Apple plans to bring back the iPhone SE 4

Looks like Apple is back in the business of making licenses[er] iPhones in its SE lineup, barely a month after analysts thought Apple had canceled work on the SE 4.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noted chirp On Monday, Apple got back in the saddle with the iPhone SE 4 after initially scrapping plans to introduce a new phone in its line of lower-end devices. This new and somewhat cheaper phone should be available sometime in 2024.

Presumably, the new iPhone SE It comes with a 6.1-inch OLED screen instead of the LE in previous versionsd screen. It’s a big step up from previous versions of the phone. which had a 4.7 inch tire. It is the same screen size as iPhone 14so it may fall one of the biggest complaints with The latest version of SE.

But the news also offers an interesting look at Apple’s attempt to provide 5G connectivity internally. According to Kuo, this upcoming device will feature the 5G core chip designed by Apple itself. 5G capability will be slightly limited, as Kuo writes that Apple’s own chip only supports sub-6GHz frequencies.

“The significant decline in Qualcomm’s orders to Apple for the foreseeable future is a foregone conclusion,” the Apple analyst wrote.

This is all despite a report from Kuo in January Apple was concerned that it would not be able to compete with Qualcomm on those 5G chipsets, and was about to drown Its SE 4 plans. Mobile processor designer It has always been Apple’s supplier of 5G chips. In a staged interview with Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal in Mobile World Congress on Monday, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said Apple should develop its own 5G modem chipset. The latest Qualcomm 5G chip will appear on file iPhone 15.

We expect Apple to make its own modem in 2024, But if they need us, “They know where to find us,” Amon told Stern.

There is a lot at stake here Cupertino Corporation. Apple’s iPad and Apple Watch don’t need high-frequency 5G connections. iPhone 16 is another story. Kuo did not mention that the The 5G basebrand chip will need to overcome some technological limitations In order to use them in any new version of the iPhone, namely the chip’s apparent lack of mmWave support. This limits the amount of high-speed broadband access a phone can have.

Another budget friendly iPhone SE Apple released He was It was 4.7 inches in size Thick edges. It had the same chip that powers the iPhone 13, the A15 Bionic, which notably also included 5G support. This phone also does not support mmWave.

Whatever comes next is likely to be derived from the flagship iPhones. next generation The iPhone 15 is expected to have a newer updated Bionic chipSo whatever the SE ends up in may be in a similar position to put up a solid fight against other lower-to-mid-range phones, though. It probably won’t have a very great camera, and it may lack other features like FaceID.