iPhone SE is dead? New leak says iPhone SE 4 cancelled for 2024

iPhone SE 4 is rumoured to be cancelled, says the new leak. Here are all the details you need to know.

iPhone SE 4 is now rumoured to be cancelled for now, no planned launch in 2024. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

Is the iPhone SE dead? Based on a new leak, it is now said that Apple has cancelled the iPhone SE 4 for 2024, thereby putting a question on the iPhone SE lineup. The iPhone SE 4 was expected to be announced in 2024, succeeding the vintage iPhone SE 3rd Gen. But now the reports suggest that iPhone SE 4 has been cancelled and there are no further known developments on the SE lineup. The focus is now said to go on the iPhone 16 lineup for 2024.

Based on the report from The Medium, it is said that Apple's plans to produce its own 5G modem chip is delayed, and the iPhone 16 could retain the Qualcomm chips for another year. Apple was expected to use the in-house developed 5G modem chip on the iPhone SE 4th Gen. Insiders say that the Apple 5G modem isn't as good as the ones from Qualcomm and Apple wanted to try it out on its lower impact model. But now, the iPhone SE 4 has been shelved and with it, the plan to use the 5G modem chip.

No more iPhone SE now?

“Due to concerns that the performance of the in-house baseband chip may not be up to par with Qualcomm's, Apple initially planned to launch its baseband chip in 2024 and let the low-end iPhone SE 4 adopt it first, and decide whether to let the iPhone 16 use its baseband chip depending on the development status of iPhone SE 4. However, the cancelation of the iPhone SE 4 has significantly increased the chances of Qualcomm remaining the exclusive supplier of baseband chips for the 2H24 new iPhone 16 series, which is better than the market consensus that Qualcomm will start losing iPhone orders in 2024,” says the report.

Not sure which
mobile to buy?

With the iPhone SE 4th Gen not happening, Apple's most affordable smartphone is likely to remain the iPhone SE 3rd Gen for a while. Some say that the iPhone SE 3's poor reception by the consumers could have been a reason to discard the iPhone SE 4.

The iPhone SE 3 was launched in early 2022 and was essentially the same iPhone SE 2nd Gen with the newer A15 Bionic chip and a slightly larger capacity battery. The iPhone SE is, hence, using the same old design that debuted on the iPhone 8 from 2017, which itself is a derivation from the iPhone 6 from 2014.