Kuo: iPhone SE 2 Launching in Q1 2020 with A13 at $399 Price

[Yaka]

expects the form factor of Apple's new budget iPhone to be similar to the iPhone 8.

That's a no from me.

Many of us who own the iPhone SE didn't buy it because it was a cheaper option. I could have just snagged a refurbished iPhone if I cared that much.

The SE's appeal was the newer components squeezed into the iPhone 5s form factor. It's beauty and power compacted into a 4-inch phone. It doesn't have to have a notch, 3 lens, or Face ID.

I hope the rumor is wrong and it mirrors the iPhone SE but with newer components than before, the latest Touch ID and an improved camera. That's what the successor to the iPhone SE was always meant to be.

556fmjoe
Wouldn't you agree?

 

[dantroline]

iOS 13 has decidedly killed even 5 hours of battery on my current iPhone 6s.
so i appreciate the possibility of this new model launching within Q1 2020.

With respect, so you intend to reward Apple's shafting you with engineered obsolescence of your iPhone 6s by buying another phone from Apple?

These things are such a commodity now there are alraeady offerings of made-in-China phones like this one with equivalent functionality with a much lower price tag.

 

[neliason]

It’s great to have an entry level iPhone for low income people. Not everyone needs an iPhone 11 Pro.

I can afford a more expensive phone. But I don’t want to spend that much money on a phone. It just isn’t worth it to me. I don’t get $1,000 worth of value from a high end phone.

 

[kwikdeth]

Not that they'd do it, but imagine... A 5S form factor, with faceID. Edge to edge screen would look beautiful in that frame.

 

[ktappe]

Night mode is only available on the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, but some improvements for low-level photography were brought to older iPhones. Still not night mode by any stretch of the imagination — older phones don’t have the UI to control it.

Hopefully you understand "UI", user interface, is software? As such there is no reason why the UI can't be added to any iPhone. Only hardware would be an impediment to including a feature.

 

[brucemr]

One thing doesn't quite add up.
iPhone 8 with A11 chip @ $449
Kuo says iPhone SE 2 in iPhone 8 body with A13 chip @ $399

Something's not right. Either it's going to cost more or it's not going to be in an iPhone 8 body.

Don’t be so sure. A nice spec upgrade and price reduction from $450 to $400 is exactly what happened the day the 5s disappeared and the SE appeared.

 

[QCassidy352]

A13? No way..

it’ll be a A11 with 2-3GB of ram and a single 12MP camera, and a very nice LCD panel.

the A11 is a boss. It is efficient, and super fast!

What you’ve described is literally the iPhone 8 that already exists.

Not that they'd do it, but imagine... A 5S form factor, with faceID. Edge to edge screen would look beautiful in that frame.

Yes. Ideal iPhone, and I’d pay $1k for it. But it’ll never happen. Somehow small = budget to apple. Frustrating.

 

[Jacobi]

Somehow small = budget to apple. Frustrating.

Remember when it was the opposite? Small = innovative? iPod nano, G4 Cube, MacBook Air....

 

[Hastings101]

It’s great to have an entry level iPhone for low income people. Not everyone needs an iPhone 11 Pro.

Definitely, this would open up the Apple ecosystem (all that services money) to a lot of people.

Latest CPU + years of software support + HOPEFULLY a competitive camera = a great deal for $399 (though I'll believe it when I see it). Apple could take a big bite out of the mid-range Android market and get a lot of new subscribers to their different offerings.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

They gonna spoil it. The folks are expecting smaller handset so iPhone 8 size will be so wrong.

 

[reallynotnick]

I might even bother to upgrade my iPhone 8 for this, I need a new battery anyway. Hopefully there aren't any downgrades from the 8.

 

[jonblatho]

Hopefully you understand "UI", user interface, is software? As such there is no reason why the UI can't be added to any iPhone. Only hardware would be an impediment to including a feature.

I’m well aware. And yet at issue was whether night mode was available on earlier iPhones; I was referring strictly to Apple’s own night mode, which is indeed exclusive to the new iPhones. If night mode were available on older iPhones, they would have gotten the UI to control it.

I might even bother to upgrade my iPhone 8 for this, I need a new battery anyway. Hopefully there aren't any downgrades from the 8.

The article says 3D Touch will apparently be going away, but I’d also half-expect some other corners cut like an sRGB display instead of wide color, maybe the slower first-generation Touch ID, stuff along those lines. Likely nothing huge in terms of downgrades, though. (To be fair, though, I was pleasantly surprised with what Apple included in the iPhone SE, and they might just do it again, too.)

 

[Virinprew]

Thick bezels..... and a home button....in 2020....wtf

Coal in 2020 ... wtf.

 

[reallynotnick]

iPhone 6 owner here: I was just waiting for this kind of model. No need any fancy bezel-less screen, just give me the latest CPU, a good amount of ram, a tft led screen, a decent camera (single is okay), good ole touch id, some water proofing and my card will be swiped right away.

Man your mind is going to be blown if this upgrade is true. The 6 is just a dog of a phone, I went from it to an 8 and it was an amazing upgrade, this will be insane.

 

[smulji]

They are currently offering the iPhone 8 for $450. Will this SE 2 replace that? Seems odd that it will be better (A13 chip) and cheaper than the current offering in that form factor. Surprised they would put the A13 in such a low-cost model as it may cannibalize sales of the $699 iPhone 11. Time will tell.

That’s why I’m skeptical that this iPhone will go for $399. If it’s using the iPhone 8 form factor, with iPhone 11 processor, iPhone XR camera lens, & bigger battery, I wouldn’t be surprised if this sells for $499.

 

[brucemr]

You underestimate how many people don't care about full screen phones, and as such will see the tremendous value in a $400 IPhone 8 body, with the latest CPU.

Had this been an option when I got the 11, I would have strongly considered it at $300 less. Same A13 CPU, lesser camera (probably). The 11 isn't $300 better to me than an 8 with A13.

Don’t think underestimated SE2 sales. SE had the same processor (as the then top iPhone, 6s). At $250 lower cost. And was not long thereafter discounted further. Nevertheless, SE sales were modest at best.

 

[EightyTwenty]

This is NOT an iPhone SE2. Stop calling it that.

It’s an updated iPhone 8.

 

[decisions]

Only thing I like about this is the price.

Wish I could buy a phone with the SE size, bezel-less screen, Touch ID under the screen, headphone jack...

Closest thing on the market to what I want is the S10e. Guess I will wait and see what actually happens with this.

I wish Kuo would stop using the term "SE2", I feel like that term would only be used for clicks, which is ironic because it implicitly proves that there is interest in an SE2...

 

[turbineseaplane]

I wish Kuo would stop using the term "SE2", I feel like that term would only be used for clicks, which is ironic because it implicitly proves that there is interest in an SE2...

Me too. A rebadged and spec bumped iPhone 8 is in no way an SE2

 

[smulji]

The A11 is ageing. What is the point of relaunching the iPhone 8 with the A11 again.

This new phone will probably hang around for a while, just like the SE did, so it needs modern specs, again like the original SE.

What is the point of relaunching the iPad 7th generation with an A10 again?
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Controversial fact, apple made the iphone SE for people who want to spend less money, NOT for people who want a smaller form factor.

Not controversial. That’s fact.

 

[kenni417]

might as well discontinue the iphone 8 then.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

It’s great to have an entry level iPhone for low income people. Not everyone needs an iPhone 11 Pro.

Not everyone wants an iPhone 11 Pro... I’m guessing that an entry level iPhone would appeal to many people (for different reasons) including people that have “money to burn”.

 

[LeonardXW]

Face ID & Gold Color, I am in!

 

[aaronhead14]

$399 for a 128GB model sounds great, but $399 for a 64GB sounds meh.

 

[JPSaltzman]

Without a headphone plug, it's a no-go for me (and probably many others). Not all of us are "sold" are the quality of a Bluetooth connection and battery-life, as compared to a directly wired headphone. Sorry, folks, but sometimes sound, a true stereo sound, not compressed, is more important than being on top of the curve. (Besides, how many of my home stereo and TV components are bluetooth?)