After months of rumors, evidently the fourth-generation iPhone SE may very well be proper across the nook. As we just lately reported, Bloomberg’s resident Apple guru Mark Gurman has predicted that the launch of Apple’s subsequent mid-range handset is imminent, with an announcement doable by the top of subsequent week (February 21).
However, there’s one rumor that’s caught my consideration for unlucky causes: we beforehand heard that the iPhone SE 4 may cost wherever from its present $429 to as a lot as $499 – roughly between £429 and £499 within the UK, and between AU$719 and AU$799 in Australia. Now, although, Gurman has prompt that Apple will goal the higher finish of this vary.
In brief, we may very well be getting a $500 / £500 / AU$800 iPhone SE, a considerable value hike for Apple’s most cost-effective handset
I’ve been getting increasingly more excited for a refreshed iPhone SE as hypothesis has grown. We’re presently pretty certain that the subsequent mid-range Apple handset will function the A18 chipset, 8GB of RAM, assist for Apple Intelligence, a single 48MP digicam, and inherit design options from the iPhone 14 together with a notched show.
With specs like these, it’s certain to be a considerable improve over the current-gen iPhone SE, which launched in 2022 with the iPhone 13’s internals and the design, display, and digicam of the iPhone 8 – actually, the iPhone SE 4 may show to be one of the substantial generational updates Apple has ever launched.
So, whereas I do need to see the brand new iPhone SE succeed, we have to discuss this rumored pricing.
Simply put, I don’t assume this rumored greater value matches the iPhone SE whether or not by way of idea or parts. Apple has all the time positioned the iPhone SE as an accessible approach to get into the iOS ecosystem, however at $500 / £500 / AU$800, I feel it’s cheap to count on one thing nearer to a budget-ized flagship than a straight-up price range cellphone.
For comparability, let’s take a look at the Google Pixel 8a, which launched at a value of $499 / £499 / AU$849. For that a lot, customers get the Google Tensor G3 – on the time a flagship processor – 8GB of RAM, and a 6.1-inch show. So far, fairly much like the proposed iPhone SE 4.
However, the Google Pixel 8a additionally will get a 120Hz show with a punch-hole selfie digicam, a secondary ultra-wide digicam, and definitely a bigger battery than Apple would ever match right into a cellphone the scale of the iPhone 14. The Google Pixel 8a’s show additionally doesn’t have a notch as a result of, you understand, it’s 2025.
How can the iPhone SE be well worth the cash?
It’s all the time been the Apple approach to cost a bit greater than the competitors whereas holding onto older parts – which may appear flatly unfavorable to start with, however the smoothness of iOS, lack of bloatware and promoting inside the working system, and entry into the cohesive Apple ecosystem are usually seen because the positives that steadiness this out.
It’s simply that an iPhone SE 4 that matches the rumors can be so outdated in its show and design that I can’t see the justification. Frankly, the present third-gen iPhone SE, with it’s 4.7-inch show and residential button, is sort of a ridiculous proposition at $429 / £429 / AU$719, shielded from criticism by nostalgia for its now-classic aesthetic.
There are additional rumors that the subsequent iPhone SE could be totally rebranded because the iPhone 16E, reflecting its comparable inner specs to this yr’s flagship. If you ask me, although, if Apple desires to make a correct sub-flagship cellphone within the vein of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE ($649 / £649 / AU$1,099) and OnePlus 13R ($599 / £679), then it ought to chew the bullet, add one other $100 / £100 / AU$200 or so to the value tag, and produce the iPhone 16E shut sufficient to the baseline iPhone 16 to be worthwhile.
Alternatively, Apple may moderately preserve the value the identical and preserve the iPhone 16E as a much less superior possibility. As it stands, the rumors counsel a break up distinction.
I’d wish to see the brand new iPhone SE preserve its place on our record of one of the best low-cost telephones, so I’m hoping for an affordable value. What do you reckon? Let us know what you assume the subsequent iPhone SE ought to appear like, and the way a lot it ought to price, within the feedback under.
