Apple realised post-iPhone 6 that there was no iOS alternative to those who wanted to get a new mid-range phone with a smaller screen. Of course, there
Apple realised post- iPhone 6 that there was no iOS alternative to those who wanted to get a new mid-range phone with a smaller screen.
Of course, there have long been plenty of smaller Android phones due to the plethora of devices on the market.
Apple is still selling plenty of iPhone SE s as well, despite the phone now being two years old and the basic chassis design dating from the iPhone 5 launch back in 2012.
But that’s not to say the insides are anywhere as dated: much of the hardware is similar to the iPhone 6S from late 2015.
Apple has updated the iPhone SE in the interim, bumping the 16 and 64 GB memory options up to 32 and 128 GB in March 2017. That said, we’ve been expecting a new version of the iPhone SE for a little while now.
Part of this is because Apple has binned the home button on the iPhone X so it stands to reason that this change will eventually come to other iPhones. There’s also no getting away from the fact the design now looks aged.
It’s been two years since the iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7 appeared (since replaced last year by the iPad Pro 10.5) and a year since the iPhone SE got bigger storage options. Naturally, with such an anniversary, rumours have been swirling about an iPhone SE2 release date during the next few months.
Apple has form for doing other Spring to mid-year product launches – last year’s new iPad was announced in March, as was the Product (Red) iPhone 7 and the original new MacBook (which had a 10 April release date).
Obviously, we had Apple’s Field Trip event during March, but that was completely education-focused. And then we had the Product (Red) iPhone 8 in April.
Late 2017 rumours suggested that device manufacturer Wistron was gearing up for a new iPhone SE in the first quarter of 2018. Wistron already assembles the iPhone 8.
The Economic Daily News cites sources saying the iPhone SE 2 could launch in the first half of 2018 for $450.
According to filings pulled from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) database, which were spotted by French website Consomac, Apple has a bunch of unreleased iPhone models with the model numbers A1920, A1921, A1984, A2097, A2098, A2099, A2101, A2103, A2104, A2105, and A2106. These model numbers do not correspond to Apple’s existing smartphones.
Having said that, one analyst doesn’t think a new iPhone SE will happen at all, citing “a lack of development resources at Apple”. We don’t buy that ourselves.
Whatever design the iPhone SE2 gets, it surely won’t be like the current aged design. Could iPhone X point the way? Well, possibly. But we think it more likely it would be a slightly shrunken version of the current iPhone 8 design, so it will have Touch ID. This tallies with April 2018 rumours from Japanese blog Macotakara.
Those rumours also suggest a major design change – the lack of a headphone jack. We’re used to seeing headphone jacks disappear in flagship handsets but not necessarily in mid-range phones. There may also be waterproofing on board, too.
This video suggested the iPhone SE2 design would be more like the iPhone X, though we think this unlikely.
Some reports suggest that Apple won’t change the design at all. It might not have an impact for some markets but would surely affect sales over the next couple of years in territories like the UK and US where the competition is so intense.
This video – that surfaced in late April 2018 – suggested that the new iPhone SE will have almost the same design but with one key difference; a glass back for Qi wireless charging. Surprisingly, the headphone jack remains.
This came via Weibo and could easily be a fake, but it’s very interesting that it is the back that is different. Also, the handset doesn’t have regulatory information on the back, such as the CE mark. This also tallies with the appearance of the back of the iPhone X and iPhone 8 which are different than earlier iPhone models in this way.
This apparently leaked 3D CAD render has also come to light showing a supposed SE2 frame but with no home button and a notch – so using Face ID. We’re definitely taking this one with a HUGE pinch of salt.
Rumours suggest that the iPhone SE will retain its current, enormously popular, smaller screen size of 4-inches.
A small size bump is possible, though the 326ppi retina display we first saw in the iPhone 5 remains enormously clear and crisp even if its 1,136 × 640 resolution is now dated.
3D Touch will probably arrive, however. Could True Tone also be supported?
We’re expecting more Apple devices to have Face ID this year, but this is likely to be the new iPad Pro and it’s likely at the end of the year.
It also stands to reason that an iPhone X 2 or iPhone XI will have Face ID, as will whatever replaces the iPhone 8, whether that’s a new iPhone 9 or the current iPhone X just gets cheaper to fill in the gap.
So standard cameras then and surely we’ll see the 12MP ƒ/1.8 aperture camera we’ve seen in other iPhones – probably with up to 4K 30fps video recording but also possibly 60fps if the camera comes over from the iPhone 8.
Given what happened with the original SE, we’d expect the new phone to be based on the innards of the iPhone 7 or 8. As with 2017’s iPhones, expect more Apple-designed silicon inside, including its own graphics chips. That’s why we think it more likely it would be based on the iPhone 8.
As a result, it’s likely the iPhone SE 2 would support Qi wireless charging like the rest of the latest generation of iPhones. That would also require the handset to have a glass back like the flagship line-up. And it will also be able to support Apple’s AirPower charging mat.
If the SE 2 was to be based on the iPhone 7, it would mean moving from the A9 processor to A10 with M10 co-processor (rather than the A11 Bionic found in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X).
In any case, it’ll surely have the faster Touch ID sensor we saw in the iPhone 6S and later and probably the barometer from the same model.
