Apple iPhone SE 4 release date set for March with LG Innotek camera module
Apple is already preparing the to start mass component production for its upcoming cheapest 2025 iPhone. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to sport a big screen with a notch for the first time in the SE line, eschewing the front Touch ID button that its fans love and appreciate, but which is getting a bit long in the tooth, as would be its tiny 4.7-inch display.
In any case, a credible leakster is now reporting that LG Innotek, one of Apple's big camera suppliers, has already started pilot production of the iPhone SE 4 camera module. Given that LG starts stocking up on component units for Apple's iPhones about a quarter ahead of the actual devices' launch, the iPhone SE 4 release date will happen some time next quarter, most likely in March.
Exclusive: Apple’s camera partner, LG Innotek, has decided to start mass production of the camera module for the iPhone SE4 in December. They are currently conducting tests ahead of mass production.
— Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve) November 11, 2024
LG Innotek typically supplies camera modules about three months before a…
The iPhone SE 4 is expected to land with an actually modern design borrowed from some of the more recent iPhone series whose components have already gone drastically down in price, so that Apple can maintain its margins.
The sole camera module, however, is expected to get a significant bump from the 12MP cameras of yesteryear, to a 48MP sensor, which would bring a nice chunk of change for LG Innotek as a supplier, too.
Apple iPhone SE 4 release date to expect
- March 21, 2025
The last time Apple released an iPhone SE was way back on March 18, 2022. Following a similar logic, and armed with the knowledge that LG has already started its camera production three months before release, the iPhone SE 4 should be seeing the light of day on store shelves closer to Friday, March 21, rather than March 14.
In any case, Apple won't be breaking with the tradition to release the iPhone SE 4 in the first quarter of the year. As to what else will be new, it will apparently carry a mixture of old and new iPhone models design, and will reportedly be the first iPhone SE model with OLED display.
As usual, Apple will be a couple of years late and a few dollars short when it comes to components that will go into building the iPhone SE 2025 to maintain its low price. According to The Elec, while the back of the iPhone SE may be based on iPhone 16, the front will actually be taken from the good ol' iPhone 13.
That is to say, that the iPhone SE 4 will have a single camera on the back still, but the whole camera kit, i.e. the sensor and lens and flash combo, will be aligned vertically. The front, however, should look like the iPhone 13 and carry its 6.1-inch OLED display.
This will make the iPhone SE 4 the largest of the line so far, and Apple has found a way to make the iPhone SE 4 even cheaper to produce than the three-year-old at the time iPhone 13. To do this, it will task BOE with making 70% of the iPhone SE 4 panels, as this is its cheapest iPhone display supplier.
Even then, Apple has reportedly asked BOE to come up with even lower specifications for the iPhone 13 panel that will land in the iPhone SE 4, such as an older OLED generation production method or lower peak brightness.
Allegedly, Apple had also approached LG to see if it can be an alternative supplier for the iPhone SE 4 displays as it forecasts to sell about 20 million units a year, aiming to get its OLED panel at only $40 apiece, so that it can still make a good chunk of change on the $499 starting price that the iPhone SE 4 is expected to land at.
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