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).
Yeah, as the smartphone market matures & the competition are increasingly making very good full screen phones with modern features in the $400-500 bracket, apple’s profit margin at the lower end will have to give.
Only Apple knows how well the 5g SE is doing, but I’d expect not well.
Gone the days I suspect, where the Apple brand name allowed them to market a 6-8 year old design.
For 2024, I think they have 3 credible options:
SE Plus 5G - based on the iPhone 8 Plus (with USB-C)
Quite a few people here on this forum would love this, but I suspect that launching a new version of a design that debuted 10 years ago would not go down well.
XR SE 5G - based on the XR (with USB-C)
Probably the most sensible option at this point for a cheaper to make full screen phone.
You’d have to imagine that a redesign similar to the 14 for easier repairability would be needed too.
The other big issue would be if a 60hz LCD screen will cut it at the lower end when so many android phones are OLED 90hz (even if some of their screens are a bit iffy).
However, if replacement screens and repair costs are cheap / easy that could be a major selling point.
Could Apple be shooting itself in the foot by offering a full screen for a cheaper price? Not really, as you’d be getting a form factor that was ‘good/ok’ in 2018.
SE Mini - based on the 13 mini (with one camera lens and USB-C)
The only major issue here would be if people want a cheaper smaller phone or a cheaper bigger phone. Given the amount of cheap big screen android phones - where 6.1 inches is seen as ‘small’ - this would likely be a risky proposition. Plus the chassis interior would likely need to be redesigned to be more like the 14. Oh and Apple would probably have very thin margins on this phone.
