Photo of leaked iPhone SE 4 case gives us some answers to questions about the hardware
The iPhone SE 4 is expected to be released early next year. Taking its design cues from the iPhone 14, the iPhone SE 4 will be the first "Special Edition" iPhone to do away with Touch ID replacing it with Face ID and the notch. It also will have a 6.1-inch OLED display replacing the LCD screen used on the first three iPhone SE models. The phone will carry 8GB of RAM which means that it will support Apple Intelligence, Apple's AI initiative.
Surprisingly the latest rumors call for the phone to be powered by the A18 application processor (AP) that you'll find inside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Other rumors call for the iPhone SE 4 to be the first iPhone to sport Apple's own 5G modem and the rear camera could be backed by a 48MP sensor.
What does a leaked photo of an iPhone SE 4 case tell us about the hardware?
Leaker Sonny Dickson is sharing on "X" a photo showing both sides of a black iPhone SE 4 case; we can use this image to reach some conclusions about the iPhone SE 4. One, despite rumors to the contrary, this case does not show the Action Button. Instead, there is a cutout for the mute switch which was replaced by the Action Button. The latter debuted on last year's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and are on all four iPhone 16 models this year.
Leaked photo of iPhone SE 4 gives us some hints about what features might be found on the phone. | Image credit-Sonny Dickson
The leaked case for the iPhone SE 4 also does not seem to include the brand-spanking new Camera Control button found on the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. This feature allows users to change the settings on the camera app by swiping and pressing the Camera Control button on the side of the phone. It also allows you to take a photograph and start recording video.
One thing that you must expect from the iPhone SE 4 with all of the changes is actually very obvious. That is a higher dollar amount on the price tag which started at $429 for the iPhone SE 3 model with 64GB of storage in 2022. Apple is almost sure to hike the pricing on the iPhone SE 4 and with the iPhone 14 priced at $599 and up at Apple's online store, this creates an interesting pricing quandary for the company.
What will the iPhone SE 4 be priced at?
While the iPhone SE 4 will be below the iPhone 14 on Apple's depth charts (it is considered a "budget" phone after all), the device will come with 8GB of RAM allowing it to support Apple Intelligence. The iPhone 14 carries 6GB of RAM which means that it cannot support Apple's AI initiative. Also, if the rumors are true, the iPhone SE 4 will have a more powerful A18 chipset inside compared to the A15 Bionic chipset that runs the iPhone 14.
So where does Apple price the iPhone SE 4? A case could be made that it should be priced at or even above the $599 that the 128GB iPhone 14 costs with the same amount of storage. It still would be considered a budget price compared to the iPhone 16's $799. But this only would work if Apple replaces the iPhone 14 with the iPhone SE 4. If not, Apple could decide to price the iPhone SE 4 at $500 which would cement its position as a budget phone with value.
For now, all we can do is monitor the situation. As the calendar gets closer to the expected release next spring, we should run into more leaks and rumors about the pricing for the iPhone SE 4.
If Apple does bring the iPhone SE into the modern era with the next iteration of the phone, it will mean the end of Touch ID which made its first appearance in 2013 on the iPhone 5s. It was a much better fingerprint scanner than the previous attempt by Motorola who included a disappointing one with the Atrix back in 2011.
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