Apple has reportedly canceled the following iPhone SE

We is probably not getting a brand new iPhone SE in 2024, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who bases his predictions on sources within the provide chain. On Friday, Kuo wrote in a weblog submit that Apple had canceled manufacturing and cargo plans for the cellphone after his prediction last month {that a} fourth-gen iPhone SE could possibly be canceled or delayed.

Kuo thinks the explanation the cellphone is getting axed could possibly be that Apple’s lower-end telephones had been promoting worse than the corporate hoped (in September, Bloomberg reported that there was extra demand for iPhone 14 Pros than common iPhone 14s) and as a consequence of considerations that one other value enhance for the lineup may make it much less enticing to price-conscious patrons.

While we haven’t heard a lot about how the cellphone’s been promoting since then, it’d be comprehensible if Apple wasn’t dashing to make a follow-up to a cellphone that didn’t make a ton of cash, particularly provided that 2023 appears to be like prefer it could possibly be powerful for large tech firms and the financial system basically.

(By the identical token, I’d argue that powerful financial occasions could be the proper time to make an amazing price range cellphone.) The extra budget-friendly mannequin has solely gotten three iterations, so it’s not essentially like Apple could be breaking precedent by not releasing a brand new mannequin after two years.

While the third-gen iPhone SE was launched two years after the second, there was a four-year hole after the primary mannequin was launched. Still, it’d be a bummer to see Apple let the road flounder once more — particularly since I used to be personally hoping the following mannequin could be a revival of the iPhone Mini’s kind issue, as my colleague Sean Hollister prompt.

One firm that is probably not unhappy to listen to in regards to the potential cancellation of a brand new iPhone SE is Qualcomm, which makes the 5G modems for present iPhones. Apple has reportedly been working by itself variations of the chips and, in accordance with Kuo, deliberate on testing them within the subsequent iPhone SE earlier than bringing them to its flagship telephones. He studies that Apple’s modems haven’t essentially been performing in addition to Qualcomm’s, sending the corporate again to the drafting board and making it possible that the 2024 iPhone 16 will nonetheless use Qualcomm modems — one thing backed up by the chipmaker’s personal predictions that it wouldn’t be dropping Apple as a serious income till 2025.

This information is all price taking with a grain of salt. 2024 continues to be a yr away, and plans may at all times change. Plus, whereas Kuo is mostly dependable, no supply of rumors is ideal. He’s repeatedly pushed again his predictions for when Apple will launch its digital actuality headset, saying that it’d come out in 2022, then January 2023. On Friday, he predicted that it may be delayed again as a consequence of “issues with mechanical component drop testing and the availability of software development tools.”

Still, if Kuo is correct about both or each predictions, it paints an uncomfortable image for Apple, particularly when coupled with different studies just like the one which Apple had to cut back its plans for the iPhone 14 Pro’s A16 chip due to uncommon engineering missteps. Its CEO, Tim Cook, is broadly recognized for preserving a decent ship, particularly relating to the availability chain. But these abilities are being examined by the continuing results of the pandemic, a weakening financial system, and prickly political conditions around the globe.