iPhone SE 4 tipped for big upgrades and small price

Apple's most affordable iPhone is getting bigger in 2025 – but Apple wants to keep the price to its current level

iPhone SE 2022 review


(Image credit: Future)
Carrie Marshall
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The next generation of Apple's budget iPhone, the iPhone SE, has been tipped for significant upgrades – and the latest leak suggests it won't be getting a significant price hike. A new leak on X suggests that Apple's intention is to keep the price of the iPhone SE below the $500/£500 mark, and ideally at the same $429/£429 as the current model.

While the price isn't expected to rise significantly, the specification looks like it'll be a big step up compared to the current model. Trade site The Information reports that the redesigned iPhone SE, planned for an early 2025 release, will resemble the iPhone 14, will have a larger display and may finally make the move to an OLED screen too.

One reason for the reported move to OLED is that the panels for the incoming SE use the same parts as the ones in the iPhone 13 and 14, so manufacturers can use the same tools to make them without having to spend money on new equipment. That means they'll cost considerably less than the panels for the iPhone 15 range, enabling Apple to add OLED to its budget iPhone without sending the price tag beyond its target.

What to expect from the 2025 iPhone SE 4

The rumoured specifications for the iPhone SE 4 include Face ID and a notched display, and possibly the same Action button that's coming to the iPhone 16 range. USB-C is a given, and hopefully the move to OLED and a newer, more efficient processor will mean improved battery life too.

We rate the iPhone SE – it's a great, cheap phone – but it was starting to look long in the tooth when it was last updated in 2022, so by the time 2025 rolls around it's going to look positively ancient. A refreshed iPhone SE that looks more like the rest of its iPhone siblings is likely to be a big hit: as much as the SE is a good phone, it's not as desirable as the rest of the range. But the redesign is going to disappoint people with smaller hands or who just don't like larger phones, as that bigger display means it's going to be a bigger phone too.

Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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