iPhone SE 4 leaks in the real world – as a dummy
New images allegedly show off a dummy version of Apple's next entry-level iPhone
👀 Apple’s next entry-level iPhone just leaked in new images
📱 The photos show off a dummy version of the iPhone SE 4
📐 The phone has a metal frame and glass exterior in two colors
📸 There’s a single rear camera and a mute switch
📅 It reminds us a lot of the iPhone 4 from 2010
The iPhone SE 4 just leaked again, this time in real-life images… sort of.
Apple’s next budget-friendly iPhone, reportedly called the iPhone SE 4 or iPhone 16E, is expected to come out sometime in early 2025. We’ve already seen plenty of rumors and leaks centered around the mysterious device, and now, we’re getting our first real-world look at the design thanks to new photos of dummy units, courtesy of Sonny Dickson on X.
The images show off two devices that line up with what we’ve been expecting the iPhone SE 4 design to look like, which is something similar to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. It has a metal frame, a glass back, and a single rear camera, all of which give it strong iPhone 4 energy. The retro vibes are further fueled by the lack of fun colors; we don’t know whether Apple will limit the iPhone SE 4 to black and white variants, but according to this leak, it looks like that’s all that’ll be available for purchase.
The photos also show off the sides of the device which boast pill-shaped volume buttons and a mute switch. Every iPhone nowadays comes with the reprogrammable Action button, but it doesn’t look like Apple is quite ready to bring it to the lower-end iPhone just yet. That’s fine by me; deep down, I sort of miss the mute switch, so I’m excited for it to make a comeback of sorts in 2025.
We we can’t really see the front of the device, it’s safe to assume the Home button will finally die with the iPhone SE 4 and Face ID will come to the SE series for the first time. That also means the screen will stretch from edge-to-edge, ditching the thick forehead and chin design we’ve been seeing since the days of the iPhone 6 in 2014. That design has no place in the smartphone market in 2025, so thank God it’s going away.
We’ve heard in previous reports that the iPhone SE 4 would feature a 6.1-inch OLED display with a notch, an A18 processor, USB-C, and a price tag around $499. As previously mentioned, the phone could also be called the iPhone 16E, although a rebranding seems like a stretch given how little reporting there’s been, but it’s still a possibility.
We expect Apple to release the next budget iPhone sometime in early 2025, potentially during a spring event in March. Stay tuned.
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop.