Apple’s budget phone offering is finally going to look like a modern smartphone starting next year, Bloomberg’s Apple insider Mark Gurman reports in his newsletter Power On. The last iteration of the iPhone SE launched in 2022, looking exactly like 2017’s iPhone 8. So I’d wager this upgrade has been a long time coming for most people.
Now, I don’t mind how the current iPhone SE looks. I think the design is quite charming, and there’s probably some folks out there who would agree with me on that. But it is quite an outdated phone in my opinion. I mean, 4 GB of RAM and a 4.7 inch LCD display that isn’t even full HD? Thankfully, Gurman reports that the new iPhone SE will sport the look of the much more modern iPhone 14.
It’s slated to come out next year and will also reportedly feature an OLED display with a higher resolution. More interestingly, to me at least, Gurman is also willing to bet that the new SE will support Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence looked quite impressive at this year’s WWDC. | Video credit — Apple
This new and improved iPhone SE isn’t the only thing worth looking forward to from Apple for next year either. There’s the very interesting claim about an iPhone Air being in the works as well. A slimmer, new kind of iPhone with less impressive specifications but a cooler design. Now that’s something worth keeping an eye out for.
However, if Apple Intelligence does make it to 2025’s iPhone SE, don’t expect it to be perfect out of the gate. Gurman recently claimed that Apple had forgone the decision to delay the launch of iPhone 16 by one month. Doing so would have made it possible for iPhone 16 to launch with Apple Intelligence, but the company apparently didn’t consider it important enough.
And even if Apple’s AI features are perfect from the get-go, there’s the implication from insiders that the company eventually plans to charge users for these features. AI on the iPhone has the potential to help it remain one of the best phones in the market today. But, man am I tired of subscription-based services on something I’ve paid off.