iPhone SE 4 battery and charging: Rumored specs and upgrades
One of the primary downsides of the latest iPhone SE was its poor battery life. Thankfully, the iPhone SE 4 that Apple is expected to launch in March is said to come with a big upgrade in battery capacity, which should greatly impact the battery life.
Besides the larger battery, Apple will almost certainly introduce the iPhone SE 4 with an upgraded chipset, which should mean even further improvements to the battery life, as the newer Bionic chips tend to be more power efficient.
As for charging, for now there is not much to go on. The one thing that is almost sure to happen is the introduction of the USB-C port to the iPhone SE series with the iPhone SE 4. Whether that will mean faster charging speeds remains to be seen.
iPhone SE 4 rumored battery upgrades
Larger body comes with a larger battery
Rumors are saying that the iPhone SE 4 will get the same design as the iPhone 14. This should also mean it will get either the same battery capacity or very close to it, which is 3,279 mAh. That is 1,261 mAh more than what the last SE generation came with, and a 60% increase.
OLED display
Another upgrade that might impact the battery life positively is the transition from an LCD to an OLED display. OLED's are generally considered more power-efficient because they don't require a backlight, meaning black pixels use no power at all.
New processor
Rumors were initially a bit mixed when it came to what chip the iPhone SE 4 will come with, but the most recent leaks say that Apple might use the A18 chipset. That is the same processor powering the iPhone 16, which we estimated to have an approximate battery life of 6 hours and 21 minutes—that's a lot better compared to the 3 hours and 57 minutes we estimated for the iPhone SE 3.
New 5G modem
Equity analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, shared back in July that the iPhone SE 4 will come with Apple's first in-house 5G modem. Much like with the rest of Apple's processors, this 5G modem could offer higher energy efficiency, on top of a reduction in manufacturing costs.
Will the iPhone SE 4 have better battery life?
The answer is almost certainly yes. Even if the iPhone SE 4 does not come with an Apple-made 5G modem, it's larger battery capacity alone should mean it comes with much better battery life compared to previous iterations.
For reference, our battery life lab tests gave the iPhone SE 3 an estimated battery life of 3 hours and 56 minutes, which is quite a low bar to beat, especially in the current mobile tech scene.
How much battery will the iPhone SE 4 have?
The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have a 3,279 mAh battery, which is the same as the iPhone 14. While that is not as much as most of the Android mid-rangers on the market, iPhones tend to be more power-efficient, so the new SE should be on par with the competition.
How fast will the iPhone SE 4 charge?
Unlike the battery, we still don't have any information about the iPhone SE 4 charging capabilities. The iPhone SE from 2022 comes with 18W of wired and 7W of wireless charging, so there is ample room for improvement on this end.
Given that the iPhone SE 4 is said to closely resemble the iPhone 14 series, which has 20W of wired and 15W of wireless charging, it wouldn't be too far fetched to expect the same.
Will the iPhone SE 4 have wireless charging?
Yes, the iPhone SE 4 will probably have wireless charging, just like its predecessor. We also expect the iPhone SE 4 to be the first in the SE series to feature MagSafe charging, which uses magnets to perfectly align the phone with MagSafe chargers. This perfect alignment is crucial for maximizing the energy transfer between the charger and the phone.
Will the iPhone SE 4 have reverse-wireless charging?
No. Since the iPhone 14 did not come with reverse-wireless charging, the likelihood that the iPhone SE 4 will get this feature is close to zero.
What charger will the iPhone SE 4 use?
The best charger for the iPhone SE 4 will be any charger that has at least 20W of power output. Apple makes its own 20W charger, so that would be the safest choice, even though you can always go for a trusted third-party option that has good reputation.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: