iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

[Fuzzball84]

Apple is too arrogant to admit the dynamic island is as useless as the touch bar.

They could have combined Touch Bar and Dynamic Island and created

Interactive Federighi

It’s an AI simulation of Craig’s hair positioned over the front facing camera. Touch it and watch it move… wind sensors simulate it wafting in the wind. And every now and again the AI will analyze what you’re doing on screen and a set of eyebrows will appear and react in real time.

 

[maktaba]

Just put the latest chip in iPhone 8 Plus and be done with it.

 

[brofkand]

Just put the latest chip in iPhone 8 Plus and be done with it.

Good point - what have we really gained in the past 10 years, other than the obvious advances in compute?

 

[brofkand]

Imagine if it would have TouchID in the power button and just a dot with the front facing camera instead of a faceID. How cool is that?!

Apple would admit that Samsung has a better design? Never!

 

[sublunar]

This is interesting… at firs my mind was like naaah, Apple needs to differentiate them more. But in terms of scale economy, it makes sense. Especially if you think about it carefully: the size difference between the iPhone 15/16, compared to the iPhone 14, is minimal, bar noticeable. Why not going wi the same body? But, uhm… maybe this rumor is for an hypothetical iPhone SE 5. I think Apple wants to give the iPhone 13/14 body another life.

A cool approach would be making the SE 4 like the iPhone 16 but with an LCD display and a notch. I would most definitely buy one. Especially if they retain the second camera and use the same A18 SoC with, hopefully, 8GB of RAM.


I doubt it. And if I’m being honest, I ve never cared about the mmWave 5G tech. I don’t need such speed (I think regular 5G speed is more than enough for 95% of the population), and it can drain your battery faster. Also you have to be really close to the emisor.

the iPhone 14 case was engineered for a lightning port - I’d guess if they were doing it with a pre existing case with that many economies of scale to consider they’d be using the iPhone 15 Unless they needed to use the notch from the 14.

Either way it would appear like A18, even if binned, will be the cpu and my guess would be that they’d deliberately engineer a touch ID power button like the iPad mini for purposes of differentiation.

Second camera would be nice but not needed on SE4 which has always had 1 camera. Wonder if they would actually reuse 2 cameras from iPhone 14 or 15? Would make sense if the 16 was having a major upgrade in cameras.

at this point is Apple actually looking to sweep up users of older iphones who skipped multiple generations? In the current economic climate it might be a useful driver of upgrades at a time when people might be reluctant to do so. could the 14 then be discontinued when the SE4 appears?

 

[Paddle1]

Since it looks like they’ve killed off the last of the LCD screen iPhones, there’s ZERO reason to buy this thing. Might as well buy a used recent model iPhone instead.
The new SE no longer serves any purpose. Used iPhones are better and cheaper.

The difference is that the SE will likely have updated specs including 8GB of RAM to allow features like Apple Intelligence which used phones won't.

 

[1369281]

The only reason I use iPhone SE today instead of the most expensive iPhone 15 is because iPhone SE is the only phone Apple has that doesn’t use PWM.

It is a horrible shame that Apple uses flickering displays in their phones now. They are very bad for your health.

 

[Paddle1]

the iPhone 14 case was engineered for a lightning port - I’d guess if they were doing it with a pre existing case with that many economies of scale to consider they’d be using the iPhone 15 Unless they needed to use the notch from the 14.

Either way it would appear like A18, even if binned, will be the cpu and my guess would be that they’d deliberately engineer a touch ID power button like the iPad mini for purposes of differentiation.

Second camera would be nice but not needed on SE4 which has always had 1 camera. Wonder if they would actually reuse 2 cameras from iPhone 14 or 15? Would make sense if the 16 was having a major upgrade in cameras.

at this point is Apple actually looking to sweep up users of older iphones who skipped multiple generations? In the current economic climate it might be a useful driver of upgrades at a time when people might be reluctant to do so. could the 14 then be discontinued when the SE4 appears?

I don't think they would do that. If they created a non-home button Touch ID and locked it to the SE it would feel like an omission on the more expensive models. My guess is that the notch and single camera are the main differentiators for now. Once the iPhone 17 launches a few months later there will be more with ProMotion and always-on-display.

Edit: Actually now that I think about it I could see them putting a second camera just to push spatial video.

 

[klasma]

Imagine if it would have TouchID in the power button and just a dot with the front facing camera instead of a faceID. How cool is that?!

I could do without the front camera as well. (Of course, not many people do, nowadays.)

 

[Premium1]

I doubt it. And if I’m being honest, I ve never cared about the mmWave 5G tech. I don’t need such speed (I think regular 5G speed is more than enough for 95% of the population), and it can drain your battery faster. Also you have to be really close to the emisor.

5G UW is more than just speed. It allows more users with less congestion (speeds are an added bonus). Not to mention you don't have to be as close to the tower as you claim.

 

[klasma]

I don't think they would do that. If they created a non-home button Touch ID and locked it to the SE it would feel like an omission on the more expensive models.

You mean, like they do on the iPads?

 

[taliz]

Release it now already. My XRs screen is cracked and battery says "service".

 

[lazyrighteye]

Apple is too arrogant to admit the dynamic island is as useless as the touch bar.

I'm in the less vocal boat that found a dynamic Touch Bar far more useful than a row of dumb keys I rarely needed (YMMV, obviously).

The fun part of Touch Bar? For the 1% of the time you needed to (say) adjust your screen brightness with a Function key, you could. And, for the other 99% of the time, that key could be mapped to some other app-specific feature, making it more useful. Still unsure why users were so worked up about adding functionality to Function keys. Had it been allowed to evolve at all, Apple could have easily added a Touch Bar toggle. Want additional Function key functionality? Enable. Don't? Disable. Discussion over. Alas... The vocal minority wins again. Progress!

 

[sublunar]

I don't think they would do that. If they created a non-home button Touch ID and locked it to the SE it would feel like an omission on the more expensive models. My guess is that the notch and single camera are the main differentiators for now. Once the iPhone 17 launches a few months later there will be more with ProMotion and always-on-display.

Edit: Actually now that I think about it I could see them putting a second camera just to push spatial video.

Second camera for spatial video content potentially (although storage would surely be limited) but my argument for Touch ID is not an economic one, it’s pure product differentiation - look at the iPad mini 6. it got complete redesign over a 5 but retained Touch ID. Would have been easier and potentially cheaper to fit faceid in there But they chose to expend engineering resources to do TouchID On a side button.

Same deal with the Air.

It’s there to push people up to the proper iphone 16.

 

[bluecoast]

Even Apple cannot get away with shipping a phone with just one camera in 2025.

This is the world where CMF by Nothing are shipping a smartphone with two cameras for around $200.

And countless budget android phones in the $200-500 are doing similar.

 

[brofkand]

I'm in the less vocal boat that found a dynamic Touch Bar far more useful than a row of dumb keys I rarely needed (YMMV, obviously).

The fun part of Touch Bar? For the 1% of the time you needed to (say) adjust your screen brightness with a Function key, you could. And, for the other 99% of the time, that key could be mapped to some other app-specific feature, making it more useful. Still unsure why users were so worked up about adding functionality to Function keys. Had it been allowed to evolve at all, Apple could have easily added a Touch Bar toggle. Want additional Function key functionality? Enable. Don't? Disable. Discussion over. Alas... The vocal minority wins again. Progress!

For several things: the Touch Bar zapped a ton of power for no good reason, developers never adopted it, and it was not as accessible for those with vision impairment etc. It was not usable by touch typists, which is a huge usability issue for a keyboard. But that's beside the point of this post.

The Dynamic Island is a huge black stain on a display for no good reason. All other OEMs are moving to tiny hole punches for the front camera, while Apple is making their notch even bigger - why? Lazy engineering.

 

[Paddle1]

You mean, like they do on the iPads?

Power button Touch ID is unwieldy on iPad and a step down in convenience from Face ID. Wouldn't be the same on iPhone where it's generally easier to reach.

 

[boak]

iPhone 13, 14 and 15 are barely different.

• Chip
• Camera
• Screen brightness
• Dynamic Island
• USB-C
• High-g accelerometer
• SOS via satellite

None are make-or-break features

If iPhone SE 4 uses the same rear chassis as iPhone 16, the SE 4 will likely have:

• Binned A18
• Older camera system
• Lower screen brightness
• Notch
• (Probably even no SOS via satellite)

There are only so few things Apple can do to try to differentiate between the base and SE models. Keep in mind that the iPhone 15 will probably still be sold by Apple when they launch the SE 4.

 

[Ramchi]

It looks clear from the behind (like Samsung S24 and S24+) and the colour as well. If this is 6.1 plus OLED with good camera setup then for $500-$600, it will be a great bargain if it comes with 256 GB storage option. As expected the RAM may be just 6GB in this one. In might sell like hot cakes in India for ₹ 50,000 - ₹ 60,000 (which is doubtful in any case). Beyond ₹ 70,000 people will jump the ship to OnePlus 12 16/512 GB combo.

 

[satchmo]

So the only difference between iPhone 16 and SE 2025 will then be Dynamic Island vs notch, respectively?

I'm going to guess that Apple will add a few millimetres of bezel to the SE just to make it look worse.

 

[eatrains]

Nothing but phablets...

 

[tubular]

Interactive Federighi

It’s an AI simulation of Craig’s hair positioned over the front facing camera. Touch it and watch it move… wind sensors simulate it wafting in the wind.

Combine it with the weather app. Humidity makes it frizz out, rain makes it drip. And the clock app too — in the early morning it has bed-head.

 

[Paddle1]

Second camera for spatial video content potentially (although storage would surely be limited) but my argument for Touch ID is not an economic one, it’s pure product differentiation - look at the iPad mini 6. it got complete redesign over a 5 but retained Touch ID. Would have been easier and potentially cheaper to fit faceid in there But they chose to expend engineering resources to do TouchID On a side button.

Same deal with the Air.

It’s there to push people up to the proper iphone 16.

It's possible, but like I said above Touch ID on iPad is not as good as the phone version. The iPad is more meticulously differentiated with multiple tiers of display for base, mini, Air and Pro for example. The iPhone lineup is simpler.

The power button Touch ID is also used on the majority of iPads so it makes sense to put in the engineering effort.

 

[sublunar]

iPhone 13, 14 and 15 are barely different.

• Chip
• Camera
• Screen brightness
• Dynamic Island
• USB-C
• High-g accelerometer
• SOS via satellite

None are make-or-break features

If iPhone SE 4 uses the same rear chassis as iPhone 16, the SE 4 will likely have:

• Binned A18
• Older camera system
• Lower screen brightness
• Notch
• (Probably even no SOS via satellite)

There are only so few things Apple can do to try to differentiate between the base and SE models. Keep in mind that the iPhone 15 will probably still be sold by Apple when they launch the SE 4.

The big upgrade driver will be the bigger screen size (although the 14 is less bright). Would Apple persist with OLED screens? Is it bloody minded of them if they went for IPS when they haven’t used it since the 11?

the gambit by Apple here is clearly economies of scale on common components. If the iPhone 15 camera system has at least a year to go in that phone then why not carry on using it for one more year exclusively in the SE4 After the 15 is notionally discontinued in 2025?

 

[The1Biz]

Can we get a SIM card slot again?