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Those people complaining about a "lack of innovation" are most likely the first ones crying about a new design.

We have reached a point where phone design cannot be improved on further, it's going to be a slab for years to come. Even the much talked-about foldable design is basically that.
 
When the iPhone 5C was released the 'C' stood for colour. Apple won't use terminology like 'cheap' in their brand portfolio ;)
They should. The inner parts of the iPhone SE are antique in terms of technology. Hope the new ones will solve this with 120 hz oled, 8 Gb (at the minimum) ram and at least an A17 processor.
 
Those complaining that it doesn't look innovative enough don't understand that the SE is a parts bin model.

They have the machining set up for an iPhone 14 frame or iPhone 15 frame, maybe even a bunch of unused frames already manufactured, so the SE might copy that frame to get more life out of their existing tooling and use up existing supplies. It wouldn't surprise me if the frame is from the iPhone 15 so that it has USB-C without having to make changes.

Even if they happen to have a surplus of extra camera control buttons, they're unlikely to use them because that wouldn't fit the spare frames.

The screen will likely be taken from an old phone model that fits the frame, I'm guessing from an iPhone 12 or 13. Probably a notch rather than the island.

They've probably selected the camera based on the cheapest way they can make a glass back for the phone. The glass bevelling around the camera bump takes custom machining and tooling. Choosing a smaller, shallower camera, that doesn't need a pronounced bump in the glass means they can make the phone back at a much lower cost. Its much cheaper to drill a hole in an already thin piece of glass than grind down a thicker piece of glass to get the bump.

The SOC will likely be one from a previous, but recent, model that they have unused supply of or that contractually is still being manufactured but no longer used for current models. They might even have fewer working cores in the chip so that they can make use of any already manufactured chips that failed QA.

It will be a solid phone for those who don't need a great camera, who don't care about the Dynamic Island, who don't need the fastest performance. This is not supposed to be an innovative, landmark device.
 
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Those complaining that it doesn't look innovative enough don't understand that the SE is a parts bin model.

They have the machining set up for an iPhone 14 frame or iPhone 15 frame, maybe even a bunch of unused frames already manufactured, so the SE might copy that frame to get more life out of their existing tooling and use up existing supplies. It wouldn't surprise me if the frame is from the iPhone 15 so that it has USB-C without having to make changes.

Even if they happen to have a surplus of extra camera control buttons, they're unlikely to use them because that wouldn't fit the spare frames.

The screen will likely be taken from an old phone model that fits the frame. Probably a notch rather than the island.
They've probably selected the camera based on the cheapest way they can make a glass back for the phone. The glass bevelling around the camera bump takes custom machining and tooling. Choosing a smaller, shallower camera, that doesn't need a pronounced bump in the glass makes means they can make the phone back at a much lower cost.

The SOC will likely be one from a previous, but recent, model that they have unused supply of or that contractually is still being manufactured but no longer used for current models.

It will be a solid phone for those who don't need a great camera, who don't care about the Dynamic Island, who don't need the fastest performance. This is not supposed to be an innovative, landmark device.
If so I suspect it in the $ 399 range because otherwise it has no features to compete with competitors.
 
If so I suspect it in the $ 399 range because otherwise it has no features to compete with competitors.
Most consumers aren’t tech nerds like us posting on MacRumors looking at tech specs. The phone will cost $499, you’ll claim it’s an absolute rip off, it will sell fine.

“Apple charges too much for lower specs” has been going on for like 40 years at this point. They’re not changing that now.
 
If so I suspect it in the $ 399 range because otherwise it has no features to compete with competitors.

Given the current SE that its replacing is $429, I think they'll target a similar price point not far removed from what you suggest. The SE has been really popular at that price point as an entry level iPhone. I doubt Apple will want to do anything to upset that market segment.
 
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I'm really not ready for the home button not to be a thing anymore. It's one of the main reasons I buy SEs.
 
Most consumers aren’t tech nerds like us posting on MacRumors looking at tech specs. The phone will cost $499, you’ll claim it’s an absolute rip off, it will sell fine.

“Apple charges too much for lower specs” has been going on for like 40 years at this point. They’re not changing that now.

I suspect that (in the US), the majority that buy this will get it for "free" with a 2-year phone contract, or much cheaper with a pre-paid plan. You can currently get a se 2022 for $150 with Straight Talk, for example, and its unlockable in two months. Then you have companies, like my employer, that will buy hundreds of these.

It'll do just fine.

They should. The inner parts of the iPhone SE are antique in terms of technology. Hope the new ones will solve this with 120 hz oled, 8 Gb (at the minimum) ram and at least an A17 processor.

Every SE, so far, has had the current processor. No reason why this would be different.
 
Most consumers aren’t tech nerds like us posting on MacRumors looking at tech specs. The phone will cost $499, you’ll claim it’s an absolute rip off, it will sell fine.

“Apple charges too much for lower specs” has been going on for like 40 years at this point. They’re not changing that now.
You twist my words as usual and you don’t know it will sell fine unless you’re gifted which I find doubtful 🤨

Apple has to do something to turn the tide of lower selling iPhones. Their iOS 18 isn’t a sellingpoint to help 😅
 
A17Pro? I thought we were expecting an A18...


Who says it will be $100 less than an iPhone 14? It seems fairly clear this will replace the iPhone 14 in the line-up so why won't the price increase to match?


Given the low yields and limited capacity for the N3B process, I would have thought that the A18 would actually cost Apple less per chip than the A17Pro. Perhaps Apple sees am overall business benefit for including a more expensive chip in the cheaper models to prevent loss of sales of the more expensive models, but this isn't a great look.

The thing with N3B and what makes the A17 Pro better than M3 is that it supports int8 ( A11 to A16 support int16 I believe)which is why it’s ANE’s operations per second is almost double that of the M4.

The SE4 will replace the 14 ( and the SE3 as in the EU)just as the SE2 replaced the iPhone 8 and SE1 replaced the 5s from being on sale😊

Regardless even if this gets A17 Pro or A18 ( performance isn’t a big deal) it will be far better than the iPhone 14/14 Pro largely because of OS support, USB C, 1000 battery cycles, Apple Modem etc
 
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Every SE, so far, has had the current processor. No reason why this would be different.

Yes indeed but until the 14 and 15 models used the processors of the 13 and 14 Pro counterparts and now to the 16’s using A18 its this camp and that camp

If SE4 gets A18 then it will almost feel like the SE1 days when it was the most powerful iPhone back then ( small screen, less pixels and same A9) until the 7 came out and also SE1 beating powerful Androids. SE4 having 8GB of RAM and almost identical CPU as the 16 Pro Models.

I wonder if it will also come in product red
 
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I think this is just about the perfect phone IMO.

It's OLED, has 8 GB of RAM, USB-C, and a 48 MP lens.
I’m waiting for Apple to show their Apple tax to say it’s nice or not 😅

When it’s getting a price increase from the SE (which uses antique tech) it’s a no sell for me.

While it’s definitely better looking, it’s not a marvel.
 
An extra button blows the budget?

In a manner of speaking, yes!

An extra button (+ other features, esp. real innovation) would cannibalize sales of higher-end, more expensive, and larger profit margin models.

In any case, in contrast, the iPhone SE 2016 still looks good and works well — the last truly easily handheld, pocketable iPhone! (Yes, that's a provocative declaration; obviously the Minis do those things well, too.)
 
In a manner of speaking, yes!

An extra button (+ other features, esp. real innovation) would cannibalize sales of higher-end, more expensive, and larger profit margin models.

In any case, in contrast, the iPhone SE 2016 still looks good and works well — the last truly easily handheld, pocketable iPhone! (Yes, that's a provocative declaration; obviously the Minis do those things well, too.)

Yeah I was sort of joking

It’s all sort of ludicrous….the effort they go to in order to protect the pricing scheme and tiers

To me, all iPhones should have the same interaction options and anything “pro” at this point should just be about higher end materials, faster internals and more/better camera stuff.

All could benefit from an action button folks could decide to use as they see fit … should be on all models IMO
 
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Every SE, so far, has had the current processor. No reason why this would be different.
There is even more reason this time around: N3B is a mess, it's expensive, and Apple will not base new devices on it. That's the entire reason there never was an M3 Ultra, the M3 Pro was gimped and the iPad Pro skipped M3 wholesale. It's cheaper to use A18 than A17 Pro.

It would even be feasible that they use binned A18s, clocking them lower or even just using 4 GPU cores, which would allow them to save a few mAh's in battery capacity and help differentiate the devices as "budget".

Plus: A17 Pro is ARMv8.6, A18 is ARMv9.2. Using the A17 now would require them to stick with the ARMv8.6 build target for one more software generation.

Hardly anyone really noticed, but M3/A17 Pro was as close to a failure as Apple got since Intel fudged up 10nm.

Edit: It would make financial sense to use A16 since N4P at this point is relatively cheap and really, really mature and they can fab it in the US of A. But considering NV will have gobbled up a whole lot of that capacity and will continue to do so I'm not convinced this really would be a prescient move considering the other aforementioned limitations.
 
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Hope they keep Touch ID, as the SE is the perfect model for visually impaired folks / anyone who might struggle with Face ID.
I'm genuinely confused as to the link between visual impairment and Face ID struggle.

Honestly, while I like Touch ID and IMHO it's more secure - once face ID is set up it just works, and is at least as accurate (if not more so) than Touch ID.
 
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