Apple's Revamped iPhone SE: A Game Changer Amid Challenges

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is gearing up to launch a revamped iPhone SE, which is expected to kickstart a pivotal year for the tech giant amid various challenges. The new iPhone SE is set to debut with a launch event later in February, followed by a release later in the month. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE, and will instead unveil the device through a press release.

The iPhone SE is in desperate need of a big upgrade, and if you are wondering "will there be new iPhone SE?" it looks like a new iPhone SE – maybe with a brand new name – will arrive in the spring of 2025. Updated January 21, 2025: A new report states that the iPhone SE may have a Dynamic Island instead of a notch.

New iPhone SE release date: When is the new iPhone SE coming out?

Spring 2025 (estimated), perhaps at a Spring Apple Event.

It looks like a release is imminent, with all the rumors and leaks indicating a launch in March or April 2025. This release date isn't a surprise. Apple's iPhone SE doesn't follow the same predictable annual release schedule as the standard iPhone line, and it doesn't tend to have its release party in September like that handset. There tend to be much longer intervals between updates too. But one thing seems sure: The iPhone SE tends to be updated in March or April. Here's when the three models released so far made their debut:

iPhone SE (3rd gen): March 2022
iPhone SE (2nd gen): April 2020
iPhone SE (1st gen): March 2016

Apple's current budget phone, the iPhone SE (2022), is in need of a refresh. The iPhone SE is Apple's cheapest iPhone, and it is possible we could see pricing increase with the arrival of the new model. Pricing has steadily increased across the three existing generations, no doubt influenced by the global cost of components and distribution. When the iPhone SE (3rd generation) was released, Apple added a chunk onto the cost, making the current model somewhat less desirable than previous iterations, especially when you factor in the measly amount of storage that comes with the baseline model.

At launch the prices were even higher in the U.K. but, in September 2023, after adjusting for inflation, Apple dropped the U.K. price back to match the U.S. price. Apple did the same thing for prices in euros in September 2024.

Here's how they line up:

iPhone SE (3rd gen, 2022):
64GB: $429/£429 (was £449 at launch)
128GB: $479/£479 (was £499 at launch)
256GB: $579/£579 (was £609 at launch)

iPhone SE (2nd gen, 2020):
64GB: $399/£419
128GB: $449/£469
256GB: $549/£569

iPhone SE (1st gen, 2016):
32GB: $399/£379
128GB: $499/£449

Higher component pricing and the effect of higher import duties is likely to lead to higher prices for consumers wishing to purchase the new iPhone SE. However, the iPhone SE needs to be inexpensive relative to other iPhones, and we'd be surprised to see the price increase too much with the next generation, even with several rumored upgrades. The latest rumors claim the 4th-gen iPhone SE could start at $499, still far less expensive than any other new iPhone Apple sells.

However, with Apple tending to have a $100 jump between handsets, with the iPhone 16 starting at $799 and the iPhone 15 at $699. If the iPhone SE replaces the iPhone 14 in the line up, it could mean a $599 starting price. That's assuming that the new iPhone SE doesn't replace the iPhone 15 at a $699 starting price.

Hopefully Apple won't push up the price that much. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims the next model is intended to help Apple compete with low-end Android phones in China, so a low price would be necessary to achieve this plan.

New iPhone SE design: What will the new iPhone SE look like?

Will the iPhone SE get a long-overdue design revamp? Rumors suggest that we could see a move away from the iPhone 8 chassis to something more like modern iPhones, with Face ID and a full-screen display.

That could be good or bad news, depending on your viewpoint. Some people prefer the Home button as a means to interact with their iPhone, for some older people and those who are less dexterous it is helpful to have a physical button. No Home button is likely to mean a notch—and that's a notch, rather than the Dynamic Island. In terms of overall appearance, the iPhone SE would likely resemble the iPhone 14.

A rumor in July 2024 suggested Apple will change course with the iPhone SE 4 and instead use the same body as the iPhone 16, making it a true budget version of the latest iPhone lineup. If Apple chooses to use the chassis of the iPhone 16 rather than the iPhone 14 that could allow the best alignment of two camera lenses for talking videos for the Vision Pro. But that would mean that the iPhone SE would



More important though, the real breakthrough I think, is the watch that I have always wanted, one that is the real health kit, one that has a low heart rate function, the electrocardiogram that the FDA has approved, the atrial fibrillation warning, or afib, as it's called, and the emergency warning system if you fall, these are what I had always hoped for. Look, I love all the features of my current watch. But as we get older these become necessities. And for the elderly or your elderly parents and grandparents, you are now foolish if you don't have one of these. I think that we should get an insurance break if we buy them. I think your cardiologist will insist on it. How can an older person risk not having the emergency assistance capabilities, especially one that kicks in if you're unresponsive. When my late father got older we got one of those gizmos that is supposed to allow him to let people know something's wrong. It was almost useless given that if your parent falls, it's unlikely to be next to the device.

I will go as far as to say, that as exciting as the new features are for the phone, you may be downright negligent if you don't get the watch. And here's the big kicker. You're going to get the phone if you get the watch. That's the way it works. Consider it the gateway drug to the entire Apple ecosystem. Revolutionary not evolutionary. Just what the doctor ordered.

Now let's go back to the concept of innovation because it is instructive and worth teaching about. When I was a hedge fund manager the best idea I ever had, the best move I ever caught, was when Intel introduced not the 286 but the 386, the 486 and ultimately the Pentium. I mention each iteration because they were pretty revolutionary and I bought each one so I stayed long the stock. It was clearcut innovation. I felt the same way about Microsoft Windows. It just kept getting better and better so I held the stock. They just kept innovating and I kept owning and buying.

Alphabet's a total innovator. I have no doubt that its Waymo autonomous vehicle will continue the tradition of search and YouTube. Amazon's a constant innovator. Remember when it was just a bookstore? Netflix went from being a diskette company that had no idea what I liked to being an internet company that pushes me everything I want and a lot that I didn't know I wanted.

What do all of these companies have in common? They are tremendous stocks with the possible exception of Intel which has stopped innovating and ceded the lead in gaming, data center and, despite the mobile-eye acquisition, autonomous driving, all to Nvidia and now, in some cases particularly GPUs, AMD, hence the remarkable run in that stock. Our rescue mutt, part pitbull, part who knows what is named Nvidia. I renamed our Puggle and he now answers to AMD, but only when I starve him and then offer him a tweet. He's learning.

Revolutionary innovation can trump business cycles, presidential tweets, employment reports, you name it. You revolutionize something you change peoples' behavior and you create demand where it didn't exist. When you look at the S&P 500 you struggle to find more than a handful of companies even capable of adding "new and improved" on the products they offer without you laughing at it and knowing it's a phony.