Bloomberg: New iPhone SE with Face ID and updated iPad Air launching early next year – 9to5Mac

Via Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is set to update its entry-level iPhone SE early next year, alongside updates to the iPad Air and accessories.

The new iPhone SE will be a significant release, featuring a shift away from the dated forehead and chin bezels, replaced with an all-screen design with Face ID unlock. The new iPad Air will keep the same chassis design, with the update predominantly focused on ‘internal improvements’.

The new iPhone SE will be based off the iPhone 14 industrial design, pictured above. While Apple’s mainline iPhone range all feature the floating Dynamic Island pill, the iPhone SE will house its camera and Face ID sensors inside the older ‘notch’ cutout design. Previous rumors indicated the SE will get an OLED display for the first time, too. But unlike the iPhone 14, it is expected to only have a single rear camera.

The new SE will likely be powered by the A18 chip to support all of the shiny new Apple Intelligence features. The new SE launch would finally see the end of the once-iconic iOS home button across Apple’s entire product line.

The iPhone SE refresh has been due for a while. Apple’s entry-level phone was last revised in 2022, when 5G was the flagship new feature. It’s unclear whether the new 2025 model will retain the current $429 starting price. It is possible the price may rise slightly to reflect its more premium, modern, design.

An early 2025 iPad Air update is slightly more unexpected, as Apple just released the M2 iPad Air earlier this year. Gurman does not explicitly say what chip the new iPad Air will be powered by. Instead, he says the models — with codenames J607 and J637 for the 11-inch and 13-inch sizes respectively — will focus on “internal improvements”.

Apple will also use its as an opportunity to update the keyboard accessories. The new iPad Air compatible keyboard will likely gain features previously launched on the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, like adding a function row and getting a more usable, larger, trackpad.

Those products will kick off Apple’s 2025 launches. Sooner, though, we are anticipating an October event to unveil new M4 Macs. Updates to the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac mini are expected to soon, likely going on sale in November.