The next iPhone SE might finally go full-screen, but by the time it lands, it could already feel outdated.
XR Design for the Next iPhone SE: Progress on a Delay Timer
According to a new rumor from Jon Prosser, shared on the Geared Up podcast, Apple is planning to overhaul the iPhone SE’s design and bring it in line with the 2018 iPhone XR. That means dropping the ancient forehead-and-chin look in favor of a notched, all-screen front.
On paper, that’s a big visual upgrade for Apple’s cheapest phone. The current SE still leans on a design language that goes back years, while Android budget phones have long since shifted to slim bezels and modern layouts. Moving to an XR-style chassis would finally make the SE look like it belongs in this decade.
The catch is timing. Apple released a new iPhone SE earlier this year, and the previous one arrived two years before that. If Apple keeps the same two-year cycle, the XR-style SE wouldn’t land until 2024.
2024: A Six-Year-Old Design in a New Box
If this release window holds, the “new” SE design in 2024 will be based on a phone that first shipped in 2018. That’s a six-year gap between original design and budget reuse.
For Apple loyalists who just want the cheapest way into iOS, that may be fine. But in context, it underlines how low a priority the SE line really is inside Cupertino. The company is effectively treating the SE as a recycling bin for older hardware choices.
By 2024, Android phones in the same price range will almost certainly be shipping with hole-punch displays, tighter bezels, and more aggressive screen-to-body ratios. Even today, plenty of sub-$400 Android devices already do. An XR-style SE will still look cleaner than the current model, but it won’t impress anyone paying attention to the broader smartphone market.
So there’s progress here, but it’s progress that feels a generation behind before it even launches.
What This Says About Apple’s Budget Strategy
The SE line has always been the compromise child in Apple’s portfolio. The current rumor doesn’t change that story; it just pushes it forward a bit.
Apple is apparently comfortable giving SE buyers a design that’s several years old, as long as it keeps costs down and preserves clear separation from its flagship models. The timing described in this rumor reinforces that approach. A 2024 SE with a 2018 body screams “minimal effort, maximum reuse.”
For consumers, this is a mixed bag. On one hand, a more modern layout at SE pricing is a win for people who want a cheaper iPhone without living in the visual past. On the other hand, it highlights how much more aggressively Android brands iterate on design, even at the low end.
Cautious optimism makes sense here: the rumored change would finally address the SE’s biggest aesthetic drawback, but nothing in this leak suggests Apple is suddenly going to treat the SE as anything more than a hand-me-down project.
iPhone 14 Pro: New Ultrawide Sensor, Real-World Questions
While the SE rumor feels like Apple doing the bare minimum for its budget line, the company’s priorities are much clearer on the flagship side. The same report points to an upgraded ultrawide camera on the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro series.
The new ultrawide is rumored to feature 1.4μm pixel size, up from 1.0μm on the iPhone 13 Pro’s ultrawide. That’s a significant jump on paper. Larger pixels can capture more light, which is especially important for ultrawide lenses that are often used indoors, in night modes, or in tricky lighting.
The sensor is reportedly made by Sony, with the compact camera module handled by LG Innotek. Both components are said to be more expensive, which implies Apple is at least paying to move the needle on image quality here.
For buyers, the promise is straightforward: better ultrawide shots, particularly at night. A lot of recent flagship camera progress has focused on the main sensor, leaving ultrawides a step behind. This rumor suggests Apple wants to close that gap.
Will the New Ultrawide Actually Matter?
The real question is how much of that 1.4μm pixel bump will translate into visible gains. Specs are one thing; processing is another. Apple already leans heavily on computational photography, and squeezing meaningful low-light improvements out of an ultrawide lens is not trivial.
The report itself is cautious, stating that buyers will “theoretically” see better ultrawide shots, especially in darker conditions, and leaving some doubt with, “Let’s see if that actually happens.” That’s the right attitude here.
On Android, we’ve seen similar stories: camera hardware upgrades that look great on spec sheets but deliver marginal real-world changes without strong tuning. The rumored iPhone 14 Pro ultrawide upgrade has potential, but until it’s tested across a range of scenes, it stays in the “promising on paper” category.
Still, there’s more genuine excitement here than with the SE rumor. At least on the Pro side, Apple appears to be investing in better hardware rather than just reshuffling old parts.
Two Very Different Messages to Buyers
Taken together, these rumors paint a familiar picture of Apple’s phone strategy.
On one side, the iPhone SE in 2024 potentially gets a six-year-old design, repackaged as the budget option. That keeps the entry price lower, but it also clearly signals where Apple thinks SE buyers sit in the hierarchy.
On the other side, the iPhone 14 Pro line may get a tangible camera upgrade, with larger 1.4μm pixels on the ultrawide and more expensive Sony and LG Innotek components to match. That’s where the real engineering energy and money are going.
Cautious optimism fits both stories, just for different reasons. The SE rumor is encouraging because it finally moves Apple’s cheapest phone out of the design dark ages, even if it does so late. The 14 Pro ultrawide rumor is encouraging because it suggests Apple is continuing to push its flagship camera system forward in a focused way.
As always, the gap between rumor and reality is where things get interesting. Check back soon as this story develops.