I never hid my excitement about the upcoming iPhone SE 4, a mid-range budget iPhone that will be unlike any of its predecessors. The handset will ditch Touch ID and the home button for Face ID and a notch design similar to the iPhone 14.
The bigger upgrade concerns the iPhone SE 4’s specs. The handset will feature the same chip and RAM as the non-Pro iPhone 16 models. That’s the A18 chip and 8GB of RAM, both requirements for having Apple Intelligence run on the device.
Given where we’re at in the AI race, Apple can’t afford to exclude the iPhone SE 4 from the Apple Intelligence wave of devices. All of its products need to support the same AI features. The iPhone 16 provides the minimum requirements for Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone SE 4 will also receive a major camera upgrade compared to its predecessor. The latest camera specs for the budget handset indicate that the phone will almost match the batch iPhone 15’s camera abilities.
Most iPhone SE 4 reports said that the iPhone SE 4 will feature a single-lens 48-megapixel camera on the back. On the front, we’d have a 12-megapixel lens. The iPhone SE 3 features dual 12-megapixel cameras, one on the front and one on the back.
Thus, the upgrade would be significant. Apple introduced 48-megapixel wide cameras with the iPhone 14 Pros, but the base models didn’t get the same shooter. We had to wait until last year’s iPhone 15 to get the same camera hardware. Apple has made additional upgrades to the iPhone 16 cameras, though the wide lens has a 48-megapixel sensor across the board.
The iPhone SE 4 camera should feature parts that have been used before. The detail comes from an ETNews report that mentions the iPhone SE 4 camera specs. We’re looking at 48-megapixel wide and 12-megapixel selfie sensors.
The report notes that LG Innotek, which is manufacturing the camera lenses, will use existing components instead of newly developed cameras. That’s because the iPhone SE is a budget phone. This indicates that the iPhone SE 4’s camera abilities will be on par with the base iPhone 15, at the very least. Well, except for the ultra-wide lens the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have.
The report also notes that LG Innotek has just started production. A different report from Korea said a few weeks ago that LG Innotek will supply the iPhone SE 4. That story claims that LG usually kicks off production three months before the product’s launch. At the time, we concluded the iPhone SE 4 couldn’t hit stores sooner than March 2025.
The ETNews report seemingly corroborates that launch window. The iPhone SE 4 will launch in March next year, three years after the iPhone SE 3.
The report says other camera suppliers will manufacture camera modules for the iPhone SE 4: Foxconn and Cowell Electronics.
On the display side, LG Display will provide a significant portion of the 6.1-inch OLED panels that Apple needs for the iPhone SE 4. These will be similar to Apple’s OLED screens for the iPhone 13. China’s BOE will also make similar displays for the iPhone SE 4.
To recap, the iPhone SE 4 should feature an iPhone 14 design, an iPhone 13-garde display, iPhone 16 core specs, and iPhone 15-grade cameras (if not better). Slap a price of up to $499 on this thing, and the iPhone SE 4 will fly off the shelves.
Finally, the report says Apple plans to make 20 million iPhone SE 4, which isn’t massive. But when you consider that Apple routinely sells well over 200 million iPhones yearly, and that Samsung’s Galaxy S flagships sell about 30 million to 40 million units a year, that estimate looks much better.
