The day has arrived for the Apple March event, and that means we're about to see the iPhone SE 3 (2022) if leaks and rumors are to be believed. This is good news for people who want an affordable iPhone, despite my misgivings about the possibility of Apple recycling the iPhone SE (2020)/iPhone 8 body again.
But a last-minute rumor has surfaced. Coming from yeux1122 from the Korean blog Naver (via MacRumors), the user claims that they have some last-minute info about the iPhone SE 3 (2022). Chief among them is, oddly enough, that the new iPhone will feature MagSafe.
We're not so sure about that, since we've heard previously that the iPhone SE 3 probably would skip MagSafe. (We've even broke down why that would be both OK and a letdown.) This would leave yet another feature exclusive to Apple's mainline iPhone models. That doesn't mean that the latest SE would skip wireless charging, just that it would lack the magnets that enable a pretty easy charging experience. It'd also lock the third-generation iPhone SE out of the MagSafe ecosystem, even though the latter is still in its infancy.
The rumor continues to say that the iPhone SE 3 (2022) will have Apple's Ceramic Shield technology to boost drop protection and resilience. You can find this on the iPhone 13 and, while it doesn't mean that you can drop your iPhone willy-nilly, it does improve the phone's durability. Considering how long people tend to keep their iPhones, an SE with Ceramic Shield would be very welcome for many.
The final piece of yeux1122's prediction is that the iPhone SE (2022) will feature "significantly" improved battery life over its predecessor. We'd certainly love to see this, since the iPhone SE (2020) turned in a lackluster result in our testing (below the 10-hour average we like to see from modern smartphones). This part of the rumor is all the more exciting since we expect the new iPhone to feature 5G, which saps more power than LTE does. So, if Apple has figured out how to include 5G and still upgrade the battery life, we're all for it.
The iPhone SE 3 (2022) is also expected to use Apple's powerful A15 Bionic processor — this is the most powerful mobile chip we've ever seen, which would make the iPhone SE 3 (2022) leagues more powerful than competing budget Android phones like the Pixel 5a. This latest rumor also claims that the new iPhone will have 4GB of RAM, just like the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini (the Pro models get 6GB).
While we're just a few hours from learning all about the iPhone SE (2022), we urge you to take this rumor with a hefty grain of salt. Some of it seems plausible, but yeux1122 doesn't have a flawless record — they're one of the ones who claimed the iPhone 14 Pro could have 8GB of RAM, which we're not sure about so far out from the iPhone 14 announcement.
We'll find out soon either way, with the big reveal set to take place at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m GMT. Our Apple March event live blog is already in full swing and we also have the breakdown on how to watch the Apple event today.
