Rumors about the next-generation iPhone SE have been spreading like wildfire for months, but according to a new leak, those rumors have missed one major detail. On Tuesday, leaker Majin Bu said on X that Apple is doing away with the SE branding next year, potentially for good, and will call its next budget model the iPhone 16E instead.
Other than the name, the leaker’s report lines up with what we’ve heard in recent months. They claim that the design of the iPhone 16E will be similar to that of the iPhone 14, complete with an OLED display. They also note that the new budget model will adopt the Action button introduced on the iPhone 16 and will be available in black and white colors.
After the iPhone SE 3 launched in 2022, some reports suggested that the cheaper model didn’t sell as well as Apple might have hoped. Three years later, the company could be trying to boost interest by not only updating the design to match its flagship phone but also repositioning it as a more affordable member of the iPhone 16 lineup.
This actually syncs up with another recent leak about the new phone’s price.
According to the prolific yeux1122’s blog, the 4th-generation iPhone SE (or the iPhone 16E) will cost less than $500. It’s worth noting that the iPhone SE 3 cost $429 when it arrived in 2022, so there’s a chance Apple will charge more for its successor. Changing the name might help soften the blow of a price hike ever so slightly.
Apple has yet to make the new budget iPhone official, but a number of sources have suggested Apple will announce the iPhone 16E in March 2025.
