The iPhone SE4 alive… maybe. In a recent Twitter thread, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that the tech giant has resumed work on the iPhone SE 4 – two months after it was reportedly cancelled.
The reason why the project was rejected in the first place, according to Kuo’s post on Medium (opens in a new tab), because Apple wanted its mid-range device to include the first internal 5G baseband chip so that the company would not have to rely on Qualcomm. However, the hardware just wasn’t “up to par with Qualcomm [tech]so the whole thing was scrapped in early January. But now it shows up Apple has a solution (opens in a new tab). Instead of doing everything from scratch, the iPhone SE 4 will now reportedly be a modded version 6.1-inch iPhone 14.
Kuo claims that the device will feature the aforementioned “baseband chip manufactured in a 4nm process”; however, it will only support 5G below 6GHz, not the faster mmWave spectrum, just like the previous model. The biggest change, Kuo notes, is that the phone will have “an OLED display instead of an LCD.” Ross Young (opens in a new tab), another reputable industry analyst, says the screen will be supplied by Chinese manufacturer BOE Technology. Mass production, assuming development goes smoothly, will begin sometime in the first half of 2024.
Apple’s plans for the future
The rest of the Twitter thread hints at Apple’s future endeavors. He adds that it is still unknown whether the imminent iPhone 16 lineup will use the new chipset. Apparently, the company is facing some “technical hurdles”. [relating] for mmWave and satellite communications. But if he manages to do so, Kuo predicts that the gap between Apple and Qualcomm will widen as the latter’s hardware will no longer be needed. He even speculates that if mass production goes well, we could see iPads and Apple Watches ditch Qualcomm chipsets in favor of baseband.
And that’s pretty much all that can be deduced from the thread that directly refers to the iPhone SE 4 or Apple’s plans. It is unknown how many iPhone 14 features, such as Emergency SOS via satellite or hardware, will be present on the upcoming phone. The price also remains a mystery. In comparison, the iPhone SE 3 launched in March 2022 with a starting price of $429 / £419 / AU$719.
If you’re looking for a new phone, be sure to check out TechRadar’s latest roundup best iPhone deals before the end of the month.