The New iPhone SE 4 Might Have Surprising Looks

All eyes are now on the iPhone 14, which will be unveiled at Apple's Far Out event next week. This will be Apple's most important launch of the year. But there are new rumors that Apple is also planning the next step forward for its cheaper version of the iPhone SE.

In March this year, Apple released the third generation of iPhone SE models.
The iPhone SE 3 is equipped with the same 13 series of A15 bionic chip + 4GB RAM, while supporting 5G network, so it can be said that in terms of performance is completely flagship models.

But the SE 3 appearance still retains the "classic" shape, no face ID, no full-screen, no dual-camera, no dual-card support... This led to many users directly abandoned this generation of SE 3,and the estimated shipments is only 15 million to 20 million units.

Jon Prosser, a YouTube leaker ,who has mixed predictions. But he has made many impressively accurate predictions in the past. He claims that the next-generation SE will abandon the iPhone 8 chassis used in the SE 3 earlier this year and feature a full-screen design for the first time.

According to Jon Prosser, Apple will launch the new iPhone SE 4 next year, finally abandoning the home button shape and using a more modern design. But don't get too excited first. The so called "more modern design" is just a change to the iPhone XR case.

Prosser says the fourth-generation SE will use the iPhone XR's case and exterior design. Considering that the XR was released back in 2018 and the SE 4 won't be available until 2023 at the earliest (and likely not until spring 2024), this may not sound like much of an improvement. 

But the iPhone SE phone has always represented a compromise in the name of cost, combining the latest technology features with an old-fashioned design at a lower price tag, and it doesn't sound like that's going to change.

Specifically, the iPhone SE 4 will feature a 6.1-inch full-screen with large bezels, support for Face ID facial recognition and 5G networking.

In terms of configuration, although Apple gave this year's SE 3 with the latest A15 chip, all indications are that the A16 chip will only be used in the iPhone 14 Pro model due to lack of capacity. So the next-generation iPhone SE is likely to remain the A15 (or an improved version of the A15).

The upgrade from the iPhone 8 to the XR is significant, however, as it will finally see the Home button disappear from the iPhone lineup.

The SE series has previously been positioned as a small-screen flagship. For example, the initial SE screen size in 2016 was just 4 inches, perfect for users who like small-sized phones.

The Home button has been an iconic and instantly recognizable part of iPhone history since the first iPhone was introduced in 2007. Apple first released an iPhone without a Home button in 2017, replacing it with a notch and replacing Touch ID with Face ID facial recognition, but continues to sell the phone with a Home button at a cheaper price. Prosser said the updated iPhone SE will use Face ID instead of a power button with Touch ID embedded in it like the iPad mini and iPad Air.

The timing of Prosser's prediction is interesting, as it is widely believed that Apple will release its first post-notch iPhone on September 7. (The iPhone 14 Pro is expected to feature a "hole + pill" pair of holes instead of a notch.) This could be seen as a poignant reminder that the SE line is far behind the flagship models as they tend to adopt notch designs, just as it becomes obsolete.

We'll have to wait and see if Prosser is correct in this observation, and the next iPhone SE could be a long time coming. Given that all three models have appeared so far in 2016, 2020 and 2022, only a bold authority could predict a fourth model appearing in 2024. But regardless of when it launches, the Home button's days seem to be numbered. There are also rumors that the 10th generation iPad will lose its Home button with the upcoming update.

A thousand people have a thousand Hamlet. No matter how Apple designs the iPhone, there will be people who aren't happy with it. So if you were to decide what the iPhone should look like, what would you design it to look like?