William Gallagher
The iPhone SE 4 has reportedly been delayed by another year, over continuing concerns about OLED quality from a new Apple supplier.
The rumored iPhone SE 4 has been on, off, and back on again in various forms including as a not-for-sale engineering test. Now The Elec says that the low-cost iPhone is coming, but that it has been delayed.
According to the publication, researcher Dae-Jeong Yoon at the OLED & Micro Display Analyst Seminar in Seoul, said new Apple supplier BOE is facing performance and supply problems.
"The launch of the OLED iPhone SE4 has also been delayed by one year from 2024 to 2025, " he said in translation.
According to The Elec, both Samsung and LG Display are bidding to provide OLED panels for the iPhone SE 4.
"There's a lot of time left until the launch of the iPhone SE4, so the situation remains to be seen," he continued.
The situation appears to be that BOE was focusing on mass-producing OLED panels for the iPhone 15, but it may not achieve that. "Depending on the situation, there is a possibility that BOE's iPhone 15 OLED volume will only be zero this year," said Yoon.
BOE is reportedly developing a low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin-film transistor (TFT) type of OLED screen for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. For the iPhone SE 4, a lower-cost OLED panel is being developed.
Previously, The Elec has reported that the lower-cost nature of the iPhone SE makes producing displays for it less economic for Samsung and LG.
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5 Comments
When the price point for various components including Apple's SOC integration is achieved; Apple will make and sell SE4. At the time of 2024 Fall iPhone 15 announcement; older gen used and remanufactured iPhones will be cost effective enough so SE4 may not be needed.
Apple won't be able offer SE 3rd gen or iPhone 12/13/14 in the EU after 2024 due to the lack of USB-C. They will have to clear channel inventory mid-2024. There will be months with only the iPhone 15 series to cover a core market. That simply won't work. Either Apple will reissue iPhone 14 with USB-C or introduce a iPhone SE 4 - or both, and it will happen before mid-2024.
Who wants an SE? Much too small.
The panels in the XR were more than good enough, I can’t imagine that OLED panels are now cheaper than LCD panels.
what would be the point of an iPhone SE with OLED panels when the BOM costs as much as an older gen iPhone?
I can see them possibly going to Touch ID in the power button like on the iPad Air to avoid the cost of a Face ID camera. But other than that, I don’t see the point of not using cheaper parts. Nobody looking for the cheapest iPhone is going to look at the difference between an OLED screen and an LCD and think “oh wow, this looks so much better!”
honestly I feel like while my 13 was an upgrade from the XR, it really was barely an upgrade.