Apple is broadly anticipated to launch a brand new iPhone SE mannequin this week, the corporate’s third — and its quickest replace but for its least expensive line of smartphones.

Apple’s launch cycle for the SE line is accelerating: the unique iPhone SE was launched in 2016 as an entry-level possibility for the iPhone lineup, priced at simply $399 — in comparison with the $649 iPhone 6s mannequin that preceded it a number of months earlier than. The second-generation mannequin adopted 4 years later, in 2020.

Now, simply two years later, Apple is making ready to launch its third-generation iPhone SE, one which’s rumored to supply broadly the identical design because the 2020 SE, however with an upgraded processor and digital camera from the 2020 mannequin, together with 5G.

And it’s that ultimate element — the addition of 5G — that appears to disclose why Apple is upgrading the iPhone SE this early: it’s an improve for the carriers, not the purchasers.

While 5G isn’t nugatory, in 2022, it’s not the revolutionary, must-have expertise that cell carriers are pitching it as. Speeds are nonetheless lackluster typically, requiring very particular circumstances with mmWave networks or the still-nascent mid-band networks that many of the US’s major carriers are nonetheless struggling to roll out. Several years in, and 5G continues to be extra a advertising and marketing notice than a revolutionary change to how most individuals use the web on the go.

Adding 5G additionally has a lot of potential downsides, too. The 5G modems that Apple will get from Qualcomm are estimated to be the single most expensive component in an iPhone — greater than its Face ID arrays, high-resolution shows, or Apple’s personal main A-series processors. Even if Apple have been to maintain each different side of the brand new SE similar to the 2020 {hardware}, it’s possible that including 5G both means prospects being pressured to pay extra or Apple to simply accept much less revenue (if not each).

There’s precedent for that form of worth enhance, too: when Apple added 5G with the iPhone 12, it raised the worth of the bottom iPhone 12 mannequin to $699, up from the usual iPhone 11’s $649 price ticket (though its possible that different upgrades, like an OLED display screen, could have impacted that).

5G might hit prospects in one other method, too: battery life. The 2020 iPhone SE struggles with battery life, with a 1,821mAh battery that it inherited from the iPhone 8 (with which it shares a design). That’s significantly smaller than the two,227mAh battery within the iPhone 12 mini, and the 12 mini already struggled to juggle 5G connectivity and a full day of use. A smaller battery and a extra draining 5G radio wouldn’t bode effectively for the 2022 SE — assuming Apple does maintain the identical broad design because the 2020 mannequin.

The 2020 iPhone SE cellphone was praised when it was introduced for the truth that it could final prospects for years earlier than they’d want a brand new one. So with all these looming points, why would Apple rush to get a brand new iPhone SE out so quickly after the final one?

Because carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T need 5G units in shops. US carriers have spent years hyping out their 5G networks (generally even after they’re not 5G in any respect) to assist them upsell prospects on getting a brand new gadget by means of a mix of future-proofing and concern of lacking out on the following massive factor. It’s not in regards to the particular telephones — it’s about getting prospects to lock themselves into month-to-month improve prices and be certain that they’ll stick round as paying subscribers for months and years to come back.

And flashy 5G units — with the promise of next-generation speeds that your previous, dowdy cellphone merely lacks — are the right incentive to get prospects to signal on the dotted line. (More 5G prospects additionally assist networks justify the large expenditure in “racing” to construct out these new 5G networks over the previous few years.)

A need to appease carriers trying to promote prospects on 5G looks like probably the most possible purpose for an improve now — particularly when you think about that, traditionally, the principle driver for SE releases has been Apple switching its main iPhone to a brand new design. The first-generation SE introduced again the legacy iPhone 5 and 5S design — which had been changed by the iPhone 6’s bigger screens the yr earlier than — providing a last-generation design with extra trendy inside {hardware} that would nonetheless deal with Apple’s newest software program releases.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

It took 4 years for Apple to launch a second-generation iPhone SE in 2020, which adopted an analogous sample. The 2020 SE introduced again the just-deprecated iPhone 6 design, which the corporate had lastly faraway from its mainline lineup the earlier fall with the discharge of the iPhone 11, which standardized the iPhone X’s full-screen design.

The iPhone SE 2020’s processor — an A13 Bionic, on par with the iPhone 11 — is in no hazard of being outdated any time quickly by Apple’s annual software program updates (the latest iOS 15 launch nonetheless runs on the authentic iPhone SE’s A9 SoC).

Even if Apple sticks in an A14 (iPhone 12-equivalent) or A15 (iPhone 13) chipset, it’s solely serving to to future proof the 2022 SE by one other yr or two — hardly a purpose to introduce an entire new mannequin. And since almost the most important rumors level to Apple holding the identical iPhone 6-era design for the 2022 refresh, it’s exhausting to think about broad upgrades to the digital camera (which might possible require the corporate to overtake the complete again of the cellphone to suit a bigger digital camera array, as featured on its newer telephones), show, or battery life.

And whereas we’ll have to attend for the precise reveal on Tuesday to know for certain, all indicators proper now level to extra compromises than ever for the brand new iPhone SE in a bid to optimize the gadget for carriers to promote it, not the purchasers who’ll be shopping for it.

Since its launch, the $400 SE has remained a continuing flooring for Apple’s iPhone pricing, even with Apple happening to launch pricier fashions that value effectively over $1,000. That $400 entry level has caught round. It’s been one of many key promoting factors of the product: a fully-fledged iPhone with a extra inexpensive price ticket.

Maybe Apple has come to the conclusion that the 5G connectivity has turn out to be a key a part of that customary iPhone expertise. And if Apple can maintain the brand new 5G SE on the similar $400 price ticket whereas providing iPhone 13-level efficiency and no less than a few of the battery enhancements from final yr’s fashions, it might have a considerably compelling choice to ease prospects into the iPhone life with a number of new perks alongside the best way. We’ll discover out somehow when Apple takes the stage on Tuesday at 1PM ET.