Adam Kos No, Apple is certainly not preparing the 4th generation iPhone SE for September, when the third one has only been here since the spring of this year. According to the analyst Jon Prosser but the next iPhone SE will be based on the iPhone XR. But is it a wise move? The 2nd generation was already supposed to be based on the iPhone XR, and if not, then at least the third. With the fourth, however, it is again misleading.
The first iPhone SE hit the market in 2016 and was based on the iPhone 6S. The 2nd generation of the iPhone SE was released in 2020, and it can be accepted with a narrow eye that Apple has revived the iPhone 8 here instead of the iPhone XR. This year's iPhone SE 3rd generation, which is still based on the iPhone 8, is an unforgivable slap in the face to all fans of the company who do not need the latest technology, but want to use an iPhone.
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Vratislav Holub The iPhone XR was released together with the iPhone XS and XS Max in the fall of 2018. With the advent of the bezel-less era, i.e. the one established by the iPhone X, which was the first to lose the Home Button, the iPhone XR could have paid for a low-budget model, because compared to the XS series, it was trimmed in terms of features, while still bringing a pleasing color palette, which Apple has, after all, moved away from in subsequent generations of basic iPhones. However, he began to designate them only with a number, and more equipped models with the epithet Pro.
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So if we ignore the transition period of 2020, when the iPhone XR was not yet too old to be renamed SE, what Apple has done this year is simply badass. No one will tell me that the home button still has its place on the iPhone. If someone needs buttons, let them buy a button phone, because you won't find a single such exotic from a major manufacturer in the Android portfolio. This step by Apple, i.e. reaching for a design from 2022 in 2017, seems inexcusable to me, and I stand by it even after reviewing the 3rd generation of the SE model. It is a nice small and powerful phone, but in my personal opinion there is no place for it on the market. Which also applies to any other small phones (the fate of the mini model is certainly sealed).
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The only correct direction is the end of the SE line
The time jump between the release of the first generation iPhone SE and the second was 4 years. Then two years between the second and third. So if we should wait for the iPhone SE 4th generation in 2024 and if it should have the design of the device from 2018, i.e. the one in the form of the iPhone XR and with only one main camera which is already quite poor for the future, it seems to me the same situation, like the one at the beginning of this year. This would make Apple release a "new" phone based on a 5-year-old design. At the same time, with the iPhone 12, he established a new, angular trend, which iPad Pro, iPad Air and mini also have (in a certain respect also 14 and 16" MacBook Pro and MacBook Air 2022), just as the sharply cut appearance is expected from the 10th generation of the basic iPad .
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So if I was of the opinion that the iPhone SE 2022 should have the design of the iPhone XR, when it still made at least a little sense, for the next generation this look is already an unfortunate solution. Instead of trying to sell off the old chassis, Apple should bury the entire SE line and just make the base line cheaper instead. After all, even now you can find the iPhone 11 released in 2019 in his portfolio on the Apple Online Store. Its price starts at CZK 14, while the archaic iPhone SE with a newer chip and a few small things costs only CZK 490 less.
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With the iPhone 14, it is likely that the iPhone 11 will be removed from the menu, because its place, and hopefully for the same money, will be taken by the iPhone 12. And it is this one that will already hold the newly established form factor. Then, with the arrival of the iPhone 15 in 2023, if Apple did not arrange the sale of the iPhone 12, it would have a design-integrated portfolio from which the SE series could be completely dropped without any unnecessary renewal.
It sometimes seems to me that you somehow do not understand what the point of specific products is. The iPhone SE is the cheapest iPhone, and since it is the cheapest, it is in no way desirable for Apple to interfere in any way with the other iPhones from the current range. If the iPhone SE made sense to you, i.e. that it was currently based on the iPhone Xr, it would mean that it would practically be a parasite on all the iPhones in the range. Do you think that they would be satisfied at Apple, that instead of the iPhone 11,12, 7, the SE is being sold somewhere for 11 or more thousand cheaper? What is the point of ending SE in its current form? Due to its parameters, it is certainly not a parasite on other iPhones, but it still has its customers, so the only result of ending this type would be to deprive yourself of income, nothing else, to make the iPhone SE better, but it also meant to prepare yourself for income, many customers would prefer it instead of maybe the 12 or XNUMX, so the only correct solution is exactly the one that is now :)
I am also absolutely clear: the next SE will be based on the iP mini. Not that it's breaking sales records, but when the price drops... Everything on it has already been taken care of (manufacturing, component suppliers, no need to invent the design of the "innards"...). And I would see it the year after next spring - even the non-pro version of the iP15 will be without a notch, so it will be reasonably outdated so as not to cannibalize more expensive models. At least I would welcome it ;)
It makes sense to me too. The next SE could be based on the mini line if they cut it this year. I wouldn't mind at all if the viewport stretched to the edges and the status icons were below it including the % charge indicator.
I think the reason behind the launch of the mini is that apple plans to use the mini's look for other SE series in the future. It would make sense both for Apple and certainly for customers. And I think that the ideal would be to place the fingerprint reader in the power button. If Chinese brands also put a fingerprint reader in the power button, then I think that Apple could also take this step... at least for the SE board. For example, an absolutely ideal solution for unlocking and accessing applications (such as banking and payment gateways).
Many customers choose the SE series because of the fingerprint reader, so if Apple were to perceive this information, then either a mini with a reader in the power button or still the Home button in the old body as before.
I think the SE range is mainly about a smaller body with new components from the start and I hope Apple puts the next SE in a MINI body. It would make sense. And if he placed a reader in the power button (preferably a larger one), he would definitely keep customers who want a fingerprint reader. As already stated here: many customers buy SE precisely because of fingerprint access. Regardless of the convenience of sending access to applications, payment methods, etc.
I think that the main reason why people buy SE is not Touch ID but the price. So if you want to make the mini a new SE, you need to push the price down and drop something expensive. I would guess that Face ID will remain. Rather, it will reduce the storage capacity and perhaps remove the U1 chip.
If you want a small smartphone and don't want a big paddle and pay a lot of money, choose SE. And Apple probably sees it that way too. At least we hope so. So the ideal way would be the body of the mini. With the mini, Apple just tested whether customers are willing to pay more for a small body than for a completely old body, and when the customers showed him that this is not the way to go, then maybe MINI will use it for the next SE series. It would certainly retain a considerable number of customers and perhaps attract more. A large body does not suit everyone.