Before we begin talking about the rumoured iPhone SE 2, a brief history lesson. Don’t worry, you can skip the next paragraph if you like, but honestly it’s quite interesting.
In 2011, Samsung released the Galaxy Note: the company’s first phablet. It was seen as a niche product, too large for mass adoption. How big was it? Probably smaller than you remember – in fact, it was just 5.3in in size. Most phones are bigger than that now, including two of the available iPhones – the 8 Plus and the X. The iPhone 8 is still just 4.7in, but don’t you miss the days of those sub-4in handsets?
Some people clearly did: that’s why we were treated to the iPhone SE in 2016. But that handset is a little long in the tooth now, and Apple has shown no interest in replacing it – but that may well be about to end, and soon.
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iPhone SE 2 rumours and features
How sure a thing is the iPhone SE 2? Pretty sure, if a number of sources are to be believed. First up is respected leaker Ben Geskin, who has a pretty good track record on Apple-related topics.
If for some reason you can’t see the above tweet, you’re looking at a design that isn't a million miles away from the previous model in terms of shape. In other words, it’s distinctly iPhone, with a home button, curved corners and a flat back. More excitingly, Geskin reckons we’re going to see a glass case, wireless charging and claims that mass production is underway.
What else do we know? Well, Japanese blog Macotakara reckons that the iPhone SE 2 will be waterproof and pack the same A10 chip seen in the iPhone 7 and 2018 iPad. Unfortunately, the blog also thinks that this will be the small iPhone that does away with the 3.5 headphone jack. No real surprise given we haven’t seen one since the iPhone 6s, but disappointing all the same.
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Oh, and it'll be smaller, of course. The last iPhone SE was 4in, so it would be reasonable to guess a similar size – although it's worth noting that Sony's Xperia Compact series has gone from 4.6in to 5in in the past couple of years...
iPhone SE 2 release date
This isn’t clear, but a couple of things point to “soon” – possibly very soon indeed.
First off, the Eurasian regulatory database has 11 filings for a mystery Apple device. That may sound like a lot of filings, but bear in mind each one could relate to a slightly different configuration (storage, colour and so on) and it doesn’t seem so odd. In any case, in the past, such listings have come around two months ahead of launch – and that would put it in May/June time – conveniently in time for WWDC 2018.
That would eschew tradition of launching iPhones at the traditional September event, but it’s not without precedent. The original iPhone SE was announced in March 2016, after all – some six months before Tim Cook revealed the iPhone 7 and killed the headphone jack.
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iPhone SE 2 price
A report in Taiwan’s Economic Daily News claims that Wistron, one of Apple’s manufacturers, is getting the iPhone SE 2 building duties. Buried in the report is an indication of price: cheaper than the iPhone 7, but more expensive than the original iPhone SE.
The report hints at $450 (~£326). Even taking the lack of sales tax (with VAT, that would bring it up to £391), I’d be very surprised if Apple went in that low – but fingers crossed that a price of sub-£480 is on the cards.