Should you buy an iPhone 8 in 2020

The iPhone SE is a superior product to the iPhone 8 in every way: processor, camera, updates, and price, plus it still has Touch ID for those of you that want that. There's nothing about the iPhone 8 that's better and quite a few things that are worse. It might still be available from some retailers, but you should get the iPhone SE instead.

The iPhone SE uses the same A13 system-on-a-chip that you'll find on Apple's flagship iPhone 11 lineup. That means that not only does the iPhone SE have excellent flagship-level performance in a much cheaper package, but it should get software updates for the same amount of time that the latest flagships will. With Apple's track record, that's going to be about four or five years. The iPhone 8, by contrast, runs the A11, which, while a capable chip, won't last you as long if you get that device today.

Both the iPhone 8 and 2020 iPhone SE use the same camera sensor, but the iPhone SE has better camera performance than the older phone. This is thanks, again, to the newer image signal processor in the iPhone SE. The new hardware allows the iPhone SE to take Portrait Mode photos with a single lens, just like the iPhone XR can.

Finally, there's the price. The iPhone SE starts at $399 for 64GB of storage. At stores like Best Buy, the iPhone 8 is still more expensive than that for a worse phone with the same amount of storage.

Unless you want a bigger phone like the iPhone 8 Plus, which Apple has also stopped selling, you should get the iPhone SE. It's better and cheaper than the iPhone 8, and more readily available.