The second-gen iPhone SE was launched in 2020 targeting price-sensitive users, especially those thinking of bouncing from Android to iPhones. 2022 saw the third-gen iPhone SE and since then, there have been reports suggesting iPhone SE 4 is in the pipeline. Of course, we have also heard that the project was scrapped at one point in time. Cut to now, the latest report reiterates the upcoming iPhone SE 4 putting a launch date of 2025.
According to a South Korean report, Apple wants to upgrade the display tech on the upcoming iPhone SE. It means moving away from LCD panels to OLED panels. For that, the Cupertino giant has contacted Samsung Display, BOE, and Tianma for quotation and they are offering panels at $30, $35, and $40, respectively. Apple being Apple, has raised a counter of $20 per panel for which the negotiations are ongoing.
Apple will reuse the panels from iPhone 13 and 14 as it cuts back on research and development (R&D). It also helps Apple get better yields as display manufacturers must have ironed out any development issues when these panels were being made.
The 2025 iPhone SE could have a 6.1” OLED panel boasting an 1170×2532 pixels resolution and 1,200 nits of peak brightness. If we aren’t too optimistic, we could see Ceramic Shield on top although that might add a few extra bucks per panel so it’s a bit iffy at the moment.
As it turns out, both Samsung Display and BOE have good yields with these panels leaving Tianma reaching for dust. As it turns out, Samsung could lower its price per panel to drown BOE in the competition given its sheer size and the fierce competition in display tech. Samsung was able to win over orders awarded to BOE when the latter failed to impress Apple due to its poor yield during the production of iPhone 15 OLED panels last year.
Over the past couple of months, we got a ton of updates around the iPhone SE 4. It is likely to get a Dynamic Island, a custom-made 5G modem (may not happen), 5G support, and an A16 Bionic chipset that powers the current line of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 among others.
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