A new budget-friendly iPhone is almost here. For months, reports have pointed to an early 2025 release, and Apple CEO Tim Cook stoked the fires with a post on X this week. “Get ready to meet the newest member of the family,” he wrote, along with the date, “Wednesday, February 19,” and the hashtag #AppleLaunch. A video embedded in the post depicts a shiny Apple logo and what could be the reflection of an iPhone moving inside it.
What’s the big deal about another iPhone? Sure, Apple announces a new iPhone family each fall, but it hasn’t introduced a new version of the iPhone SE since March 2022. The SE models typically dial back the technology and features in favor of affordability. The 2022 iPhone SE starts at $429, much less than the $799 of the entry-level iPhone 16. This makes it an ideal first phone for kids or a simpler option for people who need or prefer the basics.
Beyond the elapsed time between iPhone SE launches, there have been huge shifts in technology. In March 2022, on-device AI wasn’t a thing, 5G networks weren’t as robust, and the USB-C port had yet to be mandated on all electronic devices sold in the European Union. The 2022 iPhone SE offers no AI and relies on Apple’s old Lightning port. That means we should expect big changes for the iPhone SE 4—and we’ll likely get them.
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Leakers and tipsters have already provided us with a good rundown of what we might see on February 19. For example, the iPhone SE will likely drop the outdated design of the iPhone 8 in favor of the iPhone 14. It’ll lose the home button and Touch ID in favor of Face ID. It will still have a single camera, but it might be updated to the 48MP Fusion Camera of the iPhone 16 models. A bigger OLED screen, a USB-C port, and Apple Intelligence are also good bets.
While those updates will bring the SE up to date, they leave plenty of room for other improvements. With that in mind, these are the five features that I think will make the biggest difference.
1. Better Battery Life
The 2022 iPhone SE isn’t regaled for its stellar battery life. In our testing, it lasted only 7 hours and 20 minutes. That’s far short of the 18 hours we got with the iPhone 16, which has the “worst” battery life of the iPhone 16 series. Everyone deserves a phone that gets them through the day. Since we expect the iPhone SE 4 to pack a much newer—and thus much more efficient—processor, we can probably bank on better battery life this time around. Oh, and let’s not forget MagSafe wireless charging.
2. More 5G Support
Apple’s outgoing iPhone SE covers the basic sub-6GHz 5G bands that were in wide use in 2022, but it shipped without support for AT&T’s 3.45GHz mid-band spectrum. That really holds it back as an option for AT&T customers. While we don’t necessarily expect that Apple will bestow it with the fastest mmWave service, it’s not a big ask that it updates the band support to cover all of C-band for North America. Further, we hope Apple updates the cellular antennas. The old SE has a 2×2 MIMO arrangement, which restrains its performance. Most iPhones since the iPhone 13 family have 4×4 MIMO, which allows for faster and more stable connections. And while we’re asking, Wi-Fi 7 would be nice.
3. A Sharper Screen
In adopting the iPhone 14 design, the iPhone SE’s display is set to get bigger and hopefully sharper. The outgoing model has a small (by today’s standards) 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1,334 by 750 pixels. With all the 4K and full HD content available from streaming video services and social media sites, we deserve more pixels. The iPhone 14’s screen measures 6.1 inches and has a resolution of 2,532 by 1,170 pixels for a density of 460ppi. It would be nice if Apple adopts this same screen size and resolution.
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The iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch screen (Credit: Eric Zeman)
4. Modern Cameras
The 2022 iPhone SE’s cameras are a weakness. The main camera captures just 12MP. The selfie camera is a lowly 7MP. The outgoing iPhone SE takes good enough photos out in daylight but suffers once the sun goes down—and people don’t stop taking photos once it’s dark. Reports suggest the iPhone SE 4 will stick with a single main camera, and we truly hope it’s the full 48MP Fusion Camera of the iPhone 16 series. That camera is capable of taking great photos, including 2x zoom, while maintaining a high degree of color accuracy and sharpness. Apple would also do well to use the iPhone 16’s 12MP selfie camera.
5. Faster Performance and AI
This wish is almost guaranteed to be granted, but it still bears putting out there. The 2022 iPhone uses Apple’s A15 processor, which is perfectly fine for just about all general uses. However, Apple has made significant changes to its processor architecture over the last few generations, and the A18 of the iPhone 16 family is a beast. As noted above, the iPhone SE 4 is likely to ship with the A18. It makes sense for Apple to put its lower-cost iPhone in performance parity with its pricier options for Apple Intelligence alone. Even if Apple’s AI isn’t the most compelling selling point (yet), it behooves the company to have a shared set of common features across its lineup.
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February 19 is right around the corner. Stay tuned for all the latest iPhone SE 4 news. Until then, catch up on our reviews of the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
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About Eric Zeman
Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics
