Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Other How will Apple neuter the 2025 SE?

T

taliz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 10, 2006
194
274
The rumors suggest the new SE will be a very competitive phone.
Sure it will have a camera less than the 16 and no camera control button, Dynamic Island etc.
But.. does that really matter to most? I doubt it.

I'm afraid Apple will feel the need to neuter it to steer people towards the 16 in more ways than current rumors suggest.
Maybe it will be a heavy brick like the old XR?
Since the M1 and M2 are based on A14/15 and they can run Apple intelligence, it could possibly get a very old chip, just with more RAM.

More ideas?
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Leo_75, SamRyouji, progx and 4 others
taliz said:
Maybe it will be a heavy brick like the old XR?
Since the M1 and M2 are based on A14/15 and they can run Apple intelligence, it could possibly get a very old chip, just with more RAM.

More ideas?
Click to expand...

Good guesses, though rumours have both of these as iPhone 15 design and having an A18 (similar to other SEs at launch compared to flagships) so these don’t seem like where they’ll be skimping.

They’ll probably have no mmWave like the current SE, and the notch is already a compromise
 
  • Haha
Reactions: aParkerMusic
thenewperson said:
Good guesses, though rumours have both of these as iPhone 15 design and having an A18 (similar to other SEs at launch compared to flagships) so these don’t seem like where they’ll be skimping.

They’ll probably have no mmWave like the current SE, and the notch is already a compromise
Click to expand...
I take it you mean 14 design.

Yeah the 5G chip will be a 1st gen Apple chip and probably limited in some ways. I wonder how that would be advertised though? Most people probably won't understand there's different 5G features/flavors. They see "5G" and they're good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bstephens, Homme, Leo_75 and 4 others
menist said:
I don't think it'll get a A18 chip, if so, it would be a slap to the face for those who bought the regular 16's. I think it gets a down clocked A17 with 8GB of ram. A base A17 chip never came out, hence it would be wise to rebrand it in a cheap iPhone.
Click to expand...
Honestly I think all signs point to an A18.
They put the A17 Pro in the mini, cause they had production capacity and/or binned chips available for that TSMC manufacturing process.

A18 however has a cheaper 3nm process than the A17 Pro, and now that the bulk of all iPhone 16/Pro are already built, they likely have available production capacity at TSMC for it.
So for Apple it's likely the most affordable option.

I'm not sure of the yield of the A18 though, perhaps they could get even better yields(and thereby lower cost) by disabling some cores and reusing previously binned chips. So in theory they could launch an "A18 SE" or something... but I doubt it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bstephens, Homme, Cervisia and 4 others
majkom said:
It will be a18… remember, they wont touch it for many years, maybe it will eat some ip16 sales in 3025, but it wont be competition to regular iphones in following3-5 years, it will stay on a18 in years to come
Click to expand...
Yeah true. Also due to current world economy they really need a good "budget' phone now to get more people into the ecosystem. So a bit of cannibalism is probably ok this year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bstephens, Cervisia and KeithBN
taliz said:
The rumors suggest the new SE will be a very competitive phone.
Sure it will have a camera less than the 16 and no camera control button, Dynamic Island etc.
But.. does that really matter to most? I doubt it.

I'm afraid Apple will feel the need to neuter it to steer people towards the 16 in more ways than current rumors suggest.
Maybe it will be a heavy brick like the old XR?
Since the M1 and M2 are based on A14/15 and they can run Apple intelligence, it could possibly get a very old chip, just with more RAM.

More ideas?
Click to expand...

Apple modem will be the most notable handicap, and it could be relevant, just ask European Samsung users that learned to avoid non-Qualcomm phones like the plague.
The rest of the phone will practically be as good as a flagship in daily usage, and yes, I'm saying this despite the 60hz display.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bstephens, Homme, Cervisia and 4 others
I found myself that promotiin is over rated, went from ip14 pro to ip 16 plus - bought from apple directly to test it for longer period with ability to return, specifically cause of 60 Hz display, and you know what, one day on 16 plus was enough to find out - no need for 120Hz. I mean, do I see it is 60Hz? Yes. Does it really matter, nope. Eg weight of non pro phone is much more valuable to me than 120 Hz screen. And sure, YMMW, but I am quite a nerd (like many of us here), ordinary guys will not event register 120/60 Hz screen, that is reality.

Edit: but, I do definetely think that 60Hz display in 2024 in these price ranges is horrible, pure upsell tool, wouldnt be surprised if 60Hz oled display of this quality may be even more expensive to buy for apple than 90/120Hz one these days:) but if it pushes enough customers to Pro models, Tim is happy
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Bstephens, sleeptodream, _Mitchan1999 and 5 others
taliz said:
I take it you mean 14 design.
Click to expand...
Aren't they the same (on the front)? I just went with the newest one.

taliz said:
Yeah the 5G chip will be a 1st gen Apple chip and probably limited in some ways. I wonder how that would be advertised though? Most people probably won't understand there's different 5G features/flavors. They see "5G" and they're good.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing they'll try and get it to at least match the 5G capabilities of the current SE (no mmWave). Performance is another question.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Homme
menist said:
I don't think it'll get a A18 chip, if so, it would be a slap to the face for those who bought the regular 16's. I think it gets a down clocked A17 with 8GB of ram. A base A17 chip never came out, hence it would be wise to rebrand it in a cheap iPhone.
Click to expand...
We've had 3 SEs so far and all have had the latest chip. The current one has a binned A15 but still in that family, so it's easy to see the new SE getting an A18.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Homme, Fancler, Andeddu and 5 others
thenewperson said:
We've had 3 SEs so far and all have had the latest chip. The current one has a binned A15 but still in that family, so it's easy to see the new SE getting an A18.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i’m not sure why there is any debate about this.
The first SE had the same A9 as the 6S, which was the flagship of the time. Same with the A13 and A15 in the SE’s 2 and 3.
It will be an iPhone 14 with one less camera, the A18 and USB-C.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Homme, Andeddu, _Mitchan1999 and 9 others
SE will continue its position as the basic sedan for those who need an affordable iPhone in new condition that will receive years of iOS updates. And yes, like a group of neighbors discussing another neighbor's tire choice while he washes his car across the street, there will be many opportunities for "I would never" threads. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Homme, Cervisia, kitKAC and 3 others
menist said:
I don't think it'll get a A18 chip, if so, it would be a slap to the face for those who bought the regular 16's. I think it gets a down clocked A17 with 8GB of ram. A base A17 chip never came out, hence it would be wise to rebrand it in a cheap iPhone.
Click to expand...

Hardly, as the 16 still gets the Dynamic Island, satellite messeging, better cameras, mmWave (lol).

Either way, Apple has never cared about what owners of previous devices think. A "slap in the face" just isn't part of any equation that Apple uses, or cares about.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Homme, kitKAC, Newton1701 and 6 others
majkom said:
It will be a18… remember, they wont touch it for many years, maybe it will eat some ip16 sales in 3025, but it wont be competition to regular iphones in following3-5 years, it will stay on a18 in years to come
Click to expand...
Exactly. The new SE will be ultra competitive for the first year and very competitive in the second year. After that, it will slowly fade against other iPhones… until it is updated again or discontinued. Also, I see the big money-saving item being the screen. It won’t be OLED and will stay at a fixed 60hz. That, and the camera and new Apple 5G modem, of course.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back