A report from earlier this year suggested that Apple has scrapped its plans for the 4th-Gen iPhone SE. Now, Apple has reportedly backtracked and revived plans to develop a next-generation iPhone SE, according to credible Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo suggests the device will contain an in-house 5G baseband chip and feature an OLED display instead of an LCD screen.
This latest report is the opposite of what Kuo stated in early January when he claimed that the iPhone SE 4 had been cancelled, and Apple would use Qualcomm’s chips for the iPhone 15 and 16. The analyst now predicts that “the new iPhone SE 4 will equip with Apple’s 5G baseband chip produced by a 4nm process and will only support sub-6GHz as the current plan.”
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[Update] Apple has restarted the iPhone SE 4 and will adopt an in-house 5G baseband chip. The significant decline in Qualcomm's Apple orders in the foreseeable future is a foregone conclusion. https://t.co/0MeZDFnbzg— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) February 27, 2023
The device is likely to go into production at the beginning of 2024, with the release expected for later that year.
If Apple’s SE device does start using in-house modem chips, the company’s business with Qualcomm will decline significantly. “Assuming the mass production of the SE 4 goes smoothly in 1H24, the iPad and Apple Watch, which have lower technical requirements, will soon abandon Qualcomm’s baseband chips, too,” wrote Kuo.
Further, one of the main drawbacks of Apple’s SE iPhones is their iPhone 8-era design that still features a Touch ID. With the upcoming 4th-Gen SE, Kuo says that the device will sport a larger 6.1-inch display, instead of a 4.7-inch bezel-heavy display that is too outdated to fit in today’s smartphone industry.
Source: @mingchikuo
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