quick to close stores, it came up with its own coronavirus screening app, and it started displaying COVID-19 testing locations in Maps. On top of that, it developed face shields for medical personnel and worked with Google on a life-saving ingenuity, the COVID-19 contact tracing app. Even the new unlock screen is proof of Apple adapting to the disease. If this virus threat is here to stay for a few years, then maybe Apple will make all the necessary changes to iPhone design to make it as convenient and secure to use as it is now.

Until then, we’ll just have to use passwords while wearing masks. Also, the iPhone SE is a great alternative solution to anyone looking for a new iPhone with fingerprint support.

According to Jon Prosser, who leaked the release date of the second-generation iPhone SE earlier this month, Apple will once again start the pricing of its iPhone lineup well below $1,000 this year. In a tweet Thursday, the Front Page Tech host claimed that the cheapest iPhone 12 will cost $649 when it launches this fall. Not only would this be $50 cheaper than the iPhone 11, but it would also be the first OLED iPhone to sell for less than $999.

Prosser’s source informs him that the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 will retail for $649, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 will be priced at $749, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro will sell for $999, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max will cost $1,099. He says that he received this information from the same source that told him the launch date of the 2020 iPhone SE, which doesn’t necessarily mean that this leak is correct, but does give it some added credence.

Providing these prices are correct, the entry-level iPhone 12 would be cheaper than the cheapest iPhone 11, but it’s worth noting that the 6.1-inch OLED model — the one that supposedly costs $749 — will be the device that will take the place of the iPhone 11. So while there will be an even more affordable option on store shelves this fall, it will not be the direct follow-up to the iPhone 11, which had a 6.1-inch LCD display.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Apple’s pricing strategy for the iPhone 12 lineup. Last week, UBI Research analyst and industry insider Chung-Hoon Lee predicted that the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 would retail for between $600 and $700 due to the fact that Chinese display maker BOE would be able to offer a better price for the OLED screen. Every iPhone 12 model is expected to feature 5G support and an OLED display.

If Apple does end up releasing four iPhone models this fall at the price points listed above, it would have brought five new smartphones to market in 2020 ranging from $399 (iPhone SE) to $1,099 (iPhone 12 Pro Max). If Apple’s plan is to make phones for the widest possible range of consumers, this will be the closest the company has ever come to achieving that goal. Apple just has to hope the ongoing pandemic doesn’t screw it all up.

Reports have been going back for months regarding the timing of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 12 release. Several reports from reliable sources said that Apple’s release timing has been pushed back from its normal mid-September timeframe.

At the same time, conflicting reports from sources that are typically just as reliable have said Apple’s iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro phones would be released on time, though supply could be constrained at launch. The most recent news on the subject comes from The Wall Street Journal, and it’s not good. According to the paper’s sources, Apple has pushed back mass production of its upcoming new iPhone 12 models by one month. It’s unclear exactly how that might impact Apple’s iPhone 12 release date, but it’s certainly not what Apple fans wanted to hear. In light of everything that’s happening right now with the novel coronavirus pandemic, however, it certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise.

If you’re an Apple had who has been keeping your fingers crossed that the first redesigned iPhone lineup since 2017 would hit store shelves on time, this new report is likely to ruin your day. If it’s any consolation, however, we have plenty of reason to believe that the recent peek we took at Apple’s leaked iPhone 12 Pro design is indeed the real deal and Apple’s new iPhones will be just as stunning as the leaks have suggested.

For those who might have missed it, we gave our readers peek earlier this week at what we believed to be the most accurate and realistic representation yet of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 12 Pro. There are more than a dozen graphic designers known for creating renders of unreleased smartphones, but none are anywhere near as good as Jonas Daehnert. His renders are by far the most realistic ones out there, and he also tries to stick mainly to confirmed into and rumors from reliable sources in crafting his mockups.

Daehnert recently turned his attention to the iPhone 12 Pro, and we already shared the stunning results with you. Here’s a refresher:

As numerous rumors from solid sources that date all the way back to Ming-Chi Kuo’s reports last year, Apple’s new iPhone 12 series is expected to merge the display design and the large, square rear camera arrays with the flat metal edges from the iPhone 5. The notch on the display is expected to be a bit smaller than it is on the iPhone 11 and the camera array on the iPhone 12 Pro models will reportedly add a LIDAR sensor, and that’s exactly what Daehnert drew up.

If you’ve been following Apple rumors lately, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that there are some new faces who have been leaking iPhone 12 info. You also might not entirely trust them since they’re still in the process of building track records. That said, there is another source that suggests this is indeed what Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro will look like when it finally launches. What source is that you might ask? It’s Apple.

If you don’t recall, the illustrations above were pulled out of leaked iOS 14 code last month by developers who had access to the code. It was a huge leak but at the time, people noted that these were possibly just illustrations of a potential iPhone 12 design that hadn’t yet been finalized. At this point, given all the leaks and rumors we’ve seen all over the web from sources with solid track records, it’s more than safe at this point to say that the design has been finalized.

Google this week extended G Suite’s device management tools to Windows 10 PCs, adding them to the Android, iOS and Chrome endpoints already on the list.

Administrators can now use the G Suite console to secure G Suite accounts on Windows 10 systems using Google’s anti-hijacking and suspicious-login-detection technologies, and set those machines for single-sign on (SSO) so that G Suite account credentials double as Windows 10 log-in authentication.

The roll-out of the new console capabilities started April 27, with the rapid release and scheduled release tracks (the latter is the default) beginning simultaneously rather than staged, as usual.

Administrators must install the Google Credential Provider for Windows (GCPW) app on each Windows 10 PC for that device to be managed through the console. Among other things, GCPW links existing users’ Windows profiles with their G Suite accounts.

Set Windows update options, offer single sign-on

Google previewed the console-based management of Windows 10 devices starting in January, moving it out of the beta stage significantly faster than usual for the Mountain View, Calif. company.

Requirements on the Windows 10 PC mandate Pro, Enterprise or Business versions of the OS (that last is an expansion of Windows 10 Pro that comes with a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription). On the G Suite side, only customers subscribing to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education or Cloud Identity Premium can use the non-identity functions newly added to the Admin console.

Once in place, administrators can choose to allow single-sign on for G Suite and other Google services, let users’ G Suite-credentials server as Windows 10 log-ons, protect accounts by calling on Google technologies to detect suspicious behavior and phishing attacks, and set a range of options on the PCs. The latter includes actions such as setting Windows update options, enable BitLocker’s full-disk encryption and remote wiping of devices.

The new functionality is separate from what Google called “fundamental device management” back in October, when it outlined how the default would be to enroll every system, whether personal computer or mobile, in endpoint management as soon as a user logs into G Suite through any browser.

That concept was designed to make every device visible from the G Suite Admin console so that IT could locate the ones whose operating systems need to be upgraded or could log out from an account if the hardware is lost or stolen.

On the same day Google announced Windows 10 management, the company also reported on a postponement of fundamental device management. “Due to COVID-19 related activity, full roll-out of fundamental device management has been delayed until later in 2020,” Google said here.

Some G Suite customers had been served the fundamental management option because deployment has been ongoing for the past six months.