Following hot on the heels of a slightly questionable tip about a so-called iPhone SE 3, a credible source has weighed in with claims concerning an iPhone SE Plus.
Yesterday we brought you news from a Chinese website claiming that a forthcoming iPhone SE 3 would be based upon the 2018 iPhone XR, with a 6.1-inch display that would represent a huge size bump over the iPhone SE (2020).
We don’t want to dismiss those rumours out of hand, but established display analyst Ross Young seems to see things a little differently. According to Young, Apple’s next affordable iPhone will be the iPhone SE Plus, and it’ll feature the same 4.7-inch LCD display that’s available in the iPhone 8 and the current iPhone SE 2.
We now hear the next LCD iPhone will be introduced in 2022 and called the SE Plus with the same 4.7″ LCD as the 8 along with 5G. We hear the iPhone SE3 with a 5.7″ – 6.1″ LCD is now pushed to 2024. https://t.co/9gxiAAk8Yi— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) October 25, 2021
This would suggest that Apple is planning to repurpose the ‘Plus’ moniker. It used to be attached to larger versions of Apple’s mainline iPhone range, but such a descriptor has since shifted to the word ‘Max’.
Also interesting there is the claim that Apple is looking into bringing 5G to the older form factor. Hopefully it’s planning a sizeable bump to the battery capacity if so, as the iPhone SE 2 isn’t exactly renowned for its stamina even on 4G.
That’s not to say that those earlier iPhone SE 3 rumours are entirely without merit, however. It’s just that Young claims that “the iPhone SE3 with a 5.7″ – 6.1″ LCD is now pushed to 2024”.
Earlier in the year, Young claimed that this larger iPhone SE 3 would make a showing in 2023, and that it would have a hole punch display rather than display notch.
We were big fans of the iPhone SE 2 when it launch in the middle of 2020. It provided a level of performance and some classy iPhone features for a mere $399/£419.
The market for such aspiring mid-rangers has since grown more competitive, of course, with phones such as the OnePlus Nord 2 providing flagship-like features for similar money.
