Questionable Rumor Says Apple May Introduce New iPhone SE at Event in Late August

[truthertech]

[QUOTE=

That won't go down well with the bean counters though in profitability terms.



With cheaper internals, how do you know the SE is significantly less profitable, or even less profitable? Moreover, it makes perfect sense, and to a certain extent, is even mandatory that Apple have a desirable phone in the lower price range to expand its market where there is the most potential, e.g., India. Apple has now mastered services and as the market for phones becomes saturated, increasing sales of phones translates into profits not only from the sale of the phone, but from services as well.

 

[djlythium]

I'm with others who love the SE. That said, I envision an updated version of this form factor. For example, the steel band, and chamfered edges remain, but the device is slightly thinner. Also, the front glass would be flush with the steel band.
Further, add all of the 7 internals (including the refined Haptic module, and remove the headphone jack (I know, I know)), plus add the better camera, faster TiD with the capacitive home button, & 3D Touch.

I'd bet money a phone like this would fly off the shelf.

Side note: if anyone with CAD modeling skills wants to collaborate on a concept, let me know!

 

[dan98]

If the screen were to be extended to the full size of the existing body, surely that'd be ok for most people for one handed use?

Some may struggle a little bit with the top left or right corner depending on which hand they mainly use, but not the majority, I wouldn't have thought.

I guess I can only speak for myself on this one - making the screen size bigger will take it out of my comfort zone

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Because 2 events in less than 4 weeks would totally make sense

Well that is how it used to be in the mid-2000s. One event in Sep for iPods and one in Oct for Macs -- generally. So it's not far fetched because Apple has done it before.

If you step back here Apple presumably has two or three big announcements to make this fall: iPhone 8, Apple Watch 3, and ATV 5. Apple could announce all that in one event -- but would it want to? 3 big products in once announcement and the message gets jumbled because the media has to focus on 3 major updates, not one or two. Makes a lot of sense to break those announcements up into two events.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Bingo!


How does it run on ios 10 or 11 wtv it's at right now? I'm still on 9.3.5

I have the SE running the latest release of iOS 10 and it runs very good.

 

[Denmac1]

I think the SE has proven itself for many people. I've had mine for about a month and coming from a 4s and 5s, it's perfect for me in form and function.
I'm glad there's an inkling of the SE line being kept as it also maintains a great price point. I believe that they will add some functions from the newer phones, but will keep it a couple of generations down. However, personally, I don't care about 3d touch.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

This is a rather poor assumption and is simply not true . The whole point behind the smaller display was primarily for one handed use without having to use two hands to have to each across the display.

And what's your metric for "Majority? " You seem to not take into consideration that not everyone needs or wants the display to increase any larger because that was the whole purpose for a 4" display.

I would think reduced bezels perhaps and a higher resolution display would be more likely or appreciated, versus extending the display for some.

Whoa there - I normally have a rational debate with you . . . . .

The body size of the SE is still tiny, so I'm not advocating a massive increase in screen size and there are several others on this thread who have expressed a similar desire.

I don't have stats of course but never claimed to, hence why I used the words and phrases like, "surely" and "wouldn't have thought".

What I do know is that I have fairly average sized hands, not big, not small and I can almost reach the corners of the current 6, 6S and 7 models, easily with a slight grip adjustment.

If I can do that on those, I'm pretty confident most people could handle a redesigned full screen SE.

 

[puma1552]

I like my SE, but for the love of god if they do update it, please update the poor color gamut screen which pales in comparison to my old iPhone 6 from 3 years ago, and the design, while nice, is getting really, really, really tired at this point. Inject new life into it with an actual redesign and a nice screen and I'm in.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

That won't go down well with the bean counters though in profitability terms.



With cheaper internals, how do you know the SE is significantly less profitable, or even less profitable? Moreover, it makes perfect sense, and to a certain extent, is even mandatory that Apple have a desirable phone in the lower price range to expand its market where there is the most potential, e.g., India. Apple has now mastered services and as the market for phones becomes saturated, increasing sales of phones translates into profits not only from the sale of the phone, but from services as well.

It will be less profitable, I would think, although you're correct in that I doubt it's as significant as some might have believed.

That would've been helped by reuse of the 5S chassis though, which won't be an option if they did do the full screen redesign some are hoping for (not all Relentless Power - I heard ya).

Remember too that I mentioned that any initial cost saving a potential new buyer to the SE world makes, they may be tempted to use to purchase other related Apple products like AirPods.

I also agree with everything else you've said about other global markets etc. I thought about putting that in my original post, but didn't want to ramble on further.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Not going to happen.

 

[animatedude]

This is probably the most bogus iPhone rumor ever, but it's my favorite rumor in a very long time lol

Wouldn't be great if just Apple just give the middle finger to the ppl who are waiting for the iPhone 8 , and just confirm there will not be one this year? lol

 

[jerryk]

It would be great if they did this. There is a definite market for the smaller phone. Not everyone wants a huge screen.

 

[CG_Man]

Please make it iPhone 8 design with 4.5" screen !!

 

[manu chao]

I guess I can only speak for myself on this one - making the screen size bigger will take it out of my comfort zone

Using the exactly identical outer dimensions, would an updated SE that reduced the bottom and right bezel change anything in regard to reaching the upper-left corner?

 

[xalea]

I just happened to find my first iPhone (3G) while unpacking from a move. I could not believe how small it was! The first thing I thought was how great that would be to fit in my pocket, or for my elderly mom to hold more easily. I understand people like big screens, but I don't watch video etc. on my phone. I'm seriously considering downsizing to a new smaller option this fall.

 

[44267547]

Not going to happen.

Agreed. It just doesn't make sense to see iPhone SE updates during this time frame. I do see the iPhone SE being updated somewhere in 2018, but even if Apple did a silent update, it still seems highly unlikely to me.

I would like to see it updated with the new internals and updated hardware, which I do think will happen. But the iPhone SE presumably was not intended to be an annual release.

 

[braddick]

On a side note I think it is rather interesting there are hundreds of iPhone 6's and 6S's for sale on eBay yet hardly the SE. Seems people who buy them, keep them.

 

[Cosmosent]

NOT an event, will simply be announced via a Press Release as the SE2:

1.) Wide Color capture & display !

2.) 4.333" display at 326 PPI (Apple's native apps are Ready to Go, most 3rd-party apps will need an Update to support the new resolution; i.e., to be optimized for it).

3.) A10 chip + 3 GB DRAM !

4.) 12 Mpx Back camera from the iPhone 7 (& wide-angle of the 7 Plus) ... so, OIS !

5.) Being released now for three Reasons: i.) to try to steal some Thunder (from others) releasing products in mid-late August timeframe, and ii.) to cover themselves in-case the iPhone 8 Ramp-Up is worse than expected, due to the Tech Difficulties, and iii.) there is Fear within Apple that the iPhone 8's Home Button architecture may put-off many potential customers, and they want a viable / credible Fallback to offer !

 

[rotobadger]

On a side note I think it is rather interesting there are hundreds of iPhone 6's and 6S's for sale on eBay yet hardly the SE. Seems people who buy them, keep them.

I noticed this too. I have a 6s plus but decided to get an SE to switch back and forth between. Was frustrated by the lack of (reasonably priced) SE phones. Swappa, Craigslist, macrumors market. Pretty scarce. Ended up just buying one from Apple.

And I love it. Even more than I expected. So easy to hold and carry. And if I want a big screen I can use my 6s plus or my new (to me) iPad Air 2.

 

[trifid]

All I need in the new SE is the better cameras of the iPhone 7. That 1.5mp front camera of the SE is killing me. Badly.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

If the rumours are true about a $1200 iPhone 8, why wouldn't Apple dodge that bullet by announcing a cheaper iPhone first?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Touch ID Gen 2 and the 5MP front camera; you have a deal.

 

[skitidetdu]

An update is expected but not until spring 2018. That's what I think

 

[HVDynamo]

I'm with others who love the SE. That said, I envision an updated version of this form factor. For example, the steel band, and chamfered edges remain, but the device is slightly thinner. Also, the front glass would be flush with the steel band.
Further, add all of the 7 internals (including the refined Haptic module, and remove the headphone jack (I know, I know)), plus add the better camera, faster TiD with the capacitive home button, & 3D Touch.

I'd bet money a phone like this would fly off the shelf.

Side note: if anyone with CAD modeling skills wants to collaborate on a concept, let me know!

This is just my opinion as well. But they should leave the form factor alone. I have a 6S, and still have my 5S laying around. Every time I pick up the 5S, I kind of want to just go back to it. I like the look and feel of it better, and I like how much better it fits in my pocket. If I want a big screen, I'll get out my iPad. I think that form factor is perfect as is. It doesn't need to be thinner. I think it would be hard for them to include the haptic module in that size, and that's fine. I like 3D touch and the haptics, but I don't ever use 3D touch, and I don't think the haptics makes a big enough difference for me to care. But I am completely against the removal of the headphone jack. They already took it away on the larger models, I use it all the time and don't want to deal with dongles or having to buy all new headphones. Leave this one alone with the headphone jack. If they just update the internals (and keep the headphone jack) I will consider getting rid of my 6S and getting it. So here's my list of preferred upgrades for the SE: Improved quality display (color gamut, etc...) Better camera's, Current gen CPU/RAM/Storage. Leave everything else alone.

 

[Magneat-O]

I have had a 6 Plus for three years and I'm ready to go down in size. An updated SE or 8 would be nice depending on which one impresses more.