Apple updated its entry-level iPhone in March 2022, adding a few nicks and tucks here and there (plus a quiet price hike). But the older design and minimal upgrades meant the new iPhone SE received a cool reception, with many looking forward to the next generation, which reviewers hoped would bring a more radical overhaul of the device.
Right at the tip, rumors are now starting to appear about what it could look like. In this article, we’ve compiled everything we know so far and what we can reasonably speculate about the iPhone SE 4.
When will the iPhone SE 4 be released?
Apple’s iPhone SE doesn’t follow the same predictable annual release schedule as the standard line, and the intervals between updates can be hard to predict. The timing of this year’s launch points to a two-year routine, but it followed a much longer gap between the first and second phones. Here’s when the three models released so far made their debut:
As you can see, after Apple introduced the SE line back in 2016, we had to wait four years until the device was updated – so long that the original SE was discontinued in September 2018. The 2nd generation moved it from the iPhone 5 /5S design for the iPhone 6/6S style it retains to this day. Since then we’ve had two versions two years apart. With that in mind, it seems likely that the iPhone SE (4th generation) will arrive in March or April 2024.
Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants, a reliable industry expert who specializes in displays and is very accurate with his predictions, also believes that a new iPhone SE will arrive in 2023, although he has hinted that a new model could come in 2023.
Dominik Tomaszewski
How much will the iPhone SE 4 cost?
Prices have risen steadily across the three existing generations, no doubt influenced by the global cost of components and distribution. While the iPhone SE (3rd generation) was released around the same price as the model it replaced, Apple added a bit to the price, making the current model somewhat less desirable than previous iterations, especially when factoring in the paltry amount of storage space provided with the base model. This is how they line up:
iPhone SE (3rd generation, 2022):
64GB: $429/£449
128GB: $479/£499
256GB: $579/£609
iPhone SE (2nd generation, 2020):
64GB: $399/£419
128GB: $449/£469
256GB: $549/£569
iPhone SE (1st generation, 2016):
32GB: $399/£379
128GB: $499/£449
However, the iPhone SE needs to be cheap and we’d be surprised to see a big increase with the next generation, even with more rumors of upgrades.
What will the new iPhone SE look like?
Since the iPhone SE has traditionally always been one of the smallest devices Apple offers, it seems logical that the reduced iPhone 13 mini format could come down to replace the iPhone 6 chassis on the SE. But this is just one of several futures Apple could choose for the SE line.
In a recent episode of the Geared Up podcast, tech tipster Jon Prosser said the “iPhone SE 4 … is just the iPhone XR,” meaning it has an “all-screen” design and a 6.1-in. screen. In an episode of his own Front Page Tech show, Prosser showed an “exclusive first look” at the new iPhone SE, which actually looks a lot like the iPhone 11. Meanwhile, Ross Young has stated that the next iPhone SE will most likely have a 6.1-inch screen.
Prosser also reports that the new iPhone SE will have a notch like the iPhone XR, a claim also supported by Young.
What features will the iPhone SE 4 have?
Although the iPhone SE 4 is rumored to have a notch, it may not have Face ID. Apple has established Face ID as a feature of its high-end products (iPhone and iPad Pro), and leakers are unsure whether it will have the face scanning technology. Having a notch without Face ID would be odd, but not unprecedented – remember the MacBook Pro has a notch that only houses the front-facing camera. We’ve seen older reports from industry analyst Ming Chi-Kuo (via MacRumors ) and Chinese tech site MyDrivers claiming that Apple will move the Touch ID sensor to the power button like in the 10th generation iPad.
Renders by Ian Zelco at Front Page Tech show the iPhone SE 4 with a single camera, so you can probably expect a similar 12MP wide-angle lens. However, we hope it includes some of the features we didn’t get with the iPhone SE 3, namely Night Mode and Cinematic Mode.
Depending on when it comes out, it could get the improved A15 chip that’s in the iPhone 14 or the newer A16. Neither would be much of an improvement over the A15 in the current model.
With the iPhone 13 series moving to a baseline of 128GB (and the 14 series handsets following suit), one hopes the new iPhone SE can do the same, as 64GB really isn’t enough for most people anymore, especially since system files take up more than 10 GB. But we’re not very hopeful – the iPhone SE (3rd generation) launched after the iPhone 13 series and still started with the same 64GB of storage, and the redesigned 10th generation iPad also starts at 64GB. We explain more about this why you should not buy 64GB iPhone SE.
Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to find out. We’ll update this article as more information becomes available, so check back regularly to see what we can come up with. In the meantime, if you can’t wait until next year, here’s a roundup of the best iPhone deals currently available.