The iPhone SE 4 is coming, and if all the rumors are to be believed it’s going to be one heck of an upgrade. You’d hope for something significant, since it’s been almost 3 years since the release of the third-generation iPhone SE 2022, but I’m not sure anyone could have predicted the kind of upgrades Apple allegedly has in store for its cheapest iPhone.
It’s reached the point where I’m actually a little concerned about the upcoming phone — particularly that the massive change is going to affect its price in the worst way as the cost of entry rises by quite a bit. From the sound of things, the iPhone SE 4 could be more like the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE — when it really needs to be more like the Galaxy A55.
What iPhone SE 4 could have in store
The biggest rumor surrounding the iPhone SE 4 is that the design is set to get a major overhaul. According to leaks, renders and even dummy units, the phone will look a lot more like an iPhone 14 — scrapping the long-obsolete iPhone 8 design from the previous two generations. It’s something I am very keen to see happen, even if it means that Touch ID on iPhones is officially dead.
I can’t remember the last time I saw another smartphone with such a dated design as the current iPhone. Even the best phones under $300 have fullscreen edge-to-edge displays now. Considering stylish designs have long been an Apple staple, the full-screen iPhone SE 4 is long overdue — even if it does mean having a notched screen. Of course, that point may be up for debate, which is where my concern meter starts to rise.
There have been conflicting rumors over whether the iPhone SE 4 will have a notch, like the iPhone 14, or a Dynamic Island cutout like the iPhone 15. Considering the latter is seen as a more premium feature, its possible inclusion starts to make the iPhone SE 4 sound a lot more high-end than it has to be. And that's before you take into account rumors that the phone will support Apple Intelligence and pack in 8GB of RAM and an A18 chipset.
Not only is the A18 the most recent iPhone chip Apple has produced, 8GB of RAM in an iPhone was unheard of until late 2023 — and even then it was exclusive to Pro models. Standard and Plus model iPhones didn’t get 8GB of RAM until four months ago.
Making such a quick jump to iPhone SE, whose previous generation only had 4GB of RAM, is almost unbelievable — to the point where rumors of a name change to iPhone 16E seem a lot more likely.
The rumors do make note of some compromises, though. The iPhone SE 4 is still expected to come with a single camera lens, which dummy units seem to confirm. It’s also set to be the first phone rocking Apple’s homemade 5G modem, and given reports of the modem’s turbulent development, there’s no telling what impact that might have on wireless performance.
Cheaper phones can still be good — but how good?
It’s been a long time since “cheap” has meant “bad” in the context of phones. In fact some of the best cheap phones we’ve seen have flagship-quality specs and features that rival those of their premium-priced counterparts. Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy A55 both offer some AI features found on comparable flagships. (That's more the case on the Pixel 8a, which mirrors the Pixel 8.)
The Pixel 8a is also notable for taking excellent photos, and earned itself a solace on our best camera phones page. If you want the best possible photos, and you’re on a strict budget, then it’s arguably one of the best options you can pick up.
But there’s always a limit to what those phones can offer. A midrange handset like the Galaxy A55 or Pixel 8a is always going to be limited by the price tag. Maybe sacrifices are made in the quality of construction, or the materials used. Maybe you lose a camera lens, as is the case with the current iPhone. My point is that no matter how good things get, phone makers can’t offer too much because it would cause the price to rise too much — or cut into the sales of pricier flagships. And at that point, the aim of offering a cheaper phone seems like a wasted endeavor.
Take the Galaxy S24 FE, which debuted at $649 — $150 less than the Galaxy S24 (not to mention the since-announced Galaxy S25). It is, by all accounts, an excellent phone to the point where my colleague John Velasco wondered whether people were overpaying for the $799 Galaxy S24 in his Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review.
Sadly, all those flagship-esque features on board the S24 FE came at a price compared to cheaper phones like the Galaxy A55 and A54. At $200 more than the A54, the Galaxy S24 FE can't really be considered a "cheap" phone any more. A $649 price tag isn't that far from flagship territory, though you could argue it's a fair price given the features that Samsung included with that device. And I worry that the iPhone SE 4 could be heading down the same path.
The importance of having a cheap (ish) iPhone
In the old days Apple commercials proudly bragged that products “do more, costs less” which is no longer true. Apple has spent the past quarter-century marketing itself as a premium brand, with products that are as much fashion accessories as they are practical devices — and they have prices to match. iPhone prices aren’t considerably different from other big-name flagships, though that pricing structure always struck me as more a case of Apple charging what it likes and other phone makers gradually following its lead.
However you look at it, though, there's no denying the fact that a flagship iPhone is an expensive purchase. Even if you pick up the standard iPhone 16, you’re still forking out $799 and that’s no small amount of money.
Apple’s never going to change its pricing — the iPhone has proven far too popular and valuable for it to ever consider a price cut. But it’s still beneficial for the company to have a cheaper option, even if it isn't a “budget Android phone” level of cheap.
Apple makes money on more than just hardware, as we’ve heard a lot about in the past few years. Every time you buy an app, sign up for a subscription or make any kind of payment on your iPhone, Apple gets a cut of the money — somewhere around 30%. Apple also makes money every time you use Apple Pay, and naturally rakes in cash from its own services like iCloud, Apple Music or Apple TV Plus.
Apple can’t bring in that money unless people have iPhones, and not everyone can afford to buy the flagships. That’s where the iPhone SE series comes in. The phones aren’t as premium as Apple's flagships, but they offer a gateway into the Apple ecosystem — which in turn makes Apple more money. Otherwise, Apple would have no chance to compete for people who might otherwise turn to the Samsung Galaxy A55, OnePlus 13R or similarly discounted device.
We’ve already seen that Apple has plenty of ways to keep people locked into the Apple ecosystem once they join, including ervices like iMessage, the App Store and seamless integration with other products. Then there's the Apple Watch, exclusive AirPods features and so on. Because of all this, once someone has an iPhone, they’re more likely to keep buying them — continually printing money for Apple. Who knows, SE owners may even switch to a more expensive model when it’s time to upgrade.
By potentially pushing up the price of the iPhone SE 4 with seemingly outlandish upgrades, Apple risks pushing away the SE’s target market: the people that want an iPhone but can’t justify the high price of a flagship and are willing to sacrifice the more premium features as a result.
Bottom line
There are a lot of things I’m glad the iPhone SE 4 might be doing. Updating the design is a big one, but the fact Apple may be adding Apple Intelligence support means it’s not just being stuffed with an arbitrary years-old chipset. That said, I worry that Apple is trying to do too much with the iPhone SE 4, and that an excess of upgrades could backfire.
I have no doubt Apple knows the benefits of offering an affordable iPhone, which is why the SE series exists to begin with. The better the phone, the more likely people are to go out and buy it — especially if the price is right. So the relative success of the iPhone SE 4 could easily depend on how much Apple is willing to charge for the phone.
But right now it just feels like there are so many big changes coming to the iPhone SE 4 that the relatively low price might be one of the sacrifices Apple winds up making with this release. And if that happens, it would be the wrong move.
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