Apple apparently plans an iPhone SE Plus — with 5G?

A few iPhone SE’s happily standing in a line

We’ve all been expecting a new edition iPhone SE to appear next year, but now a reputable display analyst has added a little more flame to the speculation fire.

An interim upgrade, I think

Display analyst, Ross Young thinks the new device will be called an iPhone SE Plus with the iPhone SE 3 scheduled for the following year.

It isn’t particularly clear why it’s an iPhone SE Plus – the device is no bigger than the existing model with a 4.7-inch display, which is what we’ve expected. But it is interesting that the claim continues to be that the iPhone SE 3 will appear in 2024 and boast a 5.7”-6.1” LCD display.

I think the reason for the seemingly intermittent update will be 5G. It makes sense that Apple will want to pimp the product out with 5G connectivity and it may choose to hype up the existing model with this, pending a more significant update later on.

We now hear the next LCD iPhone will be introduced in 2022 and called the SE Plus with the same 4.7" LCD as the 8 along with 5G. We hear the iPhone SE3 with a 5.7" – 6.1" LCD is now pushed to 2024. https://t.co/9gxiAAk8Yi

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) October 25, 2021

There are various speculations around, but the addition of 5G to what is otherwise essentially the same device is the one that makes the most sense to me.

The 5G connection makes sense

After all, as I wrote at Computerworld recently, mobile carriers are racing to build up their 5G customer sign-ups. An Omdia report notes that once they persuade 10% of customers to upgrade they tend to begin making money – money they really need to make in order to recoup investments made on their networks.

[Also read: A 5-minute timeline of Apple’s 5G iPhone plans]

As part of this, carriers are offering great deals on iPhone 13 at the moment and there’s no doubt at all that Apple wants to surf this wave to build a larger slice of the market.

“All these factors appear to be coalescing to become one of those virtuous cycles for Cupertino: mobile carriers are offering up 5G iPhones to tempt people to adopt 5G services, while in nations in which 5G deployment is already mature, you’re seeing increasing numbers of consumers flock to Apple at the expense of other device brands because they like the experience more,” I said.

It makes sense to introduce an interim iPhone SE model with 5G pending a more significant update later.

After all, with some speculation emerging that claims Apple will introduce a highly significant new iPhone design then a more traditional iPhone will become an evem more alluring prospect for some customers, I think.

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