The iPhone SE 4 could come with a surprising design change, but there are reasons for doubt
Could an iPhone SE Plus be on the way?
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Appleis expected to launch theiPhone SE 4at some point in early 2025, meaning we’re likely just a few months away from seeing the affordable phone. Yet despite the close proximity to the launch window, a report has just landed with a surprising new claim about the phone that could totally change what we expect to see.
Japanese Apple blogMac Otakaraclaims to have acquired dummy units of the iPhone SE 4 that show the exact layout and features that will be coming to the updated device.
According to the website, the iPhone SE 4 will take on almost exactly the same size and form factor as the iPhone 14 – so much so that existing iPhone 14 cases should fit on the iPhone SE 4 without a hitch, the post says.
Mac Otakara notes that around the back is a single camera lens, aspast rumorshave suggested, and there will be aslimline notch housing Face ID(but no Dynamic Island). On the sides, the dummy units include a volume switch instead of an Action button, as well as the regular volume and side buttons. Interestingly, the lack of an Action buttoncontradicts a past rumorfrom fall 2023, so we’ll have to see which one proves to be correct.
Skepticism is advised
We’ve seensimilar claims to thesein the past, so the latest details above are not particular new. However, what’s more interesting is Mac Otakara’s belief that there could be a second, larger size of the iPhone SE 4 – an ‘iPhone SE Plus’ of sorts that is roughly the same size as the iPhone 14 Plus.
This seems to be a new detail, as we haven’t seen any other outlets claim that there will be a larger iPhone SE 4. Before you get too excited, though, it seems unlikely that it will come to fruition.
For one thing, this concept has arrived very late in the day considering the iPhone SE 4 is only a couple of months away from launching. Typically, we don’t tend to see new information in this scale so close to a rumored launch – the design and manufacturing process would have started many months ago, giving ample opportunities for leaks to have escaped into the public domain.
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Given how many leaks and rumors there have already been about the iPhone SE 4, it seems likely that we’d have seen traces of it somewhere before.
As well as that, Apple has never released two sizes of the iPhone SE, so this would be a totally new move on the company’s part. Aside from the fact that this could threaten to cannibalize theiPhone 16 Plus, one would think that a strategic shift of this scale would have been leaked long ago.
It’s therefore wise to be skeptical of the larger iPhone SE 4 rumor. While we can see Apple launching an iPhone SE that fits the iPhone 14’s form factor, a ‘Plus’ option feels improbable. That said, we’ll know for sure when the iPhone SE 4 launches in a few months’ time.
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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.
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