OPINION: If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never been a fan of Apple’s budget-friendly iPhone SE.
While the idea of a more affordable iPhone is something I wholeheartedly applaud in theory, the execution has left much to be desired – especially compared to the Android competition that easily beats the current iPhone SE in pretty much every measurable metric.
It’s not hard to see why either; take a glance at the current iPhone SE and you’ll be transported back to 2017, a time before Apple’s transition to Face ID, full-screen displays and the flat, angular look of newer models of iPhone that make them so tempting.
Instead, you’ve got a tiny, low-res 4.7-inch LCD screen, a single 12MP camera on the rear and pretty shocking battery life by 2024 standards. In fact, the screen is so small that some modern apps don’t run properly on the budget-friendly device.
No matter how you slice it, it’s not the experience that Apple should be providing consumers for a not-insignificant £429/$429, even if it is much cheaper than buying Apple’s flagship iPhone 16 – but that could finally be changing with the next generation of iPhone SE if rumours are to be believed, and reader, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted rumours to be accurate more than this.
Fixing the big problems with the iPhone SE
Reports from various sources are all essentially reporting the same thing, which bodes well for the accuracy of said leaks. If true, the next iPhone SE could ditch that aged iPhone design, instead sporting something not too dissimilar to the iPhone 13.
Indeed, rumours point towards the use of the same 6.1-inch LTPS OLED screen from the iPhone 13, with an alleged resolution of 1170 x 2532.
This is a huge jump from the 4.7-inch, 750 x 1334, LCD screen of the current model that immediately fixes one of its biggest issues. It’s allegedly capped at 60Hz, and while that is a frustrating limitation compared to most Android alternatives that offer 90Hz or 120Hz at a similar price point, it’s not exactly a surprise; even the flagship iPhone 16 is capped at 60Hz.
The use of the iPhone 13’s screen also suggests that Apple will finally ditch the ageing Home button design and opt for the much more modern look of the iPhone, complete with elements like Face ID in place of the older Touch ID.
Other rumours point towards a serious upgrade in the camera department too. While some speculated that the iPhone SE could offer the same single 12MP rear camera as the current model, more recent rumblings claim that it could actually sport an upgraded 48MP rear camera – the same as that used in the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 collection.
Don’t expect ultrawide or telephoto lenses to accompany this new high-res lens, but the latter could be easily recreated using digital zoom – it’s a key feature of the regular iPhone 16’s main 48MP ‘Fusion’ camera, so the potential for inclusion is certainly there.
However, Apple does like to artificially hamstring the SE’s camera capabilities – it doesn’t offer half of the dedicated shooting modes despite featuring the same A15 Bionic chipset as the flagship iPhone 14 when it was released in 2022 – so it’s far from a given at this stage. Still, let’s be positive and cross our fingers here.
Though not confirmed, it could ship with the same chipset as the iPhone 16, the A18. That not only delivers a big boost to performance compared to the current model, but combined with a larger battery and OLED screen tech, the phone should offer a boost to overall battery life. That’s the icing on the cake right there.
If Apple can get all these things right, it could offer a more affordable way into iOS and the larger Apple ecosystem with a genuinely tempting, great-value iPhone.
It still likely won’t be the very best mid-range smartphone on the market with Android competition being so fierce, but it’ll be a sight more tempting than any model of iPhone SE has been until this point – and I can’t wait to see it in 2025, possibly as soon as March if other whispers are to be believed.
