The new iPhone SE 4 could get this surprise upgrade
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While Apple’s focus is currently on the launch of the iPhone 16 in September, fans of the company’s cheaper SE series should look to Spring 2025, when the iPhone SE 4 is expected to land. However, according to a new Weibo leak, the two may have more in common than expected.
“The SE4 back cover process is the same as the 16 standard version,” writes Fixed Focus Digital (machine translated via Weibo). The leaker is relatively untested at this point but has previously made some predictions about iPhone 16 colors, so we should have a better feel for accuracy soon enough.
If this prediction is accurate, it’s interesting because the iPhone SE 4 was initially expected to use a modified iPhone 14 chassis. It would make sense for Apple to share the chassis of the iPhone 16 from a manufacturing efficiency point of view. Still, if it’s “exactly the same” as Fixed Focus Digital suggests, that hints at a possible unexpected camera upgrade.
Like its predecessors, we expected the iPhone 4 SE to have a single camera lens to save on costs. But leaks indicate the iPhone 16 chassis will have space for two cameras, one above the other for Vision Pro-friendly spatial video recording.
Does that mean the next iPhone SE might have two cameras too? We shouldn’t rule it out. After all, this is expected to be the most substantial upgrade for the series so far, with the new SE set to inherit a lot of hand-me-downs from its more expensive siblings, including Face ID, a 48MP camera, USB-C charging and the Action button. There’s even talk of it getting an OLED screen and Dynamic Island instead of the notch, but there are reasons to be skeptical.
That said, a second camera would add to the cost, and with Apple reportedly looking to keep a sub-$500 starting price, this may all be wishful thinking — especially when compatibility for a $3,500 mixed-reality headset seems unnecessary on a budget smartphone. The chassis could be filled another way, or perhaps Fixed Focus Digital has the wrong end of the stick, and we’ll see an unfamiliar-looking shell when it arrives.
The leaker adds that “the shipment plan is about the end of September,” which is ambiguous. We’re certainly not expecting Apple to unveil the iPhone SE 4 alongside the iPhone 16 this September, with a Spring launch predicted elsewhere. Perhaps the leaker means that the first shells are expected then — destined to be used in early adopters’ iPhone 16 handsets.
It has been a long wait for a new iPhone SE — but not the longest. There was a four-year gap between the first and second generations, which arrived in 2016 and 2020 respectively. While the third-generation 2022 iPhone SE is still a decent buy, the best cheap phones are starting to highlight its limitations, so we’re looking forward to seeing what Apple brings to the table in 2025.
