iPhone SE 2 could land in early 2020 with iPhone 11 power

The iPhone 8 (Image credit: TechRadar)

There's been plenty of disagreement over whether or not we’ll ever see an iPhone SE 2, but the latest rumor suggests not only that we will, but that it’s coming pretty soon.

In a research note seen by 9to5Mac, Ming-Chi Kuo, a respected Apple analyst, says he expects the iPhone SE 2 to land in the first quarter of 2020, so in other words in the January-March period.

He added that it’s likely to have an A13 chipset (the same in as the iPhone 11 range), along with 3GB of RAM, but that it will have an iPhone 8-like design, likely meaning a 4.7-inch LCD screen and a home button with Touch ID, rather than using Face ID.

Kuo doesn’t estimate what the phone will cost, beyond saying it will be “affordable”, but it’s likely to replace the iPhone 8, which currently starts at $449 / £479 / AU$779. If anything, though, we’d expect the iPhone SE 2 to slightly undercut that price, not least because the original iPhone SE did, with a launch price of $399 / £379 / AU$679.

Of course, whether or not an iPhone SE 2 is in the works at all is the subject of conjecture, so we’d take this latest rumor with the usual a pinch of salt. However, Kuo is often right about these things, and he’s not the only one claiming an iPhone SE 2 is on the way – other sources recently said to expect the phone early in 2020, and agreed with Kuo regarding the core specs.

It would make sense for Apple to launch a new iPhone that has both a small screen and a relatively affordable price, two features that could attract more buyers. So for now we’d say the appearance of an iPhone SE 2 early next year is fairly likely.

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.