Apple will start production for its low-cost iPhone SE successor in February. This will be Apple's first attempt at a low-cost iPhone since iPhone SE's launch back in 2016, which proved to be hugely popular with customers.
Rumored to be marketed as iPhone 9, the successor to Apple's popular iPhone SE will have the same design as iPhone 8. It will have a 4.7-inch LCD and feature Touch ID. Compared to the iPhone 8, which still sells for $449, iPhone SE 2 will have faster internals, better camera, and more RAM. As per analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it will be available in 3 colors: Space Gray, Silver, and Product RED.
To keep costs low, features like OLED, Face ID, wireless charging and 5G networking will not be a part of iPhone SE 2. However, it is expected that Apple will use its latest A13 Bionic processor in the phone, which is the same chip used in its expensive iPhone 11 models. The camera in iPhone SE 2 will is also expected to be as good as the one in iPhone XR.
Apple had priced the original iPhone SE at $399 and it is likely that the new smartphone will also have the same price. The company saw a return to strong sales with iPhone 11, especially due to a $50 cut in price. To increase sales in emerging markets, the company would be looking to provide exceptional value for money in the form of iPhone SE 2, which would have tough competition from low-to-midrange Android smartphones.
As per Bloomberg, manufacturing for the new phone will be split between Hon Hai Precision Industry, Pegatron Corp. and Wistron Corp. To meet the increased demand for components, Apple has ordered more chips from chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSMC also manufactures A-series processors for other Apple devices including iPhone 11 and iPad Pro.
As per reports, Apple will announce the new iPhone SE successor in March. The company expects to sell 30 million iPhone SE 2 units in 2020.
Apart from iPhone SE 2, Apple will also launch 4 new iPhone 12 models in 2020. All these iPhone 12 models will have OLED displays, iPhone 4-like design, faster A14 Bionic processor, up to 6GB RAM, time-of-flight 3D camera sensor, and 5G networking support.
