Beyond the rumors about the iPhone 15, we must not forget another outstanding line of apple phones: the iPhone SE. And this time, we bring you rumors about why Apple would be having problems when launching the fourth generation of this device, with a view to 2024.
Everything points to the supply chain
The English-speaking medium MacRumors gathers statements from different analysts and experts, who they think it is “unlikely”» that Apple will launch the next iPhone SE next year. These experts are the analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O’Malley, both belonging to the Barclays entity.
In a research note shared with MacRumors, analysts said Apple’s decision not to launch a new iPhone SE next year could signal that the company’s rumored in-house 5G modem won’t be ready any time soon, which would benefit to the current supplier of Apple’s iPhone modems, Qualcomm.”, They explain from the medium.
However, the two Barclays analysts are not the only ones who have shared ideas about the future of this phone. It has also done so, as explained by MacRumors, the well-known Ming Chi-Kuo. In this case, the analyst predicted that “the mass manufacturing of Apple’s modem would start in 2025 at the earliest«.
To date, we have three iPhone SE models on the market. The first of them was launched in 2016, and recycled the same design that the iPhone 5 and 5S already had. The second model, launched in 2020, recycles the same design of the iPhone 8, since the processor was improved in the same body. The third generation of this phone, launched in 2022, maintains the same design as its predecessor, increasing the power of the processor.
And as for the fourth generation of the iPhone SE, it is expected to have a design very similar to that of the iPhone 14, also taking into account some statements that Kuo himself made some time ago. As explained in MacRumors, “suggests that the device would be equipped with a 6.1-inch OLED screen and Face ID.”
The idea of the Apple modem has been on the table for more than 4 years
In 2019, the same medium revealed that Apple had bought “the majority” of Intel’s modem business line. At that time, they released the data of the operation: one billion dollars and 2,200 Intel workers who joined the Cupertino staff.
In the same way that they released this data, they also showed the statements of Bob Swan, CEO of Intel, after learning of the agreement between the two companies: “This agreement allows us to focus on the development of technology for the 5G network while preserving the critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created.”
Thus, the apple company was nourished by the more than 17,000 patents it bought from Intel, as well as the workers and all the baggage in terms of development and knowledge. Now, more than four years after this operation, those of Cupertino continue to use Qualcomm modems.