iPhone SE series discontinued by Apple: Ming-Chi Kuo

Published On: January 7, 2023

Highlights

Apple reportedly does not plan to launch iPhone SE 4 next year. Reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the company has instructed its supply chain partners about retiring the iPhone SE for good.
Apple planned iPhone SE 2024 to be a test bed for its new modem chip.

Apple religiously refreshes its affordable iPhone every two years, and since the iPhone SE 3 debuted last year, its successor was poised for 2024. However, reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously stated that the Cupertino giant feels iPhone SE 4 won’t do well and may get cancelled or delayed. Today, a report about Apple calling off the iPhone SE 4’s production appeared online. This revelation comes from the same analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo.

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In a medium post, Kuo says: Apple informed its supply chain partners that it plans to cancel the 2024 iPhone SE. This move from Apple changes its plans about experimenting with an in-house baseband chip on a cheaper phone before shipping it with its flagship line of smartphones. The company’s in-house baseband chip has been safely sitting at a “coming soon” position in rumors for years.

No iPhone SE 4, No in-house baseband chip?

Until now, Apple planned its next cheapest phone, iPhone SE 2024, to be a test bed for its new modem chip in case things go south. If everything went well, the same chip would have made its way to the iPhone 16 series later in 2024. Now that the company is reportedly retiring the iPhone SE 4, concerns about whether Apple’s in-house baseband chip will go on par with Qualcomm’s offering remain unclear.

It’s highly likely that Apple will stick with Qualcomm to get its baseband chips for the iPhone 16 family members. This development could also mean that Qualcomm wouldn’t lose Apple as its one of the major sources of revenue until 2025.

Apple axing the iPhone SE 4 also means that the refreshed designed iPhone SE won’t see the light of day, which was supposed to come in six-year-old iPhone XR’s guise when it would have launched in 2024.