After being reportedly ditched, the iPhone SE seems to be very much back on the cards. Not only has it beentipped by renowned industry analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, there’s now a report from Korea claims one of China’s biggest display manufacturers, BOE, is gearing up to supply OLED panels for the device.
The entry-level iPhone SE 4 (as it’s being called at present) will come with a 6.1-inch OLED screen for the first time, it is said. This is considerably larger than the4.7-inch LCD screen on the existing model.In fact, it’s equivalent to the iPhone 14 - so those looking for a cheaper iPhone could get a lot more for their money if they are willing to wait a bit longer.
The Elecsuggests that the new SE will likely release in the first-half of 2024, with BOE starting panel manufacture in Q3 this year. That makes sense as previous iPhone SE launches have taken place in spring - the current iPhone SE was released in March 2022, while its predecessor was made available in April 2020.
The one caveat to the OLED panel used in the forthcoming, more affordable iPhone is that it will be a little less technologically advanced as the ones used in pricier models. The Elec claims that it won’t use an LTPO thin film transistor and so will cost Apple approximately half the price of the higher-end panels that you’ll find in the iPhone 15 series.
As for other details on the handset, Kuo has previously suggested that the notch of the iPhone 14 and prior versions could be present, soon after theiPhone 15moves to the Dynamic Island. That also means the Touch ID button will be gone, with no ugly bars top or bottom.
It could also be the first iPhone to adopt Apple’s own 5G modem - albeit operating under the 6GHz band only, so won’t have any mmWave support for even faster 5G connections.
We suspect this is only the beginning of the iPhone SE 4 rumour mill. We’ll keep you up to date with anything else we find out.
