For those who are looking forward to the fourth-generation iPhone SE there is potentially not-so-good news ahead. While there have been reports about it getting a change of supplier for its displays, it looks like it may end up not being a device that consumers can buy at all.
In an update to his research and prediction, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the iPhone SE 4 will only be an engineering prototype. And as such, it will only be used as part of Apple’s testing and validation of its own in-house 5G baseband chip tech. Should this process go well, then the fruit company can begin mass production of its own 5G chip as soon as 2025. If not, then this will instead be pushed back by a year. As of right now, the iPhone maker is still reliant on the X model modems provided by Qualcomm, including the X65 that may be involved in the iPhone 14’s satellite comms feature.
Updates on iPhone SE 4 research and prediction:
1. I previously predicted that the iPhone SE 4 would be a derivative model of the iPhone 14. However, my latest research indicates that this derivative model will likely be an engineering prototype for Apple in-house 5G baseband… https://t.co/9m5SjSvrKS
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) April 13, 2023
There have been rumours of the Apple making its own 5G chip for a fair amount of time. At the tail end of 2021, we saw reports of the iPhone maker contracting TSMC for the mass production of said chips beginning this year. Judging from the look of things at the moment, that initial plan has not panned out the way the company had initially intended.
Ultimately, the probability of an iPhone SE 4 getting released next year just got slimmer. That being said, there’s a non-zero chance of it making an appearance in 2025 instead, or 2026 depending on the company’s progress on its 5G chip production. But in the same vein, it’s just as likely that Apple my chose to use another model as its base as it moves further away from the iPhone 14. Kuo previously claimed that the new generation SE will be using last year’s model as its base.
(Source: Ming-Chi Kuo / Twitter)
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