Apple's still-distant iPhone SE 4 could start at $499 with OLED screen and single 48MP camera
Who's ready to welcome a new compact iPhone in their lives? Because 2021's iPhone 13 mini and the 2020-released iPhone 12 mini failed to connect with global audiences, Apple is clearly and unsurprisingly unlikely to issue a diminutive version of the iPhone 16 this fall.
But the 2022-released iPhone SE 3 is undeniably due for an upgrade, and the chances of seeing that fourth-gen budget-friendly handset unveiled next spring are essentially growing every day. Today's report comes from Ice Universe, who is a social media tipster primarily specialized in revealing unknown inside information about unannounced Samsung products.
While that makes us a little uncertain if we should trust this new report or not, most of the details we are going to list and discuss in the following lines seem to largely fit previous rumors on the same topic, starting with...
Key iPhone SE 4 specs expected right now
- 6.06-inch LTPS OLED display with 60Hz refresh rate technology;
- Apple A18 processor;
- LPDDR5 6GB - 8GB memory;
- 48MP single rear-facing camera.
We know what you're thinking. With a larger-than-6-inch screen in tow, it's going to be hard to consider the fourth-gen iPhone SE a truly diminutive smartphone. But for a 2024 (or 2025) device, this could definitely prove to be relatively compact, presumably eliminating a very large part of its predecessor's chunky bezels.
The third-gen iPhone SE, mind you, sports a modestly sized 4.7-inch IPS LCD panel, with its long-awaited sequel being widely expected to also improve display performance with OLED technology while sadly keeping the "traditional" 60Hz refresh rate capabilities unchanged.
This render suggests the iPhone SE 4 could bear a striking resemblance to 2022's iPhone 14.
Just like the iPhone SE 3 "borrowed" its Apple A15 Bionic chip from the best iPhones released six months earlier, the iPhone SE 4 is now tipped to share a state-of-the-art A18 processor with this fall's iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. Incredibly enough, that would make this affordable handset faster than the "regular" iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, which are likely to be powered by an Apple A17 SoC.
The "6 to 8GB RAM" part of today's report, meanwhile, is a bit of a head scratcher, suggesting that Ice Universe doesn't yet know everything about Apple's plans for the next-gen iPhone SE. Finally, the 48MP rear-facing snapper would represent yet another major upgrade over the existing iPhone SE (2022), but in the absence of a secondary camera, the overall photography skills are obviously guaranteed to fall short of what the iPhone 15 offers.
When is the iPhone SE 4 coming and how much will it cost?
If we are to trust Ice Universe on everything, the release schedule currently targeted by Apple is March to May 2025 and the price point is likely to fit somewhere in the $499 - $549 range.
That latter part would make the fourth-gen iPhone SE at least a little more expensive than its predecessor, which was originally priced at $429 and up... and is actually still available at that same price in an entry-level 64GB storage configuration.
These are the main current predictions for next year's iPhone SE 4 and iPhone 17 family. | Image Credit -- Ice Universe on Weibo.
The storage variants of the iPhone SE (2025), by the way, are not mentioned today, and the same goes for the "notched" design previously rumored by several different industry insiders. What Ice Universe does mention are a bunch of details on the more distant iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and 17 Slim (or Ultra) that we've also heard before from leakers and tipsters with better track records when it comes to Apple stuff.
The entire iPhone 17 family is expected to offer state-of-the-art LTPO display technology, while the Pro series could pack 12GB RAM and three 48MP cameras. Last but certainly not least, the iPhone 17 Slim is described as a "completely redesigned ultra-thin model" with a screen diagonal of around 6.65 inches and a higher price point than the 17 Pro Max despite sporting overall humbler specifications like less memory, an inferior processor, and inferior cameras.
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