iPhone SE 4 could get a small price bump in return for big feature boosts

iPhone SE 2022
The iPhone SE 2022 (Image credit: Future)

Rumors surrounding the iPhone SE 4 have been swirling for some time, but until now we hadn't heard anything about its potential price. Thankfully, the latest iPhone SE 4 tip does finally give us an insight how much this supposedly budget phone might cost, but the numbers aren't so promising.

According to reliable leaker @Revegnus1, whose X account was deleted shortly after sharing this leak, the iPhone SE 4 will either cost the same price as the iPhone SE (2022) in the US (meaning it would start at $429), or rise by around 10%. In the latter case, Apple still apparently won’t charge more than $499.

That isn’t terrible news – and if the phone's price stays the same, that’s actively good news, especially as it’s replacing a model that’s now over two years old.

Unfortunately, though, it seems Apple may opt for higher regional pricing; @Revegnus1 notes that the iPhone SE 4's price will go up by around 15% in Europe and other countries, regardless of whether the price increases in the US or not. That would translate to a starting price of roughly £500 / AU$820 (up from the £419 / AU$719 starting price of the current model).

An acceptable increase

iPhone SE 2022 in use on wooden background

The iPhone SE (2022) launched for $429 / £419 / AU$719 (Image credit: TechRadar)

Price increases are never desirable, but in truth, these figures don’t sound too unreasonable – aside from the fact that Apple is apparently taking an America-first approach to pricing.

10-15% isn’t a massive rumored price increase, and given that we’ll probably be at least three years on from the iPhone SE (2022) by the time we see the iPhone SE 4, it comes as no real surprise that the price might rise, what with inflation.

Plus, rumors suggest that the iPhone SE 4 might actually be a major upgrade on the current model too, with a new design that gets rid of the home button and massive bezels in favor of a notch and Face ID.

We’ve also heard that the iPhone SE 4 could have an Action button, a larger screen, and potentially an OLED display rather than an LCD one. It’s also sure to be powerful based on past form, though it’s unclear exactly what chipset it will use.

So, you could be getting a lot of phone for your money with the iPhone SE 4, and those rumored prices would still put the device in line with the likes of the Google Pixel 8a, which seems reasonable enough.

In any case, we might not find out the confirmed price or specs of the iPhone SE 4 for quite a while yet, with most leaks suggesting that we won’t see the phone before 2025 at the earliest.

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James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.