The Next-Generation iPhone SE

First on the list is Apple’s budget iPhone. With Apple typically going as long as four years between iPhone SE releases, this is probably the most highly-anticipated product of them all. Many believed we’d see a new iPhone SE in 2024 since that aligned with the previous two significant iPhone SE releases in 2016 and 2020 (the 2022 iPhone SE was a spec bump primarily intended to bring 5G support to the model).

However, Apple clearly needed a bit more time to get the new iPhone SE right — which isn’t surprising as it’s expected to be a substantial upgrade — so significant, in fact, that Apple may even choose a new name for it. Some reports have suggested Apple could go with “iPhone 16E,” while others are being more circumspect, suggesting rebranding is likely but not putting any money on what form that rebranding might take.

Whatever it’s called, it will be a significant upgrade over the 2022 iPhone SE. The bezels, LCD screen, and Home Button are going away for good, as is the Lightning port. Instead, we’re expecting something that looks almost identical to an iPhone 14, complete with OLED and Face ID, but packs in the same A18 chip and 8 GB of RAM as the current iPhone 16 models — meaning it will also support Apple Intelligence.

That’s right in line with Apple’s typical iPhone SE playbook, which has always taken the design of a 2.5-year-old iPhone and put the latest A-series chip inside. The 2016 iPhone SE was basically a 2013 iPhone 5s with the A9 chip from the iPhone 6s, and the 2020 iPhone SE followed suit by taking the iPhone 8 and tossing in the iPhone 11’s A13 chip. The core difference this time around will be that the 2025 iPhone SE (or whatever it’s called) is still expected to switch to USB-C and have only a single camera on the back, marking the first time it hasn’t been quite visually identical to its spiritual predecessor.

When can we expect it? In the midst of reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that it was just around the corner, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased that “the newest member of the family” would be arriving on Wednesday, February 19. While Cook’s oblique tweet didn’t offer even the slightest hint that he was referring to the iPhone SE, other reliable sources have told us flat-out that this is what to expect. The “newest member of the family” also lends credence to the possibility that the iPhone SE will get a new name this year — although that’s certainly not conclusive.