When to Expect the iPhone SE 4 to Launch

[Anonymous123]

I think I have fairly observant vision (I do a lot of photography and the Soap Opera Effect on cheap TVs drives me absolutely insane) but I can't see any difference between a 60Hz or 120Hz display. Perhaps I could discern a difference side by side but it's not a feature I care about at all.

My professional camera has an optional high refresh rate toggle for its electronic viewfinder, and I *can* notice a *slight* difference if I turn it on *IF* I'm photographing very high speed objects (sports, birds in flight, etc.) but it's very subtle. I don't see how this is a big deal for people, and considering the hit to battery life, I would prefer a 60Hz screen. Maybe if you are doing hardcore gaming or something on your phone it makes a difference?

How is this an issue for web browsing, texting, or reading?

It *IS* the type of thing I see Android fanboys always measurbating about, along with things like how fast their phone charges (again, I prefer the slower charge which preserves battery life, and I only charge my phone overnight anyway).

It’s something I easily notice and it just makes the phone feel faster and more responsive, such as when scrolling on the web, swapping between apps, etc. Whenever I go back to a 60Hz phone I find the experience jarring and a step back. I imagine a lot of others feel the same way. Android phones cheaper than the SE have 120Hz displays so there really is no excuse at this point not to include it.

Also, ProMotion displays like those in the iPhone dynamically go down to 1Hz so any effect on battery life should be minimal.

 

[Frantisekj]

I have a feeling there will be no more iPhone SE. They probably have all these plans floating around but when they do the math, it just won't add up and the plans will end up getting shelved. They'll just sell the 2 year old iPhone for a lower price.

Why they beef It up with modern tech? Of course old SE probably doesn’t sell much already but they need it up also because of each device is potential customer for services and can bring more profit then device itself over years. So they want device stays relevant for years and be supported by iOS updates.

 

[Frantisekj]

Definitely not. People bought it because it was smaller/lighter and cheaper. It is no longer smaller/lighter and I suspected the price gap with iPhone 16 won't be as large as it has been in the past. It will be interesting to see how many get this phone SE over an iPhone 16 or older iPhone once the initial orders are filled.

With this model there is many unknown in term of user reactions. It may be better fit for Android switchers and for people Apple though would be interested in iPhone Plus and for big businesses as it will fit better into their system thanks to usb-c.
But if it won’t sell much I think it will be hit in few years on second hand market because interesting price that will better resemble real value.
From my experience original SE was best SE, writing from it as my second device, because SE 2020 I bought just because it was cheapest option supported by on device voice recognition app.
Otherwise 2020 SE has worse WiFi reception, worse camera chip and mainly worse display brightness that is nearly unusable in sunlight. And of course much worse operable with one hand.
So my next phone will be some used mini when price will reach some interesting point. Also because Apple intelligence is not coming to our area anytime soon if ever at least in form of International English version.

 

[stinkhorn9]

I know I am weird and is proud to admit that.
The main reason I did not buy the mini is because it did not have what I want.
I am willing to pay for the price if it had the features. (Look no further for proof of that as I am also a proud owner of Sony Xperia phones all over the years when no one else buy them here.)
I wanted a flagship with the top features in a smaller size not a less model. Had they release the pro mini, it would be instant buy for me.
It is never time to "let it go". Otherwise, better products will not be coming out.

Yup. It's time for folks obsessed with trying to curb others' expressions of remorse re: the loss of the small form factor to let it go. Free speech an' all.

 

[applyr]

Will they go for the notch of the iPhone 13 or Dynamic Island?

 

[Karllake]

My guess: production starts in January 2025 for March 2025 release. 8 GB RAM, possibly only available with 256 GB local storage.

8 Gb RAM is likely the new minimum for AI, Apple is pushing for AI on all Apple devices.

 

[Ramchi]

This is the best one I am seeing from Apple. $400-$500, 8 GB RAM, 6.1 inches OLED (I just saw my son’s iPhone 15, which is perfect in my hand) A18, Face ID - Cool! I don’t use iPhone cameras in any case, may be it is a good to go after SE!

 

[Ramchi]

Because they don't want to cannibalise sales of the flagship phones. They know these will sell well but they need people to buy the expensive phones first or their figures will be show the lack of interest in flagship phones.

Not many are fans of super expensive Pro Models. They are beyond the reaches of the most of the people outside USA, especially when you include the duties, taxes etc….Though I asked my second son to get 15 Pro Max, he totally refused saying it is way too expensive and was adamant in getting 15 base model. If I were I would have gone for the Honor 6Pro Magic for slightly higher price but he refused Honor as well. Point, is Apple is trying to push the numbers to make profits by compete in all segments though at slightly higher price point than others.

 

[m_emelchenkov]

I hope, society will return to the phone form factor someday. Phablet is not very useful, indeed: nor desktop, nor phone, nor iPad. And it is very inconvenient to operate with one hand.

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

I own an iPhone SE 2020 which I use for travel (only). It's bad enough that the rumors about the next SE mention a large size increase, but if they drop the physical SIM tray as well it will severely impact its utility as a travel phone.

(Before anyone says "eSIMs are everywhere now dude, get with the times" - that doesn't mean they *work* everywhere. I went to the South Pacific last November and Vodafone could not for the life of them get one of their eSIMs on my iPhone SE to activate for love or money. We fell back to using a physical SIM card which worked perfectly.)

 

[AppleIsEveryWhere]

• 6.1-inch OLED display
• A18 chip
• Face ID
• USB-C port
• Action button
• Apple-designed 5G chip
• A single 48-megapixel rear camera
• 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence

I won't believe it until I see it on Apple's homepage!

 

[iZac]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they straight out remove the 13, 14 and current iPhone SE from the lineup during this September event, and just leave a hole in the lineup until a mid cycle release of the new SE next year.

They could even dump existing 13 and 14 inventory on other retailers to sell off whatever they can like they did with the M1 MacBook Air

 

[ric22]

I think I have fairly observant vision (I do a lot of photography and the Soap Opera Effect on cheap TVs drives me absolutely insane) but I can't see any difference between a 60Hz or 120Hz display. Perhaps I could discern a difference side by side but it's not a feature I care about at all.

My professional camera has an optional high refresh rate toggle for its electronic viewfinder, and I *can* notice a *slight* difference if I turn it on *IF* I'm photographing very high speed objects (sports, birds in flight, etc.) but it's very subtle. I don't see how this is a big deal for people, and considering the hit to battery life, I would prefer a 60Hz screen. Maybe if you are doing hardcore gaming or something on your phone it makes a difference?

How is this an issue for web browsing, texting, or reading?

It *IS* the type of thing I see Android fanboys always measurbating about, along with things like how fast their phone charges (again, I prefer the slower charge which preserves battery life, and I only charge my phone overnight anyway).

Do iPhones with 120hz run at 120hz? Even on Safari? Various testing has suggesting it's usually disabled... I've seen impressive high refresh rate Android phones that look smoother.

 

[deconstruct60]

... for March 2025 release. 8 GB RAM ...

No way Tim Apple is going to give the budget iphone the same amount of base storage he puts in his MBAs!

Decent chance that by 2025 the MBA isn't at 8GB RAM anymore.

16GB of RAM Could Be the New Minimum in Apple's Upcoming M4 Macs

All of Apple's upcoming new Macs this year are likely to have at least 16GB of RAM pre-installed as standard, breaking a years-long tradition of...

www.macrumors.com

If going to 8GB RAM to push Apple AI stuff into the SE model then same 'pressure' ( substantive foundation model imprint soaking up useful RAM ) is going to move MBA higher also.

What would likely fall by the wayside is the base pricing. The SE will become less affordable ( e.g., rumors of creeping substantively closer to $499 ) and MBA (and rest of Mac line up) likely in same boat for M4 (and up) generation.

Apple has no problem maintaining margins if they push the prices higher. (more RAM ... higher system price).

 

[iMac The Knife]

[Deleted]

 

[deconstruct60]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they straight out remove the 13, 14 and current iPhone SE from the lineup during this September event, and just leave a hole in the lineup until a mid cycle release of the new SE next year.

The 13 is due to be removed anyway with the rotational shift. When the n+3 iPhones comes into the line up the n iPhone shifts off the bottom of the line up ( 16 bounces 13 ).

The 14 disappearing? Probably not. The folks who think the whole iPhone line up completely revolves the EU think the 14 will get dumped fast. The rest of the whole is the overwhelming bulk of iPhone sales. Pretty likely the 14 will disappear on schedule for most of the world.

For the EU the SE4 will probably fill the hole if the 14 is prematurely forced out.

The SE4 at $499 would leave a gap with a $599 14 that disappeared. Apple won't loose much sleep if EU folks have to go a $699 15 if want better cameras or to an SE4 with higher margin amount than a $429 SE4. Either way they get more money.

It is getting more questionable that Apple can continue to competitively sell 3 year old phones in 2025+ . Used/refurbished market only grows. The competition (Arm and likely Qualcomm ) cores are getting better. Pretty good chance the Apple cellular radio isn't going to give an advantage bandwidth performance wise. Apple may drop the n-3 phone in the line up , but if the SEn creeps up to take over that price range , is it really the same 'SE' ?

MacRumors Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy iPhone, Mac, iPad

This page provides a product summary for each Apple model. The intent is to provide our best recommendations regarding current product cycles, and to provide a summary of currently available rumors for each model. This page is based on rumors and speculation and we provide no guarantee to its...

buyersguide.macrumors.com

original SE. $399

iPhone SE and 9.7-Inch iPad Pro Now Available for Order

Apple is now accepting orders for the iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro through its online storefront and through the Apple Store app. Orders are...

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SE2 $399
SE3. $429

if the SE4 goes to $499 ... the backslide on 'affordable' only gets bigger. If the SoC and modem get more 'expensive' sliding to $529 means pretty close to where the '3 year old' was priced at. The '3 year old' slot would disappear because the SE could be closing in on the price. There would be gap. It would be closing the gap.

They could even dump existing 13 and 14 inventory on other retailers to sell off whatever they can like they did with the M1 MacBook Air

Still being sold.

Apple MacBook Air 13.3 inch Laptop - Silver, M1 Chip, Built for Apple Intelligence, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage - Walmart.com

Buy Apple MacBook Air 13.3 inch Laptop - Silver, M1 Chip, Built for Apple Intelligence, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage at Walmart.com

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The Apple store dumping them, but still generally available at retail is an Apple store margin issue... not a product issue.

 

[deconstruct60]

Wasn't the main idea of buying the iPhone SE avoiding the notch?

The iPone SE was introduced in 2016 ... iPhone 7 ( 2016) and iPhone 8 ( 2017 ) had no notch.

MacRumors Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy iPhone, Mac, iPad

This page provides a product summary for each Apple model. The intent is to provide our best recommendations regarding current product cycles, and to provide a summary of currently available rumors for each model. This page is based on rumors and speculation and we provide no guarantee to its...

buyersguide.macrumors.com

The notch didn't exist in iPhone ecosystem, so it couldn't have been driving force for the product category.

The primary idea of the iPhone was to buy a more affordable phone. That is why Apple uses an 'old' (and paid for) chassis baseline. Older (and R&D paid for) screen panels . A new SoC but mainly to goose the economies of scale higher on the run rate for the SoC ( and keep selling them for multiple years ).

The main idea that Apple seems to be drifting from is not 'notch' avoidance, but loosing the plot on affordablity. $399 -> $429 --> perhaps now $499. That is wrong direction from 'more affordable'. That is a 25% price increase.


Apple has spent a huge effort into driving the notion that "smaller screen is a relatively more affordable system". The plus/max iPhones are higher. The 15-16" laptop is higher than the 13-14" laptop. etc. I suspect Apple is going to do some tap dancing for the higher SE price to follow the larger screen.

 

[webkit]

The main idea that Apple seems to be drifting from is not 'notch' avoidance, but loosing the plot on affordablity. $399 -> $429 --> perhaps now $499. That is wrong direction from 'more affordable'. That is a 25% price increase..

When the original iPhone SE launched, it was priced at $399 (16GB) which was around 61.5% of the iPhone 6S's $649 starting price. If the starting price of the iPhone 16 is $829 (TBD), 61.5% would be around $510. $499, if that turns out to be the price, would still be more affordable than $510.

There's also the inflation factor. The original 16GB iPhone SE was $399 or around $530 in today's dollars (a bit more next year when SE 4 launches). $499, if that turns out to be the price, would still be more affordable than $530+.

The new iPhone SE 4 will also be notably larger with a lot more storage.

 

[dukebound85]

Wasn't the main idea of buying the iPhone SE avoiding the notch?

no, it was because it was cheaper. Always has been the reason

 

[deconstruct60]

When the original iPhone SE launched, it was priced at $399 (16GB) which was around 61.5% of the iPhone 6S's $649 starting price. If the starting price of the iPhone 16 is $829 (TBD), 61.5% would be around $510. $499, if that turns out to be the price, would still be more affordable than $510.

That is a substantial amount of Cupertino kool-aid. There is more to the phone market than just other iPhones. The midrange market of Android phones is more competitive now. The SE was never on a yearly update cycle. The SE helped get traction in areas where the iPhone just couldn't go. The baseline iPhone isn't near $649 anymore. Apple has done substantive things to move the average selling price of the iPhone up. (e.g., bigger Pro models ) and segmenting the lastest A-series SoC to only the "pro" models.

There's also the inflation factor. The original 16GB iPhone SE was $399 or around $530 in today's dollars (a bit more next year when SE 4 launches). $499, if that turns out to be the price, would still be more affordable than $530+.

It isn't $530 .

CPI Inflation Calculator

data.bls.gov

1/2017 to 7/2024 is $517. ( starting in March or December 2017 is incrementally less).


The MBA 13" 2018 $1,199

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The MBA 13". 2024. $1,099

Apple Announces New MacBook Air Models With M3 Chip

Apple today announced new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air models with M3 chip, improved external display support, Wi-Fi 6E, and more. Apple says that...

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Basically the same.

There is Moore's Law factor that more transistors fit on same size die now. More RAM doesn't take more dies. More functionality can be compressed into a single chip package. These tend to offset inflation factors.

If Apple kept the SE4 RAM/Storage capacities the same for the SE4 there wouldn't be a 'required' inflation price increase.

The new iPhone SE 4 will also be notably larger with a lot more storage.

That is an design option; not inflation. Larger screen that Apple is buying at lower price than it was.

" ... Apple has reportedly been holding out for $25 per panel, but Samsung's final offer was $30, which is lower than the two Chinese manufacturers. That leaves BOE and Tianma as potential suppliers, however Tianma has not yet met Apple's stringent quality requirements, leaving BOE in pole position to win the majority of the orders, if not all of them. ..."

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/03/27/iphone-se-4-oled-supplier-likely-boe/

Besides the SoC ... the SE is mainly about selling 'older' stuff as 'new'.

 

[Frantisekj]

• 6.1-inch OLED display
• A18 chip
• Face ID
• USB-C port
• Action button
• Apple-designed 5G chip
• A single 48-megapixel rear camera
• 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence

I won't believe it until I see it on Apple's homepage!

We can be smarter after iPhone event whether Apple will keep prices of regular iPhones. I think it will be more then 499.

 

[iZac]

The 14 disappearing? Probably not. The folks who think the whole iPhone line up completely revolves the EU think the 14 will get dumped fast. The rest of the whole is the overwhelming bulk of iPhone sales. Pretty likely the 14 will disappear on schedule for most of the world.

For the EU the SE4 will probably fill the hole if the 14 is prematurely forced out.

Still being sold.

Apple MacBook Air 13.3 inch Laptop - Silver, M1 Chip, Built for Apple Intelligence, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage - Walmart.com

Buy Apple MacBook Air 13.3 inch Laptop - Silver, M1 Chip, Built for Apple Intelligence, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage at Walmart.com

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Yeah you're right, the 13 will be dropped regardless and I guess you're right, Apple could probably just have a fractured offering in the EU, I mean things like HomePods and AppleTVs were not sold in all markets. I guess I'm just excited for a future where I only ever need USB-C in my household

To the Wallmart point, yeah that's what I meant, I mistyped(?) when I referred to inventory. I could see them only selling their oldest phones via 3rd party retailers like this where they can sell cheaper devices at a lower margin with a poorer retail experience and not dilute their own 'brand' (not in the EU though!)

 

[webkit]

That is a substantial amount of Cupertino kool-aid. There is more to the phone market than just other iPhones. The midrange market of Android phones is more competitive now. The SE was never on a yearly update cycle. The SE helped get traction in areas where the iPhone just couldn't go. The baseline iPhone isn't near $649 anymore. Apple has done substantive things to move the average selling price of the iPhone up. (e.g., bigger Pro models ) and segmenting the lastest A-series SoC to only the "pro" models.

It's not "kool-aid" at all. When the original iPhone SE launched, the starting price was $399 which was around 61.5% of the starting price of the iPhone 6S at the time. If the iPhone 16 starting price is $829 (TBD) and the iPhone SE 4 starting price is $499 (TBD), that would make the iPhone SE 4 more affordable compared to other iPhones than what the original SE was i.e., only 60.2% of the base starting price instead of 61.5% of the base starting price.

It isn't $530 .

CPI Inflation Calculator

data.bls.gov

1/2017 to 7/2024 is $517. ( starting in March or December 2017 is incrementally less).

The original iPhone SE didn't launch in January 2017, it launched in March 2016. Adjusting for inflation, $399 in March 2016 would be around $527 in July 2024. Since we're now at the end of August, I rounded to $530. Also, the iPhone SE 4 isn't even going to launch until 2025 which would make the inflation adjusted price of the original SE even higher next year anyway.

 

[jdclifford]

If they are manufacturing them in October, why wait until March?
I know of people who want a new SE but their heads will be turned by something else if they are expected to wait that long.

I think that’s the EXACT reason for Apple holding back on its release; SELL as many other iPhones as possible thru the holiday season at higher price points (margins).

 

[ghanwani]

Why they beef It up with modern tech? Of course old SE probably doesn’t sell much already but they need it up also because of each device is potential customer for services and can bring more profit then device itself over years. So they want device stays relevant for years and be supported by iOS updates.

If someone is buying the SE only because of its price, chances are high they aren't using any of Apple's services.