Apple has apparently restarted iPhone SE 4 development and the phone is expected to debut with Apple’s 5G chip and OLED display.
- What’s happening? The most significant update to Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone SE may be related to the display: ditching LCD in favor of OLED technology.
- Why care? iPhone SE is Apple’s only LCD phone. The move to OLED will bring benefits such as deep blacks, higher contrast ratios and lower power consumption.
- What to do? Read the forecast on Twitter analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
iPhone SE 4 could finally replace LCD with OLED
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has updated his forecast for the iPhone SE 4, expecting the iPhone SE 3 successor to launch in 2024 with an Apple 5G modem instead of Qualcomm and a switch from LCD to OLED.
Apple wants to test its 5G modem on low-end devices like the iPhone SE 4 to make sure it matches the Qualcomm modem before using it on other models.
“Apple has restarted the iPhone SE 4 and will introduce its own 5G baseband chip,” he wrote. “A significant decline in Qualcomm orders for Apple for the foreseeable future is a foregone conclusion,” Kuo added. He further predicted that Apple’s first 5G baseband chip would be manufactured in TSMC’s 4nm process, similar to 5nm. Surprisingly, the chip will only support Sub-6GHz and not mmWave.
“It is still being determined whether the iPhone 16 series will use Apple’s 5G baseband chip,” he continued. “The main issue is whether Apple can overcome the technical hurdles associated with mmWave and satellite communications.”
The next iPhone SE is expected to run on the same Apple chip as the iPhone 16 family. And it increasingly looks like the device will have a full-screen look just like the rest of Apple’s smartphone lineup.
“My latest survey shows that Apple has recently relaunched the iPhone SE 4, which will feature an OLED display instead of an LCD display, which is the biggest change,” Kuo said. “Overall, the SE 4 is a minor modification of the 6.1-inch iPhone 14.”
But how credible is Kuo’s prediction?
Generally, you don’t want to bet against Kuo because the man has sources deep in Apple’s supply chain who often provide him with information that allows him to connect the dots regarding future Apple products, but his timeline may not be correct.
More importantly, Kuo previously wrote on Medium that Apple canceled the fourth generation iPhone SE due to issues with its first native 5G chip. While he has now updated this prediction due to new information, it just goes to show that even Kuo isn’t always right.