Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone SE 4 Launching as Soon as Next Week
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Maybe many, or even most, don't care about modem performance. I do.
That's what I'll probably do. Mainly interested in seeing how the new modem performs.
What the heck were you doing with that thing? My SE (2020) is now five years old, is down to 84% battery capacity, I've all kinds of stuff running in background all the time, and I still usually get a full day's use out of it.
Only time I have problems is when I'm in poor cellular service coverage areas, of which there are two I semi-regularly visit. Then I've problems.
I'm not certain I, personally, care that much about that.
Rumors I've read have been it will have Magsafe. I hope so. When I recently decided to switch to wireless charging because my phone's Lightning connection had become unreliable for that I paid extra for an Apple Magsafe puck.
Another Mark Gurman prediction but too bad that he doesn't have a date this time. Perhaps he didn't have courage.
i can't see apple putting in the R&D to create a new form factor for the front.
SE's have very much largely been about recycling old designs. I'm pretty convinced that the SE lines were apple's way of clearing out old inventories of parts and reusing old designs who's r&d had already paid for themselves; which is how they keep their costs down on them.
I definitely would much much prefer a small phone with Touch ID as well, but I think the war is lost, guys.
The only choice is to go to Android -- that's a no way Jose for me, and I don't even know if Android has small phones or Touch ID, or to give in and get the SE4 if the SE2/3 is no longer able to keep up with one's needs. I don't see much choice in the matter, so will be instabuying the SE4.
The only choice is to go to Android -- that's a no way Jose for me, and I don't even know if Android has small phones or Touch ID, or to give in and get the SE4 if the SE2/3 is no longer able to keep up with one's needs. I don't see much choice in the matter, so will be instabuying the SE4.
There are a few Android phones which are similar size to SE4 (i.e. approx 6") with fingerprint sensor. But nothing that's significantly smaller, at least not from mainstream manufacturers.
Can't tell if you're joking, but that thing is hideous.
Apple isn't wishy washy with their decisions. They opted to use Face ID in 2017 and there's no going back. Same reason Apple doesn't allow macOS on iPad or keep the 3.5mm jack on iPhone Pro Max even if space is available.
The TrueDepth module in 2017 cost $16 in parts. Today is probably close to $10.
Most people buying iPhone SE today aren't buying it because they want Touch ID or a decade old form factor. They're buying it grudgingly because it meets their budget. The updated SE4 design will bring in many Android customers who could not afford iPhone before.
Darn, so basically there is nowhere to run even if you're willing to jump to Android 😭
Only options from obscure manufacturers. The search below below shows smartphones released since 2023 with fingerprint sensor and screen size no larger than 5.5". Only 7 phones found and all happen to be rugged/armoured phones. Suggests to me there is no longer any meaningful demand for small normal smartphones.
Last edited:
The wide-angle camera and a lesser processor isn't worth $200 (or $300 with the same processor). This is the issue I have with the rumors as they stand. Without the difference in screen size and TouchID as differentiators, the price structure will make no sense. Straight up no one should buy an iPhone 15 or 16 if the SE comes out as rumored and priced. If a person actually needed that ultrawide lens, the difference in price would be better spent on a GoPro Hero12 or similar. Some people are locked in to the higher number, better mindset, so the 15 and 16 would see some sales, but it would be a bad deal.
As for discontinuations, definitely possible, I agree with you that what happened with the 8 could happen again. However if the 14 disappears and the SE comes in at $499, that's a $200 jump to the 15 and Apple likes having products at every $100 interval. Could be resolved by dropping the 15's price early (one would expect a $100 drop in the fall): SE $499, 15 $599, 15 plus $699, 16 $799. That partially resolves my pricing critique (the 16 would still be grossly overpriced vs the SE). However, Apple and price drops aren't usually something I bet on. I could be proven wrong shortly, I just think that the rumors should be treated with a much larger grain of salt than they have been.
I think the 17 might see a $50 price jump when it launches (and maybe the 16 only drops $50) because the Air might pull some buyers away from the Pro and Apple won’t want average selling price to go down. But that’s 100% speculation on my part, so I’ll set that aside.
Based on the rumored specs, specs of current phones, and current iPhone price tiers. I think $699 for the SE4 (which may be called the 16E) makes sense now and $599 makes sense in the fall. I could see it launching at either of those price points. It’s just $499 that makes no sense, but I also never expected the Mac mini to get a base RAM jump with no price increase, so who knows
To be clear though, I never said I thought the SE4 would stay $699 for its full lifecycle. That obviously doesn’t make sense. I was only talking about potential prices at launch. If the phone doesn’t launch at the bottom of the lineup, it would naturally drop $100 (unless price tiers change) every year until it was the cheapest again. That would keep it competitive. The 16E name rumor makes a lot of sense to me if this is the scenario that plays out.