iPhone 14 / Depositphotos
It was thought that the new “budget” iPhone from Apple, set to drop in March 2025, would be priced at $500-600, but according to info from Japanese carriers (via Phonearena), it might even be less (think $499).
The sub-$500 price tag could be possible thanks to Apple using its own cellular modem with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS—so no more shelling out for Qualcomm licenses. This move would also let Apple further optimize its devices, just like it did with the Apple Silicon processors.
Reports say that the company has already developed a “viable” candidate, which will debut in the iPhone SE 4.
According to 9to5mac, the new iPhone SE is likely to sport the iPhone 14 body—with a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, flat edges, Face ID, and a smaller “notch”; the phone will also pack an A18 chip and 8 GB of RAM for slick performance with Apple Intelligence, feature a USB-C port instead of Lightning (mostly due to EU regulations—itc.ua), and come with cameras like the iPhone 15—48-megapixel rear sensor and a 12-megapixel selfie camera.
The first update to the iPhone SE in three years will be unveiled in March 2025.