New iPhone SE With Apple-Designed 5G Modem Said to Launch in 2025

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to release an iPhone SE with a custom-designed 5G modem in 2025, according to analyst Jeff Pu. In a research note with Haitong International Securities on Tuesday, he said the modem will be manufactured by Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC.

This information comes two months after analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple restarted development of a fourth-generation iPhone SE with a 6.1-inch OLED display and an Apple-designed 5G modem. He said the modem would be built with TSMC's 4nm process and support sub-6GHz bands only, meaning that mmWave would not be supported initially.

Kuo said mass production of the fourth-generation iPhone SE would begin in the first half of 2024, and Qualcomm's CEO also anticipated a 2024 timeframe for Apple's modem, but Pu believes the device's launch has been delayed until 2025.

The current iPhone SE was released in March 2022 and is equipped with Qualcomm's custom Snapdragon X57 chip for sub-6GHz 5G. The 4.7-inch device is Apple's last iPhone with a Home button and Touch ID, but Face ID is likely for the new model, as Kuo said the device will have a similar design as the standard iPhone 14 model.

Apple acquired the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business in 2019 in an effort to design its own iPhone modem, a move that would reduce its dependence on Qualcomm. It's unclear if Apple's modem will offer any customer-facing benefits compared to Qualcomm's modems, such as faster 5G performance or improved power efficiency.

Article Link: New iPhone SE With Apple-Designed 5G Modem Said to Launch in 2025

 

[winxmac]

2025? So no more even numbered year release?

2016 iPhone SE [A9]
2020 iPhone SE [A13]
2022 iPhone SE [A15]

 

[zorinlynx]

Ugh.

I'm glad this year is upgrade year for me as I'll have a nice reliable Qualcomm cellular chipset instead of whatever first generation buggy crap Apple throws together for their first cellular chipset.

 

[JPack]

Just in time for 6G. It was just last month that it was reported 6G is targeted for 2025, at least for some parts of the world.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Can we have an Apple-Designed 5G Modem on the iPhone Mini, please?

 

[winxmac]

Can we have an Apple-Designed 5G Modem on the iPhone Mini, please?

Can we have an iPhone Mini again please? Or bring back the iPhone 5/5s/SE 2016 form factor? Also, I would also like to have the iPhone 5c form factor make a comeback...

 

[boak]

Wow the current SE will look so dated by then

 

[GMShadow]

They're not going to push the refresh to 2025. Either there will be an interim model or Kuo is wrong as usual.

 

[Joanne56709]

Too bad this isn't going to use a Mini-shell. Seems pointless as is compared to a used Pro.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Not going to lie the Original iPhone SE (1st Generation) was a pure act of masterpiece. 🏆

 

[Wokis]

Too bad this isn't going to use a Mini-shell. Seems pointless as is compared to a used Pro.

I'm holding out for the same hope, that they'll remake the Mini's innards with an SE-refresh down the line.

It feels somewhat discouraging that no rumours to my knowledge go in that direction.

I'd say RIP iPhone Mini, but want to recall how the iPad mini was even rumoured to be removed back in ~2017 and look how that turned around!

 

[nutmac]

Not going to lie the Original iPhone SE (1st Generation) was a pure act of masterpiece. 🏆

While I have fondness for iPhone 4/4S and 5/5S/SE 1, I think iPhone 1 2/13 mini is the pinnacle of Apple's one-handed phone. Too bad it's likely not coming back.

 

[Ion-X]

Too bad this isn't going to use a Mini-shell. Seems pointless as is compared to a used Pro.

The iPhone mini was a commercial failure by every metric. Yes, it had its small fanbase of support, but so did AirPort and Newton and Pippin. It's not coming back because the market has spoken and decided that small phones should be priced cheaply, not at a premium, even with the Apple logo on the back.

 

[ksec]

Apple Modem in 2025?

Where are the usual Apple will move mountains, get rid of Qualcomm Modem by 2023? or They will get Modem done in 2021, just look at their SoC?

 

[klasma]

They're not going to push the refresh to 2025. Either there will be an interim model or Kuo is wrong as usual.

Why not? It would still be one year less than between the SE1 and SE2.

 

[CharlesShaw]

I don’t plan to need a new phone in 2025, but if it’s a mini body I will buy one, even though I‘ll be poor from having recently purchased my OLED iPad Pro.

 

[Ion-X]

It feels somewhat discouraging that no rumours to my knowledge go in that direction.

Tim Cook, despite his lack of product and design chops (which even he implicitly admits), is a financial wizard and had quadrupled Apple's revenues. He knows what he's doing when it comes to cancelling product lines that aren't big money-makers, and given that the iPhone is still half of Apple's revenue, if he saw potential in the mini then it would still be around.

 

[klasma]

I'm holding out for the same hope, that they'll remake the Mini's innards with an SE-refresh down the line.

It feels somewhat discouraging that no rumours to my knowledge go in that direction.

I'd say RIP iPhone Mini, but want to recall how the iPad mini was even rumoured to be removed back in ~2017 and look how that turned around!

The SE line always used a previously-mainstream shell, I wouldn’t expect it to pick up the form factor of the mini. However I’m hoping for a new small non-SE iPhone somewhere down the line.

 

[Mr. Dee]

My brother has the current iPhone SE and he loves it. Despite what others might say, there is a market for these more affordable iPhones. Not everyone needs all the bells and whistles. Apple should try to get it down to the 299 price point though. For all its features, $430 is really high.

 

[Ion-X]

Here's the problem with the economics of the mini: For $100 more you can get a much bigger screen. The economics just don't work out.

For the mini to be an appealing price, Apple would have to undercut their profit margins and their premium pricing strategy (which confers prestige and desirability). They are obviously unwilling to do that.

As far as small phones go, the Chinese manufacturers have that market cornered. Smaller phones are a race to the bottom in terms of pricing and that's what Apple likes to avoid (see their price increases on the iPad 10 and the M2 MacBook Air).

 

[Ion-X]

My brother has the current iPhone SE and he loves it. Despite what others might say, there is a market for these more affordable iPhones. Not everyone needs all the bells and whistles. Apple should try to get it down to the 299 price point though. For all its features, $430 is really high.

When Apple starts selling iPhones for $299 they become a generic manufacturer that's not considered prestigious or premium by consumers. Yes, it's ironic and counterintuitive, but humans are trained by millions of years of evolution to prize rare goods like spices and gold because they are rare and expensive.

 

[Mr. Dee]

When Apple starts selling iPhones for $299 they become a generic manufacturer that's not considered prestigious or premium by consumers. Yes, it's ironic and counterintuitive, but humans are trained by millions of years of evolution to prize rare goods like spices and gold because they are rare and expensive.

I am not asking them to sell a iPhone Pro Max at that price point. I am just asking them to at least have a gateway drug. Just like the iPod use to be a gateway drug.

 

[Yoms]

I'm holding out for the same hope, that they'll remake the Mini's innards with an SE-refresh down the line.

It feels somewhat discouraging that no rumours to my knowledge go in that direction.

I'd say RIP iPhone Mini, but want to recall how the iPad mini was even rumoured to be removed back in ~2017 and look how that turned around!

Same here.
I would love an iPhone SE Mini. Same size as the 1st gen iPhone SE, without home button (notch is ok)

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Can we have an iPhone Mini again please? Or bring back the iPhone 5/5s/SE 2016 form factor? Also, I would also like to have the iPhone 5c form factor make a comeback...

Love my 12 Mini but lets face facts.
In the 2022 top 10 smartphones by sales, Apple’s 6.1 and 6.7 inch phones dominate, besides the 14+.
The Mini and SE don’t even crack the list, even two year old iPhone 12s beat them.
We can blame the price and the feature set all we want, but the facts are that the 12 and 13 mini have both came down in price since initial release, the 13Mini still features the same processor and specifications as the 14 series and it’s still not a hit.
The majority of people just don’t want small phones, no matter the price. Even now that a refurbished12 mini is basically the same price as an SE, and… as far as I can tell, it’s trajectory hasn’t really changed.
On the other hand, the super thick, super heavy, super expensive 14 pro max smashed into the top five only three months after release and the barely different than the 13 14 still reached the top 10.
Also in retrospect, the iPhone 5c is looked back on as an overhyped over priced disaster that was very poor value compared to the 5S, especially when it comes to software support.
The idea of Apple making a plastic iPhone today is laughable.

 

[Ion-X]

I am not asking them to sell a iPhone Pro Max at that price point. I am just asking them to at least have a gateway drug. Just like the iPod use to be a gateway drug.

I definitely hear you on that, but the iPhone is easily the most valuable tech product in the world. Discounting it in any way threatens the whole house of cards for limited upside. Apple is fiercely defensive of its profit margins and they would rather bow out of a product segment than sell cheap stuff.

Unfortunately, we aren't in iPod times anymore and Apple is no longer desperate to get new people to buy Macs. 87% of US teenagers (yes, you read that right) have an iPhone. Adding a new mini would bump that up by maybe 1 to 2% but would also make the iPhone so mass-market that it no longer has appeal.