• High level of uncertainty regarding an iPhone SE successor model
• Ming-Chi Kuo expects production of iPhone SE 4 with in-house 5G baseband chips
• Release date still unknown – possibly not until the second half of 2024
The statements of Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst at TF International Securities, always draw a lot of attention from Apple watchers, shareholders and fans. Thanks to his direct contacts with many Apple supplier companies, Kuo is often one of the first to know about news regarding new production releases, supply chains, demand situations or even personnel decisions. In the Apple Track ranking of top analysts, Kuo is in the top ten with an accuracy rate of 72.5 percent. His tweets published at the end of February about a possible continuation of the SE (Special Edition) series drew many Apple fans under their spell – apparently Apple CEO Tim Cook still believes in the future success of the smaller iPhone versions.
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple’s plans for the iPhone SE 4 are already in full swing
Kuo himself was the one who reported for the first time shortly before Christmas 2022 that Apple was not planning a successor to the iPhone SE 3. The sale of the cheaper iPhone versions – this includes the iPhone SE 3 as well as the iPhone 13 mini and the iPhone 14 Plus – was very slow. For this reason, the Californian technology giant is considering the production of cheaper iPhones, Kuo reported at the time. However, the Apple analyst has now collected new information that Apple is still working on the production of a new iPhone SE. As a result, it is not just a matter of resuming development planning – Kuo rather speaks of a “restart”.
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[Update] Apple has restarted the iPhone SE 4 and will adopt an in-house 5G baseband chip. The significant decline in Qualcomm’s Apple orders in the foreseeable future is a foregone conclusion. https://t.co/0MeZDFnbzg– 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) February 27, 2023
According to his tweet, Apple is planning to use its own 5G baseband chip in the iPhone SE 4, the connectivity of which will be limited to the sub-6GHz bands of the 5G network. So far, however, Apple’s own 5G modems are still in the development phase. According to Kuo, the declining orders from the US semiconductor company QUALCOMM speak in favor of using its own chips, since this company has so far produced the baseband chips for the iPhones. For example, the current SE generation packs a custom Snapdragon X57 chip from QUALCOMM.
This is how the iPhone SE 4 could be built
In his further remarks on Twitter, Kuo compares the potentially new SE 4 model with the regular iPhone 14. The hopes of many Apple fans that the group will also adopt the popular design of the 14 series for the SE model could therefore be met confirm. Unlike the previous models in this series, the corners of the iPhone SE 4 should be less round and much more angular.
Based on information from various sources, Kuo suspects that the new SE 4 model will be equipped with an OLED display (6.1 inch diagonal). The OLED panels are known for stronger colors and better contrasts and have been installed in the conventional iPhone series since 2020. The recognized display expert Ross Young also reported that the Chinese supplier company BOE will produce the screens of the new iPhone SE 4 in the future. BOE already manufactures some of the displays for the iPhone 14.
The iPhone SE 4 should therefore be of higher quality and significantly larger than the previous model. For comparison: The iPhone SE 3 has a 4.7-inch display, making it one of the smallest series-produced smartphones when it was released in 2022. In terms of size and design, the SE 3 model is similar to the iPhone 8 released in 2017.
When will the fourth generation iPhone SE be available?
The date of the first appearance of the new budget iPhone is not yet foreseeable, especially since Apple has not yet confirmed the rumors about a “restart” in the SE production. Kuo expects the new SE phones to be available for purchase from March 2024. However, according to assessments by the GIGA portal, this planned release start is clearly too early. Rather, the date will be pushed back significantly due to the months of uncertainty about the continuation of SE production. The imponderables about the in-house 5G baseband chips, which are still in the development phase, could also cause delays. Apple is said to be dissatisfied with the performance of the planned 5G modem. The fans of the SE phones will obviously have to be patient for a while. But you should at least have gotten used to longer waiting times: There was always at least two years between the release dates of the iPhone SE 1 (2016), the iPhone SE 2 (2020) and the iPhone SE 3 (2022).
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