The iPhone SE 4 May Not Get a Piece of the Action

The next iPhone SE is expected to be a pretty exciting update when it arrives early next year. At least, that’s if we believed what all the rumors say since Apple naturally hasn’t even admitted it has a new iPhone SE in the works, much less told us anything about it.

Still, it’s not hard to imagine that the so-called “iPhone SE 4” is destined to pack in some pretty heavy improvements. The third-generation iPhone SE, released in 2022, was a minimal update over the preceding 2020 model, which was a throwback to the era of the 2017 iPhone 8. We’re overdue for something modern, even in Apple’s most wallet-friendly device.

Overall, the consensus is that this is precisely what we’ll get. Depending on who you listen to, the iPhone SE 4 will be somewhere between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 16 in design while gaining the A18 chip from the iPhone 16 and 8 GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence.

Over the past few months, opinions have been more divided on whether we’ll see a notch or the Dynamic Island. Some have also suggested Apple might use an iPhone 16-style glass back.

That latter point seems plausible since, even if the iPhone SE 4 adopts the design of the iPhone 14 in every other way, it will still have a single camera — likely a 48MP Fusion camera — requiring a different back either way. The square camera bump is unusual enough in a dual-camera array; it would be slightly absurd to use it for a single lens.

However, reliable reports have recently suggested that the iPhone SE 4 will follow the iPhone 14 in using the notch around the front rather than adopting the Dynamic Island. That seems unusual as it creates an inconsistent user interface; however, it’s not entirely surprising from a cost-efficiency perspective. The iPhone 14 will undoubtedly be discontinued next fall, and by sticking as closely to the older design as possible, Apple can more easily repurpose those production lines that will otherwise be winding down by the time the iPhone SE 4 launches.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t be a big surprise that the iPhone SE 4 will retain the physical ring/silent switch. Although some earlier rumors had suggested that the new iPhone SE would gain the Action button introduced on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro — and now standard on all iPhone 16 models — it seems that Apple isn’t concerned about making that a consistent feature of the new entry-level model any more than it is about the Dynamic Island.

According to a photo shared by leaker Sonny Dickson of what is purportedly a case for the iPhone SE 4, the button arrangement will remain the same as the iPhone 14, with a standard cutout for the mute switch and no cutout for the Camera Control (can’t say we’re at all surprised by that one).

pic.twitter.com/cAySCuE1cz

— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) October 12, 2024

The camera cutout is a horizontal pill-shaped design that’s virtually identical to the current iPhone SE, presumably to make room for the single lens and the flash.

Without any real context behind this case image, it isn’t easy to judge its veracity. It also seems a bit early for manufacturers to be working on cases since the iPhone SE 4 isn’t expected to launch for another six months.

However, nothing this case shows is out of line with more realistic expectations. While many were hoping that the iPhone SE 4 would get an even more modern edge, it’s more likely that Apple will stick with its traditional play of adopting a 2.5-year-old design that packs in modern performance. That’s how the first two iPhone SE models rolled — the 2016 iPhone SE was a 2013 iPhone 5s with a 2015 iPhone 6s chip, and the 2020 iPhone SE was the 2017 iPhone 8 with a 2019 iPhone 11 chip. The 2022 iPhone SE was a bit of an aberration in design as it was primarily a 5G update, but it still packed in the A15 from the iPhone 13.

It’s also worth remembering that the iPhone 14 is already selling for $599, and the iPhone 15 will be in that price slot by this time next year. Apple can’t afford to make an iPhone SE 4 that leaps too far ahead of those.