William Gallagher
New supply chain reports say Apple is in discussions with Samsung and others to provide the displays for an early 2025 release of the iPhone SE.
If all rumors are to be believed, Apple's fourth lower-cost iPhone SE has had a peculiar run of delays and bad luck. It's been on, then cancelled, then on again, and then halfway between the two as an iPhone that would only be made for internal testing at Apple. Now a new industry report claims that multiple display vendors have pitched to Apple to supply screens for the device.
According to The Elec, Apple has been in discussions with Samsung Display, BOE, and the smaller, lesser-known Tianma. Each vendor is said to have now told Apple their price for the iPhone SE 4 screen.
That price is low enough for an iPhone SE because of the expectation, repeated by The Elec that the model will closely resemble the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14. The firms can therefore use existing production lines and, the publication says, recycled parts.
This is not the first time that suppliers have been reportedly vying for the iPhone SE 4 contract. Back in August 2023, it was claimed that Apple had chosen its primary supplier, but was considering placing orders with smaller, secondary ones.
Tianma was reported as one of these smaller firms, but The Elec says it is currently far enough behind Samsung and BOE in its technology that it is not a serious contender.
If Apple does release the iPhone SE 4 in 2025, previous launches would suggest that March or April are the likely months. The first iPhone SE came out in March 2016, and was followed by a second generation in April 2020, then the current one in March 2022.
Separately, it's been reported that Tianma will provide displays for the rumored HomePod with 7-inch screen.
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7 Comments
Hope iPhone SE4 has 6.1" OLED faceid dynamic island screen, 2 cameras(main ,telephoto) on back, WiFi 7, at reasonable/attractive price for the price conscious customers. But, most likely it will have one of iPhone 13 or 14 6.1 notch OLED screen, usual 1 camera on back, at most Wifi 6E at $499 price
Right the only question for me is will it ship with Apple's own modem or have they given up on it?
Should be a big launch for Apple — I wonder if they will release at the same time as other iPhones or if it will be a separate launch. I’m thinking $499-599.
I know I'm probably in the luddite minority here, but I'd really like it to keep the same size and - in particular - the home button with Touch ID.
Convenient or not, I've never been comfortable with the passive unlock and authentication granted by Face ID. It's a slick bit of technology, but I like having to take the explicit action of putting my thumb on the home button to make privileged things happen.