iPhone SE 3 could be missing this iPhone 13 feature

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

If the latest reports are to be believed, then the iPhone SE 3 is just over a month away, with a March 8 date tipped by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

The entry-level iPhone will be the follow up to the excellent 2020 iPhone SE, which offered the same CPU grunt as the iPhone 11, but cut costs on the shell, screen and camera array to come in at just 57% of the price at $399.

We’re expecting the same kind of thing with the iPhone SE 3, with it widely tipped to adopt the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic chipset and introduce 5G for the first time in the budget line’s history.

But according to a new report from Macotakara, there’s one thing it won’t be borrowing from the latest Apple flagship: MagSafe wireless charging. The site cites “reliable sources in China” who say that it will retain the budget phone’s “chassis design and will continue to support Qi wireless charging,” but “will not support MagSafe.”

Originally, MagSafe referred to the easily detachable chargers for MacBooks, but with the iPhone 12, Apple reintroduced the brand as a wireless charger for its smartphones. A series of magnets are arranged around the phone’s wireless charging coil, which ensures the charger sticks to the exact point required for the battery to fill, without any awkward adjustment.

Frankly, it’s not too surprising to hear that Apple won’t be looking to introduce this technology to the iPhone SE 3. The whole point of maintaining the slightly dated look of 2017’s iPhone 8 is so that the company can save money. If Apple were to make the costly decision to return to the drawing board to introduce MagSafe — a feature that probably isn’t even used by the majority of modern iPhone users — then it probably wouldn’t stop there.

Regardless, the iPhone SE 3 is hotly tipped to do extremely well, with J.P Morgan analysis predicting the handset could turn the heads of “more than a billion non-premium Android users.” And that’s not thinking about the millions of people who are already all in on iOS, but can’t justify the high price of entry for the iPhone 13 family.

Stay tuned to our iPhone SE 3 hub for all the latest rumors and leaks and check out our Apple Event hub to see what else the company could launch in just over of a month.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.