New leak changes everything we know about the iPhone SE 4

With about two months to go until the launch of the new iPhone SE, we thought we had learned everything about the upcoming budget phone. But a new leak claims it will be a lot different than we thought.

According to longtime leaker Evan Blass on X, the iPhone SE 4 will have a Dynamic Island instead of a notch. That contradicts basically every other rumor we’ve heard about the iPhone SE display, which has long been expected to have a notch. Apple first dropped the notch with the iPhone 14 Pro followed by the iPhone 15 a year later. Rumors have long claimed the iPhone SE 4 will be based on the iPhone 14, the last iPhone to have a notch.

Granted, the rest of what we’ve heard about the iPhone SE 4 matches up with the iPhone 15, including a 48MP camera and USB-C. But if the iPhone SE 4 has a Dynamic Island, it changes everything we thought we knew about the phone.

For one, Apple still sells the iPhone 15. If the iPhone SE 4 has the same design and display with a better chip, the only benefit of the iPhone 15 will be a secondary camera, which is a hard sell for a year-old phone that will likely cost $200 more and have a slower chip. And who would buy an iPhone 14 with a notch and a Lightning port when the brand-new iPhone SE 4 is cheaper?

If Blass is correct, it likely means that Apple will change its iPhone strategy and distill the lineup down to just five models: the iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, and iPhone SE 4. Or maybe 16E, though Blass also reports that the iPhone SE name will stick around.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone SE 4 in March or April, possibly at a spring event alongside the 11th-gen iPad.