iPhone SE 4 could be based on a much newer iPhone than expected

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A recent post on social media has made some interesting claims about the upcoming iPhone SE 4, which is expected to be announced later today. We're covering the announcement as it happens on our iPhone SE 4 live blog looking at all the last-minute rumors and leaks ahead of Apple’s big launch.

The rumor mill has done a good job at assuring us the iPhone SE will be based on the iPhone 14, but leaker Majin Bu has now claimed on X it will instead be based on the iPhone 16. However, it likely won't feature a capture button or Dynamic Island. For reference, this conflicts with several previous leaks that indicate that the iPhone SE 4 will be based on the iPhone 14, including apparent dummy units for the phone.

A big change between the iPhone 14 and the 15 and 16 series was the move away from Lightning to USB-C and Apple will almost certainly keep this in place for the iPhone SE 4.

In fact, the leaker also claims that someone with access to a retail iPhone SE 4 box reports the name of the device will, in fact, be the iPhone 16E.

This isn't the first we've heard about this possibility, as Bloomberg's also Mark Gurman stated that Apple would likely change the name to convey the difference between the SE 4 and the iPhone SE 2022. However, we have no concrete information on what the new name could be.

In truth, removing the Dynamic Island and Capture button remove two of the most obvious visual differences between the 16 and the 14 as they two are very similar. However, one area where the iPhone SE 4 separates itself is that it is expected to only have a single 48MP camera. It is worth noting that all the leaked images and renders don't show any noticeable camera housing on the back, something that is more in line with the iPhone 16.

We've seen many rumors regarding the iPhone SE 4 or 16E, especially regarding the hardware that will come with the device. Firstly, it appears that the phone will feature Apple Intelligence and include Apple's in-house-built modem. This would also indicate that the phone will have the A18 chip and 8GB of RAM. However, there are some indications that the SE 4 will have 64GB of storage at the low end, which is surprising for 2025.

There's a lot to be excited about about the iPhone SE 4, and more than a few questions that need to be answered. However, there is little doubt that the phone is looking to be one of the best cheap phones on the market when it is released.

For more information, and all the rumors as they are announced then definitely head over to our iPhone SE 4 live blog which we'll continue to update throughout the day.