iPhone SE 4 live: latest news and rumors ahead of the big Apple launch

The iPhone lineup could get a rejig on Wednesday

Apple is pushing Apple Intelligence quite hard – and this rumored iPhone SE refresh is part of that plan. With an A18 chip and 8GB RAM, it’s expected to be the cheapest way of getting Apple’s AI features (on an iPhone, at least).

But what might that mean for the current iPhone lineup? It’s definitely possible that the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus might disappear to be replaced by the iPhone SE 4 (or iPhone 16E). Neither of those phones support Apple Intelligence, so would become a tougher sell.

Then again, the base iPhone 15 doesn’t support Apple Intelligence either, leaving it in something of a no-man’s land. It’s all a bit of a mess, so I’m interested to see if and how Apple shakes up the whole iPhone lineup on Wednesday.

Will the new iPhone SE get a price hike?

One slightly less exciting rumor we’ve heard about the SE 4 is that it could be a bit pricier than its predecessor – and perhaps even a lot pricier.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the new mid-ranger could land towards the upper end of previous estimates, in the ballpark of $500 / £500 / AU$800. For comparison, the current iPhone SE cost $429 / £419 / AU$719 when it landed three years ago.

Inflation means that price is about $465 / £465 in today’s money, so that rumored figure would (if true) represent a fairly big price hike.

The SE 4 would still qualify as mid-range in Apple’s world, of course, but as my colleague Jamie Richards (our Mobile Computing Staff Writer) has compellingly argued, it wouldn’t represent such good value compared to the best cheap phones on Android. Hmm, decisions…

What might the iPhone SE 4 look like?

We don’t yet know whether it’ll be called the iPhone SE 4 or iPhone 16E, but is this the design of Apple’s mid-range phone?

These images (or perhaps best-guess renders) shared by leaker Majin Bu are the closest thing we have to peek at the phone’s possible design. They certainly match previous leaks; it has a notch, a flat metal frame and a single-lens camera.

There’s also a customizable action button (a nice bonus for a more affordable iPhone). The notch means this should also be the first SE model with Face ID, which is a nice time-saver on my iPhone 16 Pro. If this is all true, it could prove popular – if the price is right…

What does Apple’s teaser tell us?

First off, what can we tell from the only official evidence we have so far about Apple’s launch? Tim Cook’s shiny Apple logo doesn’t give a lot away, but the internet has some compelling theories.

Firstly, the tagline “get ready to meet the newest member of the family” does tally with the iPhone SE 4 rumors. It’d be part of the iPhone family, but does that also hint at a rebrand? The iPhone SE 3 was simply the iPhone SE (2022) and there have also been rumors it might be called the iPhone 16E.

The circle around the logo could also be hinting at the new SE’s single camera, or the move away from a physical home button. It does also look a lot like an AirTag, but an AirTag 2 is expected to be a little further off…

Welcome to our iPhone SE 4 liveblog

Hello, I’m Mark Wilson (TechRadar’s senior news editor) and will be running our iPhone SE 4 and Apple liveblog for the next few hours. I’ve just realized I bought my first iPhone (the 3GS) a worrying 16 years ago, but these iPhone SE 4 rumors show just how much we can now expect from a ‘mid-range’ phone.

The SE 4 looks almost certain to arrive on February 19, and it seems we can expect an A18 chip, 8GB RAM and a 48MP camera. But else might it have, and will Apple have any surprises in store? That’s what we’ll be discovering here in this by-the-minute analysis of all the latest rumors around Apple’s first big launch of 2025…