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iPhone SE (2022) What to Expect from iPhone SE third-generation?

MICHAELSD

MICHAELSD

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
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What do we expect to see from a third-generation iPhone SE?

1) 5G - this is a given, and a substantial upgrade at that.
2) A15 processor - also extremely likely.
3) ~ iPhone 11 camera sensor - I feel like Apple would probably do the full trifecta of upgrades including the camera, although I’d give this more of a 50/50 shot since it’s easiest to keep the iPhone 8 chassis as is with its smaller camera lens. Image processing would be slightly better as a result of the A15 regardless.
4) More colors - mostly wishful thinking, but I wouldn’t mind if Apple took some of the colors from its current lineup such as the fantastic shade of blue I’m currently using on an iPhone 13 Mini.
5) Display - Apple is likely to upgrade the color calibration where they can, providing even slightly more accurate and vivid colors. Otherwise the resolution and LCD display technology should remain the same.

I’ll be honest: I’d prefer to keep the iPhone 13 Mini currently in my hands, but I still get PWM headaches from the otherwise fantastic OLED display. So I’m trying to weigh what we have to look forward to on a new iPhone SE. I do have to say that I was surprisingly satisfied with my upgrade from an iPhone 8 Plus; at the same time, iPhone 13 Mini is on another level and for $329 more is a fantastic little phone.
 
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As someone who still adores TouchID - I'm looking forward to the next iPhone SE.

Apple retaining the iPhone 8 body is expected, but I'm hoping they at least upgrade the camera (also include night mode capabilities) and cram in a bigger battery. Everything else is gravy.
 
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bigger battery ! if the 2nd gen lasted longer (around 5-6 hours screen on) then it would be a great cheaper alternative
 
CrazyForCashews said:
As someone who still adores TouchID
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Me too. My current 2nd gen SE was an emergency purchase and I'd like to upgrade it (more storage; ideally a better camera/some small amount of optical zoom) but I don't want to part with TouchID so I guess I'm staying with the SE, so long as that has the (only) TouchID option. It's not just face masks – I really like (and use) the ability to unlock my phone in situations where it can't 'see' me. And I don't have or want an Apple watch, as that adds an extra component and I have an old-fashioned watch I'm very fond of.

I also hope the new SE is no bigger. For me the 2nd gen SE is already large. My 1st gen SE was my favourite iPhone ever. I agree the 2nd gen battery life is not flash, though.
 
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If it has Gigabit LTE with 4x4 it's an instant buy for me. Not sure if it's possible with the 8 shell.
The SE 2020 has only 2X2 which makes a huge difference in fringe areas of network reception and speed.
Not too concerned with 5G since 4G is faster in my area.
For me, the size, design and TouchID make the perfect phone.
 
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Iphone se 2020 sold very well, 20 million units I believe. I had it for 1 day and sold it because the battery life was too bad. While I think they need to upgrade the batter and other components, Apple won't because they don't need to. It will sell.
 
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3GB RAM confirmed by Kuo.

I’d expect Apple to keep using the iPhone 8 camera sensor due to cost. Given the follow up SE4 is expected in 2023, I suspect the SE3 is getting just enough to prevent it from falling behind.

A15 and 5G are already great upgrades. As before, Apple’s goal is to attract Android switchers and price sensitive buyers. Those customers are looking for the basics.
 
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JPack said:
I’d expect Apple to keep using the iPhone 8 camera sensor due to cost.
Click to expand...
That’s disappointing if it turns out to be true, I have a hunch that will be the case. Although the pictures I’ve taken using my iPhone 8 aren’t that bad, it’s definitely dated in 2022.

If Apple at least updates the camera and gives the SE3 night mode capabilities it would really be a worthwhile contender and I would highly consider it over the 13 Mini. I would even choose a better camera over a bigger battery on the SE3.
 
CrazyForCashews said:
That’s disappointing if it turns out to be true, I have a hunch that will be the case. Although the pictures I’ve taken using my iPhone 8 aren’t that bad, it’s definitely dated in 2022.

If Apple at least updates the camera and gives the SE3 night mode capabilities it would really be a worthwhile contender and I would highly consider it over the 13 Mini. I would even choose a better camera over a bigger battery on the SE3.
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In standard lighting it’s honestly still a very serviceable camera. I’m not disappointed by the pictures it takes, even if there’s a noticeable difference on newer devices it’s not as significant as it would seem for general usage.

Night Mode would take it to the next level. While it won’t be quite as good they could likely adapt it for the iPhone 8 sensor as there have been apps that mimicked this in the past.
 
CrazyForCashews said:
That’s disappointing if it turns out to be true, I have a hunch that will be the case. Although the pictures I’ve taken using my iPhone 8 aren’t that bad, it’s definitely dated in 2022.

If Apple at least updates the camera and gives the SE3 night mode capabilities it would really be a worthwhile contender and I would highly consider it over the 13 Mini. I would even choose a better camera over a bigger battery on the SE3.
Click to expand...
I agree that it will probably be the 8's camera like the SE 2020. I do not expect Apple to reengineer the camera for the phone (though I would be happy to be wrong!). Whether it gets Night Mode depends on what is necessary for Night Mode. The SE 2020 has the A13 chip, and that chip was providing Night Mode on the iPhone 11. If Night Mode requires a hardware component that was missing on the SE 2020, I fear it will still be missing on the SE 2022. Again, I hope I'm wrong about that!

EDIT: I also don't consider that limitation to be Apple withholding anything. I'm confident that with the SE models they do the best they can within the limitations that they have. Those limitations are to use existing components whose production costs have come way down, to put together a phone to be as inexpensive as possible. I feel that once that has been accomplished, they put in whatever capabilities that the resulting phone can handle. If they can do Night Mode with the camera set they can put in there, I expect they will!
 
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lkalliance said:
I agree that it will probably be the 8's camera like the SE 2020. I do not expect Apple to reengineer the camera for the phone (though I would be happy to be wrong!). Whether it gets Night Mode depends on what is necessary for Night Mode. The SE 2020 has the A13 chip, and that chip was providing Night Mode on the iPhone 11. If Night Mode requires a hardware component that was missing on the SE 2020, I fear it will still be missing on the SE 2022. Again, I hope I'm wrong about that!

EDIT: I also don't consider that limitation to be Apple withholding anything. I'm confident that with the SE models they do the best they can within the limitations that they have. Those limitations are to use existing components whose production costs have come way down, to put together a phone to be as inexpensive as possible. I feel that once that has been accomplished, they put in whatever capabilities that the resulting phone can handle. If they can do Night Mode with the camera set they can put in there, I expect they will!
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Oh and how much is Night Mode worth?

Picture 1 was taken with my partner’s iPhone SE 2016:

780A9AF7-E484-40FA-8558-8BE0F08B13F8.jpeg

Picture 2 was taken with my iPhone SE 2020:

1F85D2FC-2D0E-4564-958A-DF859DAD3AEF.jpeg

Picture 3 was taken with my iPhone 13 mini with Night Mode turned off:

4BEFF70F-7626-47D3-96C8-87C871450922.jpeg


And picture 4 with my 13 mini with Night Mode turned on:

0B083397-B81F-4F8F-B8AA-A5A2AD9F7860.jpeg
 
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I’d like a bigger battery for sure. My biggest complaint about my SE2020 is the battery. The next is I’d like a better camera. I thought I read that you need 2 lenses for Night Mode. Oh I’d like a bigger screen too.
 
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I hope they offer a normal classic version and another one that resembles the 13 Mini.
 
CrazyForCashews said:
That’s disappointing if it turns out to be true, I have a hunch that will be the case. Although the pictures I’ve taken using my iPhone 8 aren’t that bad, it’s definitely dated in 2022.

If Apple at least updates the camera and gives the SE3 night mode capabilities it would really be a worthwhile contender and I would highly consider it over the 13 Mini. I would even choose a better camera over a bigger battery on the SE3.
Click to expand...
Yes the SE 2022 will definitely still have the main rear camera hardware from the iphone 8, however Apple will use the computational photography of the A15 to improve the images considerably like they did with the SE 2020. My SE2020 takes better images than my 8 Plus thats for sure, better dynamic range, colour reproduction and exposure (Apple actually market the SE 2020 as having the best single camera system on an iphone, so better than the XR).

With the battery on the SE 2022 though, Apple need to make sure that it at least matches the SE 2020 when using 5G, how they are going to do this with the minimal space of the chassis i really dont know (A15 may help a bit), but Apple did put in a larger battery into the iphone 13 mini.
 
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Bad battery life?? :)

Hope some improvements... that design is quite old now, so it would be welcome.
 
jimmy_uk said:
Does the 6/7/8/SE 2020 body have the room internally for that?
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It has minimal room that's for sure, even more worrying is that magsafe coil thing will take up space that could be used for a larger battery, or in worst case scenario, force apple to put in a smaller battery. That would be brutal if they did that. I'm buying it either way though!
 
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I just don't think the SE 2022 will have any significant reengineering. The SE 2016 got the 5S with a new chip. I'm sure there were other small things in there, like the most updated cell radio and an NFC chip to accommodate Apple Pay (I don't know if the 5S already had the chip, but regardless Apple Pay was table stakes by then). Ditto the SE 2020: It had nothing discernably different from the 8 besides the chip. I'm sure there were other small things inside, but nothing we'd notice.

But as @snipr125 mentions above, having a new chip may unlock some things that the A13 couldn't do. I would be shocked if the camera processing isn't better, as he pointed out. Perhaps better performance on games. I would guess there is nothing in iOS 15 that is purely software-related that the A13 can't do...but perhaps in iOS 16 or 17 or beyond there will be something that requires an A14 or better, and that will mean that the SE 2022 isn't left behind on those features.

As far as MagSafe, I'm not sure that feels like Apple Pay, something that Apple definitely needs to get out there and used by as many people as possible as quickly as possible. But of course I'm just saying that as a hunch, and not from knowledge.
 
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