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It will be equipped with A18.

iPhone 14 will find it difficult to compete at $599.

Apple will heavily weaken the camera, e.g. still no Night Mode, to make it less attractive.
 
This raises a question I've been pondering for a while. Who is the "regular" iPhone for? The iPhone SE looks like it will gain an all-screen front with FaceID and presumably the latest chip and presumably lack the multiple cameras and dynamic island. At the same time, those who want the best cameras and performance will be drawn to the Pro line up. I'm struggling to see who in 2025 will walk into an Apple shop and opt to pay $300 more than the SE for an ultrawide camera and dynamic island ...
Tim Cook is hoping you feel this way too. His manipulation of the iPhone lineup for the last few years is to sell the SE to anyone who is price conscious at all, and to sell the Pro models to literally everyone else.
 
The only reason I’ve purchased iPhone SE every generation is because:
  1. The display didn’t use PWM (flickering)
  2. The form factor was smaller and lightweight
Now that those two things will not be true, there is absolutely no reason to buy this. If I wanted to torture my eyes, I’d just get the 15 Pro.
And the only reason Apple produces this gen or any gen of the SE is because:

1. It is lower priced.
 
with todays inflation and high interest rates people can't afford expensive iPhones anymore.
LMAO. There is zero data to support you claim. All available data says the exact opposite.

Although I should perhaps augment to say, you COULD be right that people cannot actually "afford" them anymore. This fact, however, has not stopped anyone from buying them.
 


Apple is targeting a sub-$500 starting price for its upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE model despite a raft of rumored upgrades coming to the more affordable device.

One of those 'water is wet' predictions.

Buyers Guide link for the SE for historical pricing.

SE 1 2016 --> $399
SE '1.5' 2017 ---> $399
SE 2 2020 ---> $399
SE 3 2022 ---> $429


Exactly when has the SE not been sub-$500 ????

The iPhone 13 is at $599 now. if they knocked another $100 off if get yet another year older it would be $499.

The more deliberate issue for the SE4 is whether they could get back to the $399 mark or even keep the $429. If this is $459-99 range it is pretty lame for being an 'affordable' phone.

The Pixel 8a is starting off brand new at $499 but in 6 months is will regularly be substantively below that ( like the 7a is now if shop around. ) .
 
Everyone is different but I'm not looking for cheaper but instead a smaller iPhone.

Even though the new SE is rumored to be sub $500, I will not be getting one because it is too large for me.
 
Can’t imagine it will have the latest chip and I would assume less ram and some other lower internal specs but at the same time most people don’t need any of that. I have an iPhone 12 Pro and other than needing to replace the battery I don’t really feel I need better performance. Most smartphone cameras are also pretty decent these days but that’s probably the feature that may sway people the most.
Every SE has had the latest chip so I don't see why this would be any different, assuming the standard 16 does as well.
It will be equipped with A18.

iPhone 14 will find it difficult to compete at $599.

Apple will heavily weaken the camera, e.g. still no Night Mode, to make it less attractive.
The current SE already has night-mode time lapse. I'm pretty sure the only reason there's no proper night mode is because they've been recycling the iPhone 8 chassis. Since this SE will be using the body of a phone that does support night mode it shouldn't be an issue to support it properly.
 
As far as inflation goes, the two highest inflation years (at least in the U.S.) since the iPhone launched in 2007 were 2021 and especially 2022. Based on estimates, these also happen to be the two highest global sales years for the iPhone in its history. The iPhone has seen notable sales declines in the past when inflation and interest rates were lower.
its coz the phone tech is changing rapidly and Google is having like 50X more AI even on the pixel 8a then 15pro and they r not stopping we might be having the end of smartphones within the next 10yrs replaced my AI glasses both Google and meta r going strong the glasses now
 
Tim Cook is a tightwad, so to him, "price below $500" can mean only one thing: $499.

It would likely have problems at $499. (the iPhone 14 is going to drop to $599 in the Fall before this SE4 comes out without series of compromises. The closer they push the "SE x" to the "n-2" iPhone the more problems it will have. ) . "below $500" likely means that it is going to be over $400 (instead of "below $400" which is what the SE was originally) .

Apple is trying to stick it to the suppliers.

" ... 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. ..."

[ Apple wanted less than what the supplier who is the farthest down the R&D recovery timeline was offering. Apple is out to put really, really, thin margins on this screen for the supplier. ]

Similarly reports are that they are stripping the backside cameras down to just one. ( another cost saving move).

Decent chance that they are going to skip 5G mmwave. ( kind of already did that with iPad Pro. )

Also unclear is this is getting Apple modem ( possible decent factor why it is arrriving later into 2025 ).

Apple also could possibly hold the SE4 at 64GB for the base SSD capacity. (down from the 14's 128GB. If the camera is deemphasized the 'extra' storage for the camera may also be 'optional'. ).

Apple also possibly waiting for N3E iPhone chip to shave costs there also. ( Or toss a N4 chip at it, but likely not as SE refreshes realtively infrequently. Again a cost saving move. )

Probably tradeoffs for increased FaceID costs with screen cut, camera bill-of-material (BOM) cut, and possible modem cut.

The current SE3 standard price is $429. Or will it 'creep' to something like $449-59 . The $200 gap between the iPhone "n-2" and the SE helped the SE sell in decent volume.
 
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For me.. running/hiking is my time.. the world (and its gadgets) is left behind temporarily. I'm an old US Navy vet.. no one bothers me before I have my coffee or while I'm running.
Ironically, no one’s ever tried to phone me when I’m on a run - but the first time I ran without my phone, work called me on my watch. Conversation ended pretty quickly when they realised I was panting and wheezing away. 🤣
 
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Ironically, no one’s ever tried to phone me when I’m on a run - but the first time I ran without my phone, work called me on my watch. Conversation ended pretty quickly when they realised I was panting and wheezing away. 🤣
Oh, I can only imagine the odd looks you received the next time you came into work.
 
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This website and virtually every rumor site were blindsided last fall by the M3 MacBook Pros and iMacs until Apple teased an announcement, despite the obvious changes in Apple's shipping information on their products. Let's look at common sense - Apple has to make the SE conform the EU USB-C rules by late fall or see it withdrawn from sale there. They are NOT going to ship in 2025. It will ship in 2024. USB-C and all.
 
If the price of the SE is pretty close to the price of the entry-level iPhone, I think most people will just buy the entry-level iPhone instead. I had SEs for a number of years but then switched to the Mini for various reasons. I don't use the camera much, but I was blown away by how much better photos look. I know Apple does that on purpose to make people want to buy the better iPhones, but still.
 
This website and virtually every rumor site were blindsided last fall by the M3 MacBook Pros and iMacs until Apple teased an announcement, despite the obvious changes in Apple's shipping information on their products. Let's look at common sense - Apple has to make the SE conform the EU USB-C rules by late fall or see it withdrawn from sale there. They are NOT going to ship in 2025. It will ship in 2024. USB-C and all.
They don't need to discontinue the iPhone 14 or iPhone SE as the USB-C requirement is only for new products.
 
LMAO. There is zero data to support you claim. All available data says the exact opposite.

Although I should perhaps augment to say, you COULD be right that people cannot actually "afford" them anymore. This fact, however, has not stopped anyone from buying them.
What are you smoking? Apple just reported the steepest drop in sales of iPhones since the start of the pandemic.
 
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Apple just reported the steepest drop in sales of iPhones since the start of the pandemic.

A sales (revenue) decline doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with high(er) inflation or interest rates though. Apple's iPhone revenue actually declined between 2018 and 2020 when inflation and interest rates were low and increased in 2021 and 2022 (reaching record levels) when inflation and interest rates were high/climbing.
 
What are you smoking? Apple just reported the steepest drop in sales of iPhones since the start of the pandemic.
Nuance is not your strong suit. The "drop" in sales were entirely China related, and due to a supply issue last year that caught up in the same quarter. iPhone sales were completely flat y-o-y.
 
This website and virtually every rumor site were blindsided last fall by the M3 MacBook Pros and iMacs until Apple teased an announcement, despite the obvious changes in Apple's shipping information on their products. Let's look at common sense - Apple has to make the SE conform the EU USB-C rules by late fall or see it withdrawn from sale there. They are NOT going to ship in 2025. It will ship in 2024. USB-C and all.
@Paddle1 already said that it applies for new products only but as it stands by the end of this year (when then the EU deadline kicks in) the 14 (and 14 plus) and SE will be the only remaining lightning phones left in the lineup if Apple are consistent with their ‘conveyor belt’ lineup of dropping models down as new ones come in this September.

The q1 2025 estimate for the new SE4, if it closely resembles a 14, makes sense if Apple are planning to drop the 14 and the SE come February or March 2025 when supplies of the A18 pro (for the sake of argument) are less constrained because the iPhone 16 pro are expected to monopolise them.

Because of the unique process that the A17 pro was on I don’t expect that to turn up in regular iPhone 16 models but a non pro A17 on the newer 3nm process that the A18 could be on would also mean supply constraints.

Either way, a March 2025 launch seems sensible if the SE4 was going to get a non pro A17 (same as the regular iPhone 16).

The 14 plus might end up being the last lightning phone in the lineup unless apple are ok with a small pricing hole in the lineup until September 2025 when then 15 plus might fill the gap. At the moment it’s being cleared out by third party retailers quite cheaply in the U.K. last time I looked ( same price as non plus 14)

And as a bonus on the side that time of year would be a great one to throw in a new Apple TV with either A17 or A18 pro as supply constraints alleviate.
 
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