If you only look at one prominent feature of the iPhone 16 and 17, Apple Intelligence, to spend, then a cheaper iPhone is suddenly in sight.
While users can buy the discounted iPhone 14 or 15 after the iPhone 16 launches in September this year, they will miss out on one of Apple's most exciting features, the Apple Intelligence AI toolkit. Meanwhile, the iPhone SE 4 that Apple is expected to launch early next year meets users' needs.
iPhone SE 4 will have dream configuration.
A few weeks ago, we reported on how Apple Intelligence would make the iPhone SE 4 an even bigger nightmare for Android. At the time, there was speculation that Apple would equip the $500 phone with a processor that was comparable to the power of the base iPhone 16, including AI, making the iPhone SE 4 a huge upgrade.
Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports in his Power On report that the upcoming iPhone SE 4 will actually have Apple Intelligence. That would imply that the phone will have 8GB of RAM and a processor at least as good as the A17 Pro inside the iPhone 15 Pro. Gurman also notes that the iPhone SE 4 will look like the iPhone 14, as Apple is bringing the notch display design to its cheapest iPhone, meaning Touch ID will be gone forever, and that's great news. The $500 iPhone will offer an edge-to-edge display like every other mid-range Android phone.
The $500 price tag is too exciting for the product.
Finally, the report notes that the iPhone SE 4 will feature a “sharper OLED” panel, an upgrade that seems assured even if it’s not in the rumor mill. Without OLED panels, Apple can’t create iPhone displays with notches and thin, symmetrical bezels. The LCD screens on the iPhone XR and 11 were an exception, but that was seven years ago, as OLED panels are the norm for iPhones.
The most interesting iPhone SE 4 news in Gurman’s report concerns the release timeframe. The Bloomberg reporter says Apple could release the iPhone SE 4 as early as early 2025, which would be a few months earlier than previous iPhone SE variants, which typically launch in the spring. He doesn’t mention the phone’s starting price, but says the $500 iPhone SE 4 will be a “hot seller.”
Single camera but not too important for many mid-range users.
With all that said, the iPhone SE 4 will be on the radar of many thanks to a few key selling points: it’s priced in the $500-$600 range, runs Apple Intelligence, and lasts a long time considering the hardware is roughly equivalent to the iPhone 16 or 15 Pro. Apple Intelligence is a reason for users to skip the iPhone SE 4 and go for the iPhone 14 or 15, if they understand that they definitely don’t need AI on their phone.
While Apple wants to run as many iOS 18 features as possible on older devices, Apple’s AI suite and a smarter Siri will require an iPhone 15 Pro or better. At this point, many are wondering if the iPhone SE 4 will get Apple Intelligence. A new leak seems to indicate that this is the case. If true, Apple Intelligence could give the iPhone SE 4 a major spec bump — something Apple would have to tweak, making the company’s entry-level iPhone another nightmare for Android.
As we know, Apple Intelligence requires a fast Neural Engine and 8GB of RAM on the iPhone. Apple confirmed this after WWDC 2024. That's why the iPhone 14 Pro can't run Apple Intelligence even though it's been out for less than 2 years.
A recent leak from Taiwan suggests that Apple will equip the iPhone 16 series with two processors, the A18 and A18 Pro. The findings are based on the identifiers for the next-generation iPhones and confirm that all iPhone 16 models will have the A18 chip. That means the A17 Pro won't be recycled for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, or if it is, it will be a rebranded version. But the leaked identifiers also suggest that the fifth iPhone will likely be powered by the A18 chip. The only possible explanation seems to be that Apple will give the iPhone SE 4 a major spec upgrade.
