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The Apple iPhone SE 2 is coming next year: Here's what you need to know

By Peter Kostadinov

Updated: Oct 10, 2019, 1:25 AM

26comments

The Apple iPhone SE 2 is coming next year: Here's what you need to know

UPDATE: Apple has announced the new iPhone SE 2020 (aka iPhone 9). You can get all the details in our official iPhone SE 2020 news story.

For years now, the iPhone SE 2 has stood on a nearly mythical throne, and rightly so It was the compact powerhouse with the timeless, old-school design. For a long time, it was not only one of the best compact phones you could get, it was... essentially the single device that met many people's requirements when it comes to size.

Now, the iPhone SE 2 achieved a somewhat cult following thanks to the crowd of Apple fans that still nostalgically cherish the past when Apple actually made compact phones. Packing iPhone 6s internals, the small iPhone was a powerhouse only rivaled by top-shelf flagships at the time of its market release, but it's been two years since then and the handset's beginning to feel a bit long in the tooth and is due for a refresh.

Talk about a second generation of the small but potent iPhone SE has been around for some time now, but Apple has kept the us in a dry spell. However, it seems as if 2020 could be it for the elusive iPhone SE 2!

Design

Not the traditional design you expected

According to the rumor mill, the iPhone SE 2 will employ an iPhone 8-like design. The old-school industrial design with sharp edges is going away in favor of the more modern iPhone 6/7/8-like looks. For one, we expect the physical TouchID-enabled button and, ahem, the headphone jack to remain staples of the affordable compact iPhone. From a hardware standpoint, the handset is expected to be a logical upgrade step for millions of Apple users of older iPhones like the iPhone 6, 6s, and 7 series, which are pretty aging at this moment.

Display

As we mentioned, these days the iPhone SE 2 is expected to have the same general hardware as the iPhone 8. This means it will get a 4.7-inch LCD display with a resolution of 750 by 1334 pixels and a Retina-perfect density of 326ppi. The iPhone 8 also had True Tone support, as well as HDR video playback, so the iPhone SE 2 would most likely come along with support for these as well.

Hardware

While the normal iPhone SE had the Apple A9 chipset inside, its successor is tipped to be boasting the Apple A13 chipset that was announced alongside Apple's 2019 iPhone 11 series. This chipset is a beast and would provide the iPhone SE 2 with more than enough performance to satisfy just about any needs you might have. We expect the iPhone SE 2 to come with either 3 or 4GB of RAM, and its storage to start at 32 or 64GB for cost-cutting reasons.

Apple iPhone SE

Camera

We expect the camera of the iPhone SE 2 to be the same 12MP f/1.8 snapper that was found on the iPhone 8. While the camera specs themselves are identical to the iPhone 7, the iPhone 8 has a much larger camera sensor which improves its low-light image quality. Between the iPhone 7 and 8, resolution may stay at 12MP, but the camera sensor itself is larger this year, resulting in bigger, more light-sensitive pixels. They also exhibit improved isolation from each other, for enhanced image fidelity, and new camera data-processing systems are intended to give boosts to things like HDR performance and auto-focus speed. We suppose that the same will apply to the iPhone SE 2 as well.

Price, release date

Nikkei, Bloomberg , and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo are all convinced that not only is an iPhone SE 2 happening, but that it's actually bound to happen in just a few months time. The predicted release date for the device is the first quarter of 2020, which falls nicely with Apple's annual spring events. This also coincides with the original iPhone SE's announcement in the spring of 2016 at Apple' March event.

Once on sale, the iPhone SE2, or whatever Apple chooses to call it, will presumably be positioned below the 2018 iPhone XR. This move means the iPhone 8 will probably be discontinued upon its arrival – Apple stopped shipping the iPhone 5s once the iPhone SE was announced – to avoid any potential overlapping in its lineup.

Now, the saucy part - the pricing. The original iPhone SE cost $399 for the 16GB model, while the 64GB one cost $499. Later on, storage got doubled but the prices remained the same, which was surprise as pleasant as they come. We suppose that the iPhone SE 2 could carry a very similar price tag - the low tier storage version would likely start at just $399, while the better packed one would sell for $449.

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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.