I have my doubts about this. An iPhone SE with dual cameras would leave little room between it and the base iPhone 16, unless the SE is planned to have a significantly inferior processor.
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iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16
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They need to make an SE+ without the dynamic island. I know my mom would just be confused by it, DI is not very intuitive.
I think Apple wants to add Apple Intelligence to the SE so an A18 with 8GB of RAM would be necessary. I think the SE will stick with one camera lens, at least until the mid-tier model gets three like the Pro models.
I have an iPhone 15 Plus - primarily for battery life. I don’t need any of the Pro features. Given the rumors that the Plus will be going away in late 2025, I suspect the answer for me going forward will be to stick with the least expensive iPhone that Apple makes. So that’ll probably be an SE or a last-generation base iPhone.
I think the best way to delineate between this and a 16 (aside from launching probably 6 months later) is putting TouchID on the power button and doing without FaceID.
It will have cost Apple potentially more to put TouchID on the iPad Mini 6 (or iPad Air 4) power button rather than just put a FaceID module in it but a 6.1" SE priced phone might even get Android folks to switch.
That way it's a massive upgrade for previous SE owners and non FaceID phone owners (Xs Xr and prior) but anyone who has an iPhone 11 and up (with FaceID) would have to go to a 15 or 16 to keep FaceID.
I doubt most consumers will care too much about the CPU (look at the last 2 generations of iPhone using 'old' CPUs) - they WILL notice screen size and, secondarily, TouchID or FaceID. They may also take note of the potential of Apple re-using iPhone 14 or 15 cameras with the SE4 - if the 15 is continuing to be on sale we could see Apple re-using the 14 cameras if they plans to do dual cameras just so the comparison tables will have something to compare side by side in ladder upgrades.
The difference here is that A16 can't do Apple Intelligence, A17Pro costs too much to make (especially for a cheap phone), while A18 can do Apple Intelligence and Apple could get cost effectiveness from economies of scale and using binned A18s with deactivated cores or down clocked.
Ok, so in other words you haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about.
I've been waiting for this upgrade since 2021 (I have the 2020). But quite disappointed that they're going to substantially increase the size. I didn't get my SE to save money. I got it for the smaller form factor, which is more suitable for athletic endeavors, as it fits sideways in a jersey pocket. That's not gonna happen with the size indicated in this rumor. Maybe I'll just keep it a while longer.
But yet Apple does, selling the same phone for what, the 5th year running - except with a bigger notch. Okay.
Speak for yourself. I find it quite good as a status indicator for things like shortcuts/airdrop/workouts etc. and useful with the buttons it has for timers/phone calls/voice memos etc.
The UI around the bullet hole was invented to sell the lazy engineering of the huge bullet hole in the display. They could have easily applied that UI to the notch, or (when Apple actually innovates again) just around the top of the display.
The most useful aspect of the Dynamic Island is it proved me wrong. I was certain that the reality distortion field died in 2011, but it's still alive and well and people actually championing a huge bullet hole in their $1000+ iPhone's screen proves it.
I never had an opportunity to try the Touch Bar, but I thought it was a good idea and was frustrated they didn't roll it out as an option for desktop keyboards.
That's the thing with tech. Absolutely mission critical, HAS to work? It'll leave you down when you need it the most (witness CrowdStrike/Windows today).
OTOH... hoping it'll finally croak so you have a reason to replace it? It'll do its job faithfully every day. 🙄
If the SE is using Apple's modem then pretty good chance it won't have mmWave. Getting the modem 'done' has been an issue and if they can skip a whole frequency band that (and associated features) that would make the product easier to finish. Generation 1.0 modem just won't go into high end iPhones. most iPads and the SE would give them substantial v1.0 volume to work with.
Even if it is Qualcomms there are modules and licensing they can skip buying ( which in part is why not there on SE3. )
The SE4 is on a bill of materials budget. For example.
".. Apple has reportedly been holding out for $25 per panel, but Samsung's final offer was $30, which is lower than the two Chinese manufacturers. That leaves BOE and Tianma as potential suppliers, however Tianma has not yet met Apple's stringent quality requirements, leaving BOE in pole position to win the majority of the orders, if not all of them. ... "
6.1-Inch iPhone SE 4 OLED Panel Likely to Be Supplied by China's BOE
Apple supplier BOE has taken the lead in becoming the OLED panel supplier for the fourth-generation iPhone SE, IT Home reports. Samsung Display,...
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Yes it’s a workaround to not show the hole punch, but that’s not the equivalent is saying that the features themselves it introduces are useless. It would be equally as useful if Apple implemented this on their notch phones (in fact, some of it has made their way to the iPad), so I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.
Any notch/hole/island is a distraction. But I’m not sure what you’re proposing as a solution. Get rid of the front facing cameras and sensors?
Until under display technology is ready for prime time, Dynamic Island is a smart solution to make the best of the situation.
Just build the new SE without notch or dynamic island and put sensors in a bar on top of the phone. But wait, this would sacrifice iPhone 16 sales so they won't do it. I hate it that such business decision overweight the obviously best solution for a real full screen experience such as the current SE.
Other manufactureres bring out multiple new chassis per year and Apple needs to rely on an already in production chassis? Thats rediculous, too.