iPhone SE 4 chassis now said to resemble the iPhone 16

While persistent rumors have said that the forthcoming iPhone SE would be based on the same chassis as the iPhone 14, a new report claims that at least the back of it will be identical to the iPhone 16.

It's not officially known what the rear chassis of the iPhone 16 will look like, although there are at least rumors about its color. What is known that previously Apple has based its iPhone SE models on the casings designed for earlier iPhones.

Consequently, the repeated claim that the iPhone SE 4 would utilize the chassis of the iPhone 14 was plausible. It was significant, though, that it would be based on a Face ID iPhone, since the iPhone SE is currently the last-remaining iPhone with only Touch ID.

Now, however, a leaker named "Fixed Focus Digital" on Weibom says that this is wrong.

"The back cover process of SE4 is exactly the same as that of the 16 standard version," writes the leaker (in translation), "and the shipment plan is about the end of September."

It's not clear from the translation, but it would make most sense if that September date was referring to the iPhone 16. That is expected in September, while a new iPhone SE is likely to come out in Spring 2025.

Changing the back chassis design may well mean Apple changing its rear camera system too. A previous leak claims that the base iPhone 16 will switch to a vertical alignment of cameras, instead of the usual diagonal arrangement.

As spotted by MacRumors, it's possible that the iPhone SE 4 will adopt the same cameras. In which case, it's conceivable that the iPhone 16 has become the better fit than the iPhone 14.

Note that "Fixed Focus Digital" is quite a new leaker, and so far has been making claims that cannot yet be verified. His or her track record also includes the definitely sketchy claim that Apple has abandoned its plans for an iPhone Fold.

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7 Comments

bonobob 395 comments · 13 Years

About 4 months ago

I think this is pretty unlikely, unless it's to comply with right-to-repair laws. Apple likes to use previous gen tech to get more life out of the designs and manufacturing lines.

chasm 3612 comments · 10 Years

There are lots of people — not myself, but I’ve spoken to many of my female and male clients — who would prefer Apple continue to make the “mini” aka “current SE” size phone. Reasons range from wanting to keep the phone in a small purse to a tendency to wear tighter-fitting pants and other reasons.

I’m sure it a “small” audience (heh) for “mini-sized” iPhones, but its not insubstantial — and this is an area where they can get what they want from from the Android market. My wife has said many times she has zero interest in a phone any bigger than the current-gen SE, so I hope they will at least go on making that.

surgefilter 26 comments · 15 Years

I personally prefer smaller SE size iPhones. Only thing it really needs is another camera lens for me, preferably the Wide Angle.

SE2 has been bought by most of my family and friends and it’s all they want or need. Most would agree a second camera would be very handy and an upgrade to 16Mp from 12Mp.

tht 5632 comments · 23 Years

chasm said:

There are lots of people — not myself, but I’ve spoken to many of my female and male clients — who would prefer Apple continue to make the “mini” aka “current SE” size phone. Reasons range from wanting to keep the phone in a small purse to a tendency to wear tighter-fitting pants and other reasons.
I’m sure it a “small” audience (heh) for “mini-sized” iPhones, but its not insubstantial — and this is an area where they can get what they want from from the Android market. My wife has said many times she has zero interest in a phone any bigger than the current-gen SE, so I hope they will at least go on making that.

Apple's segmentation is designed to make sure a rather significant portion, a super majority (?), of iPhone buyers go to the $600, $800 models.

If the rumors are true, and the new SE will have a 6.1" display, you have to wonder how they are going to de-feature the SE to make people go for the upsell. LCD display. Single back camera. Touch ID sleep/wake button instead of Face ID. Bigger bezels and thicker? Or IOW, a model that meets basic smartphone needs, non-premium features, and that's about it.

A lot of people would have loved it if they made iPhone X like model, 5.8" display, the $450 model. Or, base it on the iPhone 13 mini. Going to a 6.1" display means a lot of people will go for it instead of the $600 n-2 model.

bonobob said:

I think this is pretty unlikely, unless it's to comply with right-to-repair laws. Apple likes to use previous gen tech to get more life out of the designs and manufacturing lines.

Ah, but every next-gen iPhone will NEED to run Apple Intelligence, so perhaps there's literally no room in the old designs -- the iPhone 15 and even the 15 Plus don't have the power or room to run AI, which needs a bigger "neural engine" and better ways to disperse the heat that will generate.

As I said above, lots of people would appreciate a smaller iPhone, but it's likely they would not be willing to give up most of the new features to get one. We'll see, of course.