The Apple rumor mill has scarcely hit its teeth as hard as it has with the iPhone SE. Various analysts are currently arguing publicly about whether a new, larger model of the cheapest iPhone will appear in 2025, which should contain a mobile chip developed by Apple itself. This chip is of particular importance because it could be the first device that Apple equips with it.
The fact that Apple’s first 5G chip was chosen to be the budget model could be a precautionary measure by Apple not to rush the baseband chip change. Plans to develop your own 5G chip with Intel failed at the time. Apple then agreed again with its long-standing supplier Qualcomm, with whom the company was in a dispute over licenses. Intel’s wireless division was later bought out by Apple. Since then, Apple has been researching its own chip in Munich.
Fourth generation with a larger display
If Apple only installs its own 5G chip in the SE for the time being, this would offer the opportunity to make technical improvements before the leap to the top models takes place. In addition, there should still be technical hurdles, for example in satellite communication.
From the supply chain in the Far East there are very contradictory statements about what the upcoming iPhone SE could look like. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from Taiwan said at the end of February that according to his research, a device with a 6.1-inch OLED display is planned, which is said to have Apple’s own 5G chip installed. In terms of appearance and size, the SE would tie in with the iPhone 14. Previously, various possible release dates had been traded, which were repeatedly pushed back by the analysts. Kuo pushed the date back to 2024. In January he was still pessimistic and did not expect a new device before 2025. As is well known, Apple does not comment on its future products.
Just a sample first?
Current Kuo concedes his own prediction and only speaks of a technical sample that Apple has made. This should be used to check whether the self-developed 5G chips are ready for mass production. The results depend on how the iPhone SE will continue. He now even thinks a production date in 2026 or later is possible.
Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu said on Tuesday that there were concrete plans to release a new iPhone SE with its own 5G chip in 2025. Apple’s supplier TSMC is to manufacture the modem.
The unpredictable model
What makes the further plans for the SE difficult to predict is also the history of the device. While Apple usually maintains fixed intervals, the history of the SE was eventful from the start. It first appeared in 2016. After a four-year hiatus and expecting Apple to abandon it, a second generation came out in 2020, followed comparatively closely by the third generation in 2022, two years later. An appearance of the fourth generation in 2026 would therefore not be ruled out and a link to the beginnings.
(mki)
