Apple is reportedly once again working on a next-generation iPhone SE, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, despite his previous reports that it had canceled work on the phone. on a thread on TwitterKuo says the company is “restarting” the project and that the iPhone SE 4 will feature an OLED display – a first for the company’s budget line – as well as a 5G modem designed by Apple instead of long-time supplier Qualcomm.
He predicted that the phone will be more or less “a minor modification of the 6.1-inch iPhone 14” and that it will go into production at the beginning of 2024, likely to coincide with the release later that year. It is unclear if the phone will have some of the premium features of the iPhone 14 such as Emergency SOS via satellite, Face ID, and a dual-camera system with night mode, all of which the 2022 third-gen iPhone SE lacks. However, Kuo mentioned that Apple needs to “overcome technical hurdles related to mmWave and satellite communication” when it comes to its modem before bringing it to its flagship phones.
This report is basically the exact opposite of what Kuo reported in early January, when he said that the iPhone SE 4 was canceled and that Apple would stick with Qualcomm’s chips for the iPhone 15 and 16. Now, Kuo has as “the new iPhone SE 4 will be equipped with Apple’s 5G baseband chip made in a 4nm process” and that it will only support sub-6 5G, not the ultrafast mmWave tech. That should not be a surprise , however, because the same is true for the current iPhone SE.
Kuo says it’s a “foregone conclusion that Qualcomm’s Apple orders will drop significantly” after it adopts its own modems in the iPhone SE, although they may take a generation or two to make their mark. way to its flagship phones. Kuo predicts that Apple-made modems will also start appearing on Apple Watches and iPads, if all goes well.
PS: if these rumors are true and the iPhone SE 4 ends up with a 6.1-inch display, it means that Apple has ignored requests from my colleague Sean Hollister and me to revive the Mini form of the line in its budget. I invite all devotees of the 5.4-inch screen to take some time to process it and prepare for another long journey through the big phone junk. Congrats to all the big phone fans, though.