Five upgrades to expect with iPhone SE 4 early next year – 9to5Mac

Now that the iPhone 16 lineup has been released to customers, some people might be thinking about what’s next for the iPhone. However, it isn’t the iPhone 17, and it isn’t a year away…

The next iPhone should actually be the iPhone SE 4, barring any delays. This iPhone should come out next spring, meaning we’re around six months away from seeing it. This will be the first update to the iPhone SE in three years, and it’ll likely be the biggest revamp to the iPhone SE since inception.

Newer design, better display

Apple has been sticking to the iPhone 8 design since the iPhone SE 2 back in 2020. That design still features a 4.7” LCD display, rounded edges, and a home button. However, the next iPhone SE should be moving away from that…

Instead, we’re expecting a design similar to the iPhone 14, with a bigger 6.1” OLED display, a flat edged design, Face ID, and the smaller notch from that era. However, we’re still expecting it to have a single camera, rather than the dual camera of the iPhone 14.

Display analyst Ross Young says that the iPhone SE 4 should share the same 6.1″ OLED panel as the iPhone 14, supplied by both BOE and LG Display.

USB-C

Unlike the iPhone 14 and current iPhone SE, Apple is expected to transition away from the Lightning connector on the iPhone SE 4.

This is mostly due to EU regulation requiring all devices with a charging port to switch to a unified connector, that being USB-C.

Apple initially transitioned to USB-C back on the iPhone 15 lineup last year, and the next iPhone SE will be the last iPhone to transition. If you’re an iPhone SE buyer, you’ll soon be able to charge your phone with the same cable as your iPad and laptop.

Better cameras

Apple’s next iPhone SE will likely feature the same 48MP rear sensor as the iPhone 15, making a huge leap from the iPhone SE 3’s 12MP sensor from the iPhone 8.

iPhone SE 4 will also likely share the same 12MP selfie camera as the iPhone 15, another huge leap from the iPhone SE 3’s 7MP selfie camera.

Apple Intelligence

According to reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the next iPhone SE should support Apple Intelligence, likely with an A18 chip and 8GB of RAM. This is a bit surprising, but it seems that Apple wants to put Apple Intelligence in as many hands as possible, even on its cheapest new iPhone.

As a reminder, Apple Intelligence introduces a plethora of new features, such as Writing Tools, Photos Clean Up, Genmoji, Image Playground, Notification Summaries, and an all new Siri.

Apple’s first modem

The fourth generation iPhone SE is expected to have Apple’s first ever in-house modem, which they’ve been working on for many years. Apple acquired Intel’s old modem business back in 2019 with the intent of developing their own modems and moving away from Qualcomm.

We exclusively reported earlier this week at 9to5Mac that Apple will ship their first in-house 5G modem, codenamed Centauri, in the iPhone SE 4. This modem will also handle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Qualcomm’s 5G modems are one of the most expensive components in the iPhone, so it makes sense that Apple is trying to move away from them. This could be one of the key factors in iPhone SE 4 having such a low starting price, despite being such a modern iPhone.

iPhone SE pricing

According to rumors, the next generation iPhone SE will be more expensive, potentially $499. However, that’s still a pretty decent price, given the fact that it’s a very modern iPhone for under $500.

Apple also sells the iPhone 14 for $599 currently, so the fact that we’d be getting a modernized version of that phone for even less would be quite a steal. Apple would most likely discontinue the iPhone 14 after releasing the next iPhone SE, meaning that the iPhone lineup would potentially look like this:

• iPhone SE: $499
• iPhone 15: $699
• iPhone 15 Plus: $799
• iPhone 16: $799
• iPhone 16 Plus: $899
• iPhone 16 Pro: $999
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: $1199

This would be quite a unified iPhone lineup, with all iPhones having USB-C. It’d definitely be a little weird if the cheaper iPhone SE had Apple Intelligence support while the more expensive iPhone 15 did not, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple discontinued that phone as well.

Are you excited for the next generation of iPhone SE? Let us know in the comments.

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