When is the next iPhone SE coming? According to information from the well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from Taiwan, it could take until at least 2025 – or the series may be canceled altogether. After the usually well-informed Apple observer speculated in December that Apple had decided not to launch the fourth generation of the entry-level iPhone this spring, he now also assumes that it will be canceled in 2024. Apple’s supply chain received appropriate instructions, Kuo writes in his latest report. The device was “cancelled” instead of just delayed.
Qualcomm may continue to build basebands for Apple
However, the reason given for the deletion is different than previously speculated: It is not (only) about the current economic situation and the demand for the devices. Apple originally intended to install its own baseband chip in the iPhone SE 4 for the first time. The group has been working for several years to replace the important supplier Qualcomm in the radio modems with hardware developed in-house. But that is probably still not finished or does not reach the level of Qualcomm technology, writes Kuo.
“Originally, Apple planned to release its baseband chip in 2024 and first integrate it into the low-end iPhone SE 4 and then, depending on the development status of the iPhone SE 4, decide whether the iPhone 16 to use its own baseband chip,” said the analyst. With the discontinuation of the iPhone SE 4, the move away from Qualcomm would be further delayed. It already seems clear that the mobile phone specialist will still be there in the iPhone 15 for 2023.
X70 in iPhone 15, X75 in iPhone 16?
The cancellation of the iPhone SE 4 has now “significantly increased” the chances that Qualcomm will remain the exclusive baseband supplier for the iPhone 16, according to Kuo. The market actually assumed that Qualcomm would lose orders from Apple by 2024. But that is probably not the case now. It is now planned to use the Qualcomm X70 for the iPhone 15 in 2023. Thanks to improvements in the RF system, this baseband promises more speed for downloads and uploads (with corresponding mobile networks) and is said to be more energy-efficient. The Snapdragon X75 could then follow for the iPhone 16, about which there is hardly any information so far.
In addition to the Apple baseband, the iPhone SE 4 should also have a new form factor for the first time, according to the rumor mill. This included the housing from the iPhone XR with a full-surface screen and Face ID facial recognition – the iPhone SE 3 currently uses a home button and Touch ID fingerprint sensor, despite its modern inner workings. It is not unusual for Apple to leave SE models on the market for several years. The first generation (based on the iPhone 5 form factor) was launched in 2016, followed by the SE 2 in 2020 and the SE 3 in 2022.
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