The iPhone SE 4 is expected to hit the market during the southern Autumn. And while the iPhone SE is touted as a budget iPhone, it has the potential to be the iPhone most of us can get by with – if we can ignore the annual envy that comes with the release of Apple’s flagship iPhones.
Traditionally, the iPhone SE has looked like a five year old iPhone with two or three year old internals. But it looks like the iPhone SE 4, expected in April 2025, will look a lot like a current model iPhone.
What can we expect from the iPhone SE 4?
1. Size and weight: We’re probably a few weeks away from the traditional leak by case makers from getting accurate measures on the size and weight of the iPhone SE 4. But given the iPhone 14 and 15 are likely the template the iPhone SE 4 will come from, we can estimate that the dimensions will be about 147 x 72mm at a thickness of around 7.6mm. Weight will be between 170g and 175g.
2. Display: A 6.1-inch display seems to make sense given I predict the iPhone SE 4 will have similar dimensions as the iPhone 14 or iPhone 15. Display resolution will be around 2550 by 1175 pixels at a density of about 460ppi.
3. Dynamic Island: The iPhone SE 4 is likely to skip the infamous notch and come with the Dynamic Island. This makes sense from Apple perspective as it means software development for the iPhone SE 4 can follow the same design cues as the most recent iPhones.
4. Ports: The Lightning port will be laid to rest, replaced by USB-C. This is unsurprising given the mandate from the EU.
4. Colours: The iPhone SE 4 won’t be made with the same high-grade materials as the iPhone 16. We can expect aluminium, or perhaps polycarbonate, enabling Apple to release the iP{hone SE 4 in a range of colours.
5. Internals: The iPhone SE 4 will support Apple Intelligence. That means a significant processor and memory increase. RAM will increase to at least 8GB and possibly an A18 processor according to some rumours. That’s the same chip as the iPhone 16. More likely, I think we’ll see the A17 to ensure it can make it to Apple’s five-year threshold for vintage devices. That’s a two-generation jump from the iPhone SE 3.
6. Connectivity: There’s little chance that the iPhone SE 4 will get satellite comms. But we can expect the full spectrum of 4G and 5G communications as well as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The Bluetooth is a step up from the iPhone 16 which supported Bluetooth 5.3. There has been talk of Apple moving to eSIM and ditching physical SIM cards. But that wont happen with the iPhone SE 4. As budget model, it’s likely to be a popular product in emerging markets which will require a physical Sim for ease of set up.
7. Camera: Apple’s camera improvements may seem incremental when we look at them annually. But it’s been almost three years since the iPhone SE 3 was released so the camera improvements will be significant. While the iPhone SE 4 will retain a single camera on the back, some say it will be a 48MP camera. But that seems unlikely. We can expect similar camera tech to the iPhone 14 or iPhone 15. This enables Apple to differentiate the budget model from its flagship.
8. Storage: We can forget the 64GB model. 128GB is the new baseline with options for 256GB band 512GB likely.
9. Security: While we can expect the Dynamic Island, Apple may opt to offer TouchID via the power button, much like to does with the most recent iPad and iPad Air. Apple seems to have only offered FaceID on flagship products such as the iPhone, iPhone Pro and iPad Pro.
10. Price: The iPhone SE 3 retails in Australia from $719. Prices aren’t likely to change significantly as the exchange rate between Australia and the USA have been reasonably stable over the last year. An increase to $749 is possible given the price of everything has increased over the last couple of years.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.