The iPhone SE 4 isn’t dead – it may even have a release year

Rumors are a funny thing. Only a few months ago, seasoned Apple analysts reported that Apple had abandoned plans to release a fourth-generation iPhone SE, owing to doubts over the series’ popularity and profitability. 

Then, two months later, the same analysts counterclaimed that Apple had restarted development on the iPhone SE 4, albeit with the company eyeing a much later release date than initially intended for the pint-sized device.  

Now, in April 2023, we’ve got a better idea of when that release date might be, with reliable leaker Jeff Pu predicting that Apple will release its successor to one of the best iPhones in 2025. 

The most recent iPhone SE – the iPhone SE (2022) – breathed new life into Apple's classic-but-tired iPhone design, with impressive-for-the-price speeds and 5G connectivity – but the iPhone SE 4 is expected to bring the series in line with modern smartphone standards.

Specifically, Apple is all but certain to ditch the current iPhone SE’s huge bezels and small screen size for a display arrangement akin to either the iPhone X or iPhone 14. Ross Young – a leaker with a reasonable track record – claims that the iPhone SE 4 will have a 6.1-inch screen and a notch, while analyst Ming-Chi Kuo purports that the device will inherit the OLED display used by Apple’s latest vanilla iPhone.

(3/10)2. The new iPhone SE 4 will equip with Apple's 5G baseband chip produced by a 4nm process (similar to 5nm) and will only support Sub-6GHz as the current plan.February 27, 2023

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In either case, the iPhone SE is likely to get Face ID, though it's also possible that Apple could stick with Touch ID and house the sensor in a side button, instead of on the front.

As for the phone’s connectivity, Jeff Pu reports that Apple is developing a custom-designed 5G modem that will be manufactured – using a 4nm process – by the company’s chipmaking partner, TSMC. It’s not yet clear whether this 5G chip will offer any performance or power efficiency improvements over rival modems produced by the likes of Qualcomm, but it’s safe to assume that the iPhone SE 4 will offer top-of-the-range network connectivity.

The iPhone SE (2022) was released in March of last year, while the iPhone SE (2020) came to market two years prior, in April 2020. If indeed Pu’s prediction of a 2025 release year for the iPhone SE 4 is accurate, it stands to reason that we could see the phone released sometime in the spring (that’s between March and May, for our Australian readers). 

We’ll be staying abreast of all the latest iPhone SE 4 rumors as and when they surface over the coming months, so stay tuned to TechRadar for the details.

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