Cut-price iPhone SE2 to reportedly start from $399 in early 2020
Apple's upcoming cut-price smartphone, expected to be called the iPhone SE 2, will be priced from $399 when it goes on sale in early 2020.
This is the claim of the renowned and often accurate technology analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He also said the handset will offer color options of silver, space grey and red, and storage options will be 64 and 128GB.
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Writing in a report from TF Securities, cited by 9to5Mac, Kuo reiterated his previous claims that the iPhone SE 2 will look the same as the iPhone 8, but with updated internals - just as how the original iPhone SE looked like the iPhone 5S, but with increased performance.
Although it will reportedly look like the iPhone 8, the new iPhone SE 2 will have the same A13 processor as used by the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, albeit with 3GB of RAM instead of four.
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Also missing from the iPhone SE 2, according to Kuo, is 3D Touch. This feature, which produces haptic feedback when the display is pressed firmly, was included with the iPhone 8. But given Apple no longer includes 3D Touch on the new iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, it's no surprise to see it missing from the SE 2. Instead, a long press of the touch screen performs the same function, with no need to press firmly.
Kuo says Apple has told its suppliers to produce the iPhone SE 2 at a rate of between two and four million units per month from its launch in early 2020. As such, Kuo believes 2020 sales of the new cut-price iPhone will exceed 30 million worldwide.
Kuo's claim of the iPhone SE 2 starting at $399 means it will be $50 cheaper than the iPhone 8, which Apple still sells new with 64GB of storage for $449.
This is all good news to those who cannot afford the more expensive models of iPhone, but want to stay within Apple's ecosystem. In particular, anyone who is still using an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus will benefit from upgrading to the SE 2, as the iPhone 6 cannot update to iOS 13, Apple's latest mobile operating system.
Without access to iOS 13, iPhone 6 users cannot use Apple Arcade, and they will increasingly find applications no longer support their handset. By upgrading to the iPhone SE 2, iPhone 6 users should get another five years or so of regular software updates.
Apple doesn't normally announce iPhones early in the year - but the last time it did, in 2016, it launched the iPhone SE alongside the first-generation iPad Pro. If Apple follows a similar pattern for the iPhone SE 2, then we can expect to see it in March.
