The iPhone SE may not be as well-known as Apple’s flagship iPhone lineup, but it made a comeback in recent years with new models arriving in 2020 and 2022. The iPhone SE’s future is less certain. Rumors and reports about if and when Apple will release an iPhone SE 4 have conflicted, with some predictions from well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggesting the device may have been canceled.
Apple hasn’t mentioned whether it plans to release new iPhone SE models moving forward since it rarely speaks about future products. Now that Apple has moved away from the iPhone Mini, the iPhone SE has an important role to play as the smaller and more affordable iPhone in Apple’s lineup.
There’s plenty of room for Apple to further improve its pint-size iPhone. While my colleague Patrick Holland praised the 2022 iPhone SE for its accessible price and familiar home button, he criticized it for its lack of night mode photos and dated design. Android competitors like Samsung and Google have also improved their similarly priced budget phones in recent years. The Google Pixel 7A and Samsung Galaxy A54 5G both offer features once reserved for premium devices, like high refresh rates and multiple cameras.
It’s impossible to know exactly what to expect from Apple until the company makes an announcement. Based on predictions from the often-accurate Kuo, with other leaks and Apple’s product launch history, here’s what we’d expect from Apple’s next budget iPhone.
Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment regarding a future iPhone SE when this story was originally published.
iPhone SE 4 release date is a mystery
Perhaps the biggest question about the iPhone SE 4 is whether it will ever exist; Kuo’s predictions have been back and forth in recent years. In 2019, the analyst said Apple was working on an iPhone SE with a full-screen design similar to the iPhone XR, as MacRumors reported at the time. Apple has released two versions of the iPhone SE since then that retain the old iPhone 8-inspired design, which led to speculation about whether the model Kuo was referring to has been canceled or postponed.
Kuo’s 2023 predictions regarding the iPhone SE 4 have also been mixed. He reported in January that an iPhone SE originally planned for 2024 was canceled, but followed up in February to say the project had been revived. He changed his prediction again in April to say that the model he previously referred to might just be an engineering prototype for an Apple in-house 5G baseband chip. His previous comments also suggested the iPhone SE 4 would include this 5G chip.
A report from MacRumors indicated Apple is indeed developing a new iPhone SE that reportedly includes some dramatic upgrades. It may not launch until 2025, according to a newer report from MacRumors.
The iPhone SE’s release cadence hasn’t been as routine as that of Apple’s flagship iPhones. Apple launched the first iPhone SE in March 2016, while the second-generation version came out in April 2020. The newest, third-generation iPhone SE arrived in March 2022. A 2024 launch would fit the schedule Apple has followed in recent years, although it’s hard to be certain since there was a four-year gap between the first two models.
Rumors suggest an iPhone 14 or XR-like design
