Coming soon: iPhone SE

Rumour has it that we could be expecting a new iPhone released in 2022

If you’re looking for a budget friendly iPhone in 2022, then we have some news which may perk your interest! It’s looking likely we’ll see a new variant of the iPhone SE.

We’ve summarised some of the more concrete rumours surrounding the potential launch of a new SE.

What will the new iPhone SE be called?

Rumours originally stated that the new entry level iPhone would be called the iPhone SE3, however we’ve seen news where display analyst Ross Young suggests that Apple will call this device the ‘iPhone SE Plus’.

When will the iPhone SE Plus be released?

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the new iPhone SE would arrive at some point in early 2022, and we’ve seen rumours that suggest we could see the iPhone SE launch as early as Spring.

Previous versions launched, initially in March 2016, this was the first ‘special edition’ (SE) iPhone, called the iPhone SE 1 or iPhone SE 2016. This was then discontinued by Apple in September 2018.

Then it's successor, the iPhone SE (2020), was launched in April 2020. So it looks like the new SE iPhone could launch around the same time as its’ predecessors.

How much will the new iPhone SE cost?

Speculation is that next iPhone SE is said to be that it is the most affordable 5G iPhone ever.

‘The SE 2020 release price was £419*, rumours surrounding the price for the new iPhone SE Plus could be similar to this starting price. However, with the introduction of 5G the new phone may have a higher starting price than the previous model but is rumoured to be at a lower cost than the current iPhone 12 mini (5G), which costs £579^.

*estimated price
^Price correct at time of publishing – December 2021

What will the iPhone SE Plus look like?

Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple plan to move ahead with another SE model that features the 4.7-inch LCD display, has a ‘home’ button with Touch ID but no ‘Face ID’. In other words, the next iPhone SE is once again rumoured to be based on the iPhone 8’s shell, with selected new components.

What specs can we expect from the iPhone SE?

The iPhone SE is usually equipped with the very latest Apple A-series processor, and as such these phones may have the A15 processor, the same as the iPhone 13 which launched in September 2021. We may also see 5G connectivity in the new iPhone SE phones.

Macworld.com expects that the iPhone SE 3 may have the same single 12MP wide-angle rear camera as the current model, along with a lone front-facing camera, the current model has a 7MP so we could see an upgrade of the front camera.

Other Differences

“Concept renders of the iPhone SE 3 see it more as a reimagined iPhone XR, with the phone adopting Face ID via a display notch and dropping the Touch ID-equipped home button.” Say Toms Guide.

Rumours suggest that the iPhone SE will look the same as previous models but will add two big upgrades in adding in the 5G connectivity and the A15 Bionic chip.