Gurman Refutes Report That iPhone SE 4 Is Coming This Month
Credit: Concept Central
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Yesterday, an anonymous leaker with a reportedly proven track record reported that the fourth-generation iPhone SE could launch in January, but it seems that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman disagrees.
This morning, Gurman bluntly challenged the rumor as “completely untrue,” although he suggests that the leaker in question may have simply misinterpreted the information they received.
The basis for the original leaker’s claim was that the so-called “iPhone SE 4” and a new “iPad 11” would be launched with iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, respectively. Since it’s highly likely those updates will see public releases by the end of January, the assumption was that the new iPhone and iPad would also arrive by then.
However, as Gurman points out, “with” doesn’t necessarily mean “simultaneously.”
Instead, Gurman points out that the new devices will have iOS 18.3 pre-installed. His own sources have reportedly confirmed this, but it technically just means they’ll arrive before iOS 18.4 is released. Since that’s not expected until April, Apple has plenty of time to release the iPhone SE and iPad in its more typical March timeframe.
Any other year, a prediction of any January iPhone release would have been met with a great deal of skepticism. The only time Apple has ever spoken out about a new iPhone before March was when Steve Jobs showed off the original iPhone at Macworld in 2007 — and even that model didn’t arrive in the first customers’ hands until June. Since 2011, major iPhone launches have been a fall event — usually in September, very rarely in October. When the iPhone SE first showed up in 2016, it began a cycle of spring or near-spring releases: March 31, 2016, April 24, 2020, and March 18, 2022, for the most recent model (that one technically beat spring by two days, but close enough).
However, this year’s report was more plausible because of the situation with the European Union’s USB-C requirements. Less than two weeks ago, Apple discontinued all of its Lightning-equipped iPhones in the EU as the deadline for the common USB-C standard arrived. This means the 2022 iPhone SE, the iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus are no longer available in most of Europe, making the most wallet-friendly model there the 2023 iPhone 15, which sells for 849 to 879 Euros — or about $875 in US dollars. That’s a significant jump over the €529–549 iPhone SE ($545-565 USD).
This made it more believable that Apple might be in a rush to get a new iPhone SE on the market in Europe to fill the pricing void created by the departure of its three most affordable models. However, in the end, it seems Apple isn’t too concerned about ceding the European smartphone budget market to its competitors for a few weeks.
Apple naturally prefers folks buy one of the latest and greatest iPhone 16 models. Still, even those have been hamstrung in Europe by the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the uncertainty it’s created around the rollout of Apple Intelligence. Mac users in the EU can already enjoy Apple Intelligence (as long as they’re willing to do so in English), as that platform isn’t regulated by the DMA, but the iPhone and iPad won’t see Apple’s new AI features in the EU until April when iOS 18.4 launches.
That could also represent good timing for a European iPhone SE launch. According to every report we’ve heard, the new discount model is expected to feature an A18 chip with 8 GB of RAM to provide full Apple Intelligence support — a move that will essentially leave the pricier iPhone 15 behind the curve.
The iPhone SE is also expected to be based largely on the iPhone 14, featuring the same design, notch, OLED screen, and Face ID, with the only significant differences being the faster chip and a single camera. This makes it hard to figure out where the actual iPhone 14 will fit in after the new iPhone SE is released, and it’s possible Apple may take this opportunity to discontinue the iPhone 14, as it did with the iPhone 8 five years ago following the release of the 2020 iPhone SE.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
