Apple iPhone SE 4 may match iPhone 16 in power but could lack this key feature, report says

Apple is expected to release the iPhone SE 4 tomorrow, on February 19, based on a post from Apple CEO Tim Cook. However, Cook did not explicitly confirm whether the new product being launched would be the iPhone SE 4. Reports so far, including those from multiple industry insiders such as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, suggest that the iPhone SE 4 is likely to launch this week. Therefore, it is increasingly likely that tomorrow’s launch will indeed be the iPhone SE 4.

That being said, ahead of the tipped launch, a new report from the South Korean publication Donga suggests that the iPhone SE 4 could be missing a key component—support for mmWave 5G technology—which may or may not be a deal-breaker for some. 

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iPhone SE 4 To Miss A Key 5G Modem Feature

For those uninitiated, the iPhone SE 4 is expected to debut with Apple's A18 processor, the same as the iPhone 16 series. However, a significant change with the iPhone SE 4 is expected to be Apple's in-house 5G modem, reportedly manufactured by TSMC.

This marks a major shift for the Cupertino-based tech giant, which has so far relied on manufacturers like Intel and Qualcomm for its modems. However, the report claims that Apple's in-house modem will not match the capabilities of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X75 modem and will lack support for millimetre-wave 5G.

What this means is that users will not experience 5G speeds as good as those on the iPhone 16 series, which features Qualcomm’s X75 modem. Of course, this remains theoretical at this point, and real-world performance may differ based on actual testing. Nevertheless, based on this report, it does seem likely that this could be the case.

Having said that, people in areas where mmWave 5G isn’t available yet, will in theory, won’t notice any difference. 

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Would This Matter - Our Take

Since the iPhone SE 4 is expected to launch at a mid-range price, most users may not be too concerned about minor differences in upload and download speeds. It is also worth noting that the iPhone SE 4 is expected to feature the A18 chip, making it as powerful as the iPhone 16 models. This could compensate for the lack of certain features.

Unless the modem’s performance turns out to be significantly worse—which only time will tell—this may not have a major impact on the iPhone SE 4 as an overall product.

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