Over the past year, Apple has reportedly halted and restarted production of an in-house chip for its flagship iPhone. The Silicon Valley giant would now produce its own 5G modem, which would replace the Qualcomm chips currently present in the iPhone.
Apple product analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said for several months that Apple’s attempts to create a 5G chip were futile, but he now claims that Apple’s in-house chip will debut in the next iPhone SEwhich is due out next year.
The analyst therefore predicts that the iPhone SE 4 will include Apple’s in-house 5G modem, but other details are leaking. The analyst says the iPhone SE 4 will look similar to the iPhone 14, sporting a 6.1-inch OLED display, a big difference from the 4.7-inch LCD screen of its predecessor.
The iPhone SE 4 may be released in March 2024
By switching to an OLED display, the new iPhone SE could have higher image contrast, better image quality, lower power consumption, faster refresh rates, fuller color gamut and a thinner screen.
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone SE 4 may be released in March 2024 and receive Face ID functionality, making the iPhone SE 3 the last iPhone made with a physical Home button and Touch ID.
Just last month, however, Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple had canceled plans to develop a fourth iteration of the iPhone SE. The reason ? Difficulties in developing the homemade 5G chip. However, at this year’s MWC conference, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said he expects Apple’s latest chip to be ready as soon as next year.
Extension of the home modem to the rest of the Apple range
It is this statement that now leads Ming-Chi Kuo to conclude that a new iPhone SE would, in fact, be the product that Apple would use to test the performance of its 5G chip.
According to other analysts, Apple plans to test its new chip on only a few products. Until the company has confidence in its technology, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X70 5G modem will certainly find its way into the iPhone 15 models.
According to MacRumors, it’s quite possible that Apple’s new 5G modem will be placed in less brand-sensitive items, such as the iPad or iPhone SE. While the new iPhone SE performs well technologically and financially, less technologically demanding Apple devices like Apple Watches and iPads will use Apple’s modems in the future.
Source: ZDNet.com