Kuo: Apple No Longer Planning to Launch iPhone SE 4 Next Year

[SoldOnApple]

It would be nice if the SE had a bigger screen. My mom basically wants an iPhone to be a dumb phone as she gets older so the new SE would be perfect, except she's so used to a bigger screen that the iPhone 6 style screen is too small. She was using an iPhone X but was having touchscreen issues so needed to get a new one.

All the other newer iPhones are too expensive for her when she just wants basic functions. SE was the right price and she would have bought one otherwise. In the end she decided to get an actual dumb phone, which has an even smaller screen and old fashioned keypad, but the allure of going back to simpler times in her twilight years was too much to resist when a normal sized iPhone would cost her well over $1000 AUD.

 

[4odomi]

There's a lot that want TouchID, so having only Face will kill those sales. At least start putting Touch in Power into the new model if you scrap SE

I was totally pro Touch ID and anty Face ID, until I actually got Face ID on the 12 pro, it's night and day, would never want to go back to Touch ID

 

[seek3r]

They've already added 5G to the SE and raised the price along with it.

If they've cancelled a 2024 refresh of the SE (which is still pretty far out), I bet this has something to do with the switch to USB-C. Apple is going to introduce the iPhone 15 line with USB-C next year, but they aren't going to run around and redesign all of their old iPhones that they still sell to include USB-C. That also rules out reusing an old product design for an updated SE (which they are so found of doing). By 2024, any SE would have to be an entire new design with USB-C...something Apple has proven unwillingly to do for a low cost iPhone. It may well be that the SE we have today will remain until a USB-C iPhone trickles down to the SE.

This is the most reasonable explanation in the thread

 

[4odomi]

They should just reduce the cost of the normal iPhones first before creating another SE

How exactly? Sell them at a loss? All the components and manufacturing costs have gone up by at least 30% in the last year, as has everything else....

 

[Ac1d 8urn]

The SE3 is my favorite iPhone next to the 8+. I didn't buy it cause it was cheap, I bought it solely to have an updated iPhone with touch ID. Face ID has been finicky and inconvenient on all 5 phones I've owned that had it, for every 10 times it works there's 5 times it doesn't. I envy people who it works perfectly for, but for me, touch ID has always been much more reliable and fast. I'm currently using a Z Flip 4 and have gotten spoiled by having both touch and face ID, yes I know it's not the exact same type of face ID as Apple's but it awesome to have more than one type of biometric. Having both on an iPhone would be amazing.

I'll never understand Face ID supremacists either, like the ones who get on here and argue with people who prefer Touch ID. You like something I don't like, NO YOU'RE WRONG! It's like they can't comprehend that their personal opinions are not actually cold hard facts, nor are their choices superior to anyone else's

EDIT: The fact that someone disagree-reacted to this is both hilarious and proves my point 😅

 

[JapanApple]

Good grief...... Any of these could be assumed another Kuo-ism

 

[4odomi]

The Mini was not discontinued, you can still buy a brand new 13 mini straight from Apple for the exact same price as it was on its launch day.
It never got lowered in price, it’s never been removed from any websites, you can still buy it.
And you’ll probably still be able to buy it, even after the 15 comes out.
And get this? It pretty much has identical specifications to the new 14 series.
And given that the new 14+ doesn’t seem to be doing so well, I wouldn’t be so sure that the mini design will never ever come back in any capacity.

The 14 Plus isn't doing well, because it's too close price wise to the Pro Max, considering the huge differences, people are just buying Max if they want a large phone for a $200 odd more

 

[v0lume4]

Its my belief that the underlying problem is Apple’s absolute refusal to make anything less than a near double profit margin on their devices. I don’t know what the margin is on the current SE, but I know Apple makes about 100% margin on the flagship lineup.

Look at what Google, Samsung, and others offer at $400-$450. It’s absolutely mental just how good those devices are for the price.

And then look at Apple’s $430 offering. I reckon Apple isn’t willing to do a new SE (even with a four year old design, the XR) because they can’t hit the margins they want.

For the record, I say this as a happy owner of the 2022 SE (small phones ftw).

 

[4odomi]

The SE3 is my favorite iPhone next to the 8+. I didn't buy it cause it was cheap, I bought it solely to have an updated iPhone with touch ID. Face ID has been finicky and inconvenient on all 5 phones I've owned that had it, for every 10 times it works there's 5 times it doesn't. I envy people who it works perfectly for, but for me, touch ID has always been much more reliable and fast. I'm currently using a Z Flip 4 and have gotten spoiled by having both touch and face ID, yes I know it's not the exact same type of face ID as Apple's but it awesome to have more than one type of biometric. Having both on an iPhone would be amazing.

I'll never understand Face ID supremacists either, like the ones who get on here and argue with people who prefer Touch ID. You like something I don't like, NO YOU'RE WRONG! It's like they can't comprehend that their personal opinions are not actually cold hard facts, nor are their choices superior to anyone else's

I was like you, until I upgraded from my 7 to 12 Pro, would never go back to Touch ID in fact it annoys me on my son's SE, whenever he needs help. I suspect most avid Touch ID fans, have never tried Face ID 🤣

 

[4odomi]

Its my belief that the underlying problem is Apple’s absolute refusal to make anything less than a near double profit margin on their devices. I don’t know what the margin is on the current SE, but I know Apple makes about 100% margin on the flagship lineup.

Look at what Google, Samsung, and others offer at $400-$450. It’s absolutely mental just how good those devices are for the price.

And then look at Apple’s $430 offering. I reckon Apple isn’t willing to do a new SE (even with a four year old design, the XR) because they can’t hit the margins they want.

For the record, I say this as a happy owner of the 2022 SE (small phones ftw).

But you don't get 6 years of upgrades on those android phones and because they are made so cheaply, you hit problems with them after a year in a lot of cases and all of them after 2 years. Myself, I can't afford cheap products, there's always a reason they are cheap!

 

[v0lume4]

But you don't get 6 years of upgrades on those android phones and because they are made so cheaply, you hit problems with them after a year in a lot of cases and all of them after 2 years. Myself, I can't afford cheap products, there's always a reason they are cheap!

That may be true depending on who makes the phone, but a lot of it comes down to personal preference. My last phone was a Nexus 6P (precursor to the Pixel phones) and it lasted me five years. That was a midrange phone that launched at $500. The only reason it stopped working was because of an accident which killed the screen.

It ran a way out of date version of Android which I personally didn’t care about because every app still worked. Old OS support from devs is way better on Android than iOS (because of the fragmented install base). Also Google decouples the system apps from the OS so they get updated just like any other app.

 

[4odomi]

Apple needs to consider how to increase their market share in countries outside of the U.S. and price is definitely one of the main considerations.

As it seems like most U.S. buyers will pay the relatively small premium to get the Pro, what I think Apple should do is to drastically lower the iPhone 14 "non-pro" price. In other countries I've visited, no one wants an old out of date phone, they want the latest, but no one considers Apple because it's just too expensive. If this means that the non-pro has to come with cost cutting options, then they should do that.

If I couldn't afford a new Pro, then I would get a 2 year old Pro, for half the price, it would still be much better than the so called budget ADROIDS 😏

 

[4odomi]

That may be true depending on who makes the phone, but a lot of it comes down to personal preference. My last phone was a Nexus 6P (precursor to the Pixel phones) and it lasted me five years. That was a midrange phone that launched at $500. The only reason it stopped working was because of an accident which killed the screen.

It ran a way out of date version of Android which I personally didn’t care about because every app still worked. Old OS support from devs is way better on Android than iOS (because of the fragmented install base). Also Google decouples the system apps from the OS so they get updated just like any other app.

You're clearly trolling on here and spinning you version of the truth, in your version of the truth, you can have an up to date iPhone for 6 years and the run it on outdated version for another 5 😊

 

[4odomi]

The mini did just as poorly. For the exact same reason that the plus is doing poorly. Both were overpriced for what they offered. The plus is way too expensive for a non-Pro phone, and the mini was way too expensive for something that small.

Despite what people claim on the internet, no one anywhere is prioritizing size OVER price. They may have a size preference, but they aren't going to ignore the price or the value of the purchase. Both Min and Plus lack in value severely.

The problem with the 13 mini, which was created by the 12 mini, was battery life not the price, if it did 7 plus hours, I would buy for $675 without a second thought. You are right about the 14 plus, it's very poor value against the 14 Pro Max

 

[v0lume4]

You're clearly trolling on here and spinning you version of the truth, in your version of the truth, you can have an up to date iPhone for 6 years and the run it on outdated version for another 5 😊

I don’t understand what you’re saying exactly. I’m saying that I had an Android phone than ran outdated version for about 4 years or so and all my apps were still updated and supported. What are you saying?

 

[v0lume4]

How exactly? Sell them at a loss? All the components and manufacturing costs have gone up by at least 30% in the last year, as has everything else....

The profit margins on the flagship iPhones (14, Pro, etc) are about 100%.

The iPhone 14 and 14 Pro models cost $400-500 to make and sell for $800 and $1,000, respectively.

 

[I7guy]

The profit margins on the flagship iPhones (14, Pro, etc) are about 100%.

The iPhone 14 and 14 Pro models cost $400-500 to make and sell for $800 and $1,000, respectively.

Do you have some more or less credible citations for the above?

 

[4odomi]

It would be nice if the SE had a bigger screen. My mom basically wants an iPhone to be a dumb phone as she gets older so the new SE would be perfect, except she's so used to a bigger screen that the iPhone 6 style screen is too small. She was using an iPhone X but was having touchscreen issues so needed to get a new one.

All the other newer iPhones are too expensive for her when she just wants basic functions. SE was the right price and she would have bought one otherwise. In the end she decided to get an actual dumb phone, which has an even smaller screen and old fashioned keypad, but the allure of going back to simpler times in her twilight years was too much to resist when a normal sized iPhone would cost her well over $1000 AUD.

Hmm, now she can't receive photos or do Face Time with her kids and grand kids, sounds like spin to me 😏

 

[v0lume4]

Do you have some more or less credible citations for the above?

I heard it from the CEO of Nothing, Carl Pei, in this video:

I’m assuming (?) he got his info from some of the reports that came out about the cost. If you Google “iPhone 14 cost to produce” you’ll see a number of articles about it. I believe the initial report came from Nikkei Asia.

Here’s one article that covers it: https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/the-cost-of-making-an-iphone.aspx

 

[I7guy]

I heard it from the CEO of Nothing, Carl Pei, in this video:

I’m assuming (?) he got his info from some of the reports that came out about the cost. If you Google “iPhone 14 cost to produce” you’ll see a number of articles about it. I believe the initial report came from Nikkei Asia.

Here’s one article that covers it: https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/the-cost-of-making-an-iphone.aspx

People, websites, youtubers post their own interpretation of the cost to produce an iphone without any real knowledge of what the cost is to Apple. Because that is the holy grail of information and then it can be used to bak into the numbers of iphones sold.

Not so fast, those wet fingers in the air are to be taken as seriously as Marcus Welby diagnosing a real life patient.

 

[JPack]

People, websites, youtubers post their own interpretation of the cost to produce an iphone without any real knowledge of what the cost is to Apple. Because that is the holy grail of information and then it can be used to bak into the numbers of iphones sold.

Not so fast, those wet fingers in the air are to be taken as seriously as Marcus Welby diagnosing a real life patient.

As long as Apple is contracting out a component to be made by a third party, the cost can be determined.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Hmm, now she can't receive photos or do Face Time with her kids and grand kids, sounds like spin to me 😏

Ha, I suspect it has something to do with it. I think I'll still need to set up a data only sim for her old iPhone anyway so she can still use Apple Music and use Apple Maps for driving navigation. What I don't understand is how she can go back to texting with just a numpad. I know I couldn't do it, I've forgotten how to do it. Pressing the number buttons multiple times to cycle through the letters I guess?

 

[JohnnyAppleSeed1]

They've already added 5G to the SE and raised the price along with it.

If they've cancelled a 2024 refresh of the SE (which is still pretty far out), I bet this has something to do with the switch to USB-C. Apple is going to introduce the iPhone 15 line with USB-C next year, but they aren't going to run around and redesign all of their old iPhones that they still sell to include USB-C. That also rules out reusing an old product design for an updated SE (which they are so found of doing). By 2024, any SE would have to be an entire new design with USB-C...something Apple has proven unwillingly to do for a low cost iPhone. It may well be that the SE we have today will remain until a USB-C iPhone trickles down to the SE.

I doubt they will go with a usb c port. I see them switching over completly to magsafe. The reason they kept lightning around for so long is because MFI lightning cables were free passive income, as will magsafe in the future.

 

[v0lume4]

People, websites, youtubers post their own interpretation of the cost to produce an iphone without any real knowledge of what the cost is to Apple. Because that is the holy grail of information and then it can be used to bak into the numbers of iphones sold.

Not so fast, those wet fingers in the air are to be taken as seriously as Marcus Welby diagnosing a real life patient.

Can you confidently say that the original source of the info, Nikkei Asia, is wrong? I’d say it’s at least in the realm of plausibility that iPhone manufacturing costs could be around $400-500.

 

[sw1tcher]

Its my belief that the underlying problem is Apple’s absolute refusal to make anything less than a near double profit margin on their devices. I don’t know what the margin is on the current SE, but I know Apple makes about 100% margin on the flagship lineup.

I heard it from the CEO of Nothing, Carl Pei, in this video:

I’m assuming (?) he got his info from some of the reports that came out about the cost. If you Google “iPhone 14 cost to produce” you’ll see a number of articles about it. I believe the initial report came from Nikkei Asia.

Here’s one article that covers it: https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/the-cost-of-making-an-iphone.aspx

They're all talking about the cost of the components only.

"The iPhone 14 is Apple's latest phone and comes in various iterations as previous models have. The iPhone 14 Pro, depending on storage size, costs between $799 and $999. It's quite a hefty price tag, especially when it's estimated that the actual cost of all the components to make the phone amounts to approximately $500."

You (and they) are completely ignoring the other costs (R&D, marketing, warranty, tech support, iOS development, freight and logistics, etc) that go into the iPhone. All those things aren't free.

Only after you add in all those other costs do you get the real cost of the iPhone and can determine what Apple's margins are. And they'll be nowhere close to 100%