Just weeks after the release of the iPhone 16, thoughts are already turning to the more affordable smartphone that Apple plans to unveil early next year. In many ways, this will be a much more interesting and radical launch.
The iPhone SE is updated less frequently than the iPhone’s premium flagship models: all three models so far have arrived in 2016, 2020, and 2022, with the 4th generation SE expected to debut in spring 2025 For this reason, one would expect these rarer events to be more substantial, but that wasn’t the case with the 3rd generation SE, which was actually a disappointment. So Apple owes us a lot for the 4th generation model – and it might actually deliver on its promises.
We’re expected to be about to get a long-awaited design overhaul, moving away from the iPhone 8 chassis used for the last two models and into something that resembles a smartphone modern. Incredibly, it could fit as much as an iPhone 16 case, according to credible sources. And with the discontinuation of the 9th generation iPad earlier this year, this would represent the end of the Home button that was once such an iconic part of Apple’s mobile products.
Experts have agreed for some time that the 4th generation SE will be a major step forward for the lineup, but Bloomberg leak king Mark Gurman adds credibility and a few more details to the rumors. Basing his statements on testimony from “people with knowledge of the matter… who asked not to be identified because the plans are not public,” Gurman says the upcoming model is codenamed V59 and is intended to help Apple compete with low-end Android. phones in China.
Design-wise, Gurman suggests that the new SE will use an iPhone 14 rather than an iPhone 16 case. This would of course be a significant step up from the outdated iPhone 8 chassis, but it would mean the inclusion of a notch: no dynamic island for SE buyers, unfortunately. But it always seemed ambitious that the SE would so closely match a flagship phone that will only be six months old when it releases.
Especially since the 4th generation SE will support one of the flagship features of the iPhone 16 series: Apple Intelligence. This likely means it will have an A18 processor with 8GB of RAM, one of Apple Intelligence’s requirements. As I’ve written elsewhere, that might just make it the perfect Apple Intelligence device, and it certainly suggests we can expect a cutting-edge processor and a respectable complement of RAM. In the past, the iPhone SE offered up-to-date technical specifications in an older design, and its appeal varied depending on the precise age of that design: a chassis that will be 30 months old next spring seems like a wise compromise. .
For all the latest news and rumors, check out our iPhone SE 2025 superguide.
