All signs are pointing to a new iPhone being much closer to release than we may have expected. Rumors of a sequel to the mid-range iPhone SE have been floating around for years, but now the evidence is beginning to pile up, as TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has offered up even more details about the phone in a research note. The most important takeaway is that we should see the iPhone SE 2 within the next 6 months.
According to Kuo (via MacRumors), Career Technologies and Murata Manufacturing are set to supply Apple with antenna components for the iPhone SE 2 in early 2020, setting the stage for a Q1 2020 launch. This lines up with his previous note, in which he made a similar claim about the iPhone SE 2’s release timing. It appears that whatever he has heard in the last several days has only supported his speculation from last week.
Kuo also claims that the iPhone SE 2 will be equipped with an LCP (liquid crystal polymer) antenna design, which will improve the wireless transmission of the device. In previous notes, Kuo has also reported that the phone will feature a similar design to that of the iPhone 8, complete with the same 4.7-inch screen and a physical Home button with Touch ID. There will be internal upgrades, though, including the latest A13 Bionic chip and 3GB of RAM.
The iPhone SE 2 is expected to start at $399 in the United States when it arrives early next year. As it will seemingly be significantly larger than the original iPhone SE, there’s a decent chance that Apple opts for a different naming scheme, and both iPhone 9 and iPhone 8s have been rumored for the phone as well.
