An “iPhone SE 2” has been rumored to be in the works from Apple for quite some time, with the rumor mill really kicking it up a notch this year. And now LG Display is getting tossed into the fray.
According to a report from The Elec, LG Display is looking to be the supplier Apple tasks with providing LCD panels for “budget iPhones” in the early stages of 2020. Unnamed sources state that LG Display is currently undergoing final quality checks for its LCD panels, and, as long as that goes well, those screens will be used in the “iPhone SE 2”.
As soon as the deal is confirmed, LG Display will look to modify its module manufacturing equipment. “We understand that the initial orders will be small in size,” said another industry watcher. “In the past, when LG Display was supplying LCDs to high-end iPhones, the facilities were for mass-production.”
The report notes that Apple has been reducing its reliance on LG Display as the company has switched to OLED for its high-end model iPhones. Of course, Apple still uses LCD panels for some of its phones, including the Liquid Retina displays in the iPhone XR from last year, and the iPhone 11‘s display this year.
It isn’t surprising to hear that an “iPhone SE 2” will use an LCD panel rather than OLED, as this is supposed to be Apple’s less-expensive iPhone model for 2020. Still, there is some speculation that while this is being called a successor to the iPhone SE from 2016, that’s mainly due to the pricing of the handset and not the overall design of the new handset.
Specifically, it’s expected that the new budget iPhone will actually look similar to the iPhone 8, and it could even be called the “iPhone 8s” or even the “iPhone 9” — and not “iPhone SE 2”. Most recently we heard the upcoming handset will feature a new antenna design, and that production is scheduled to kick off in early 2020.
Up to this point the “iPhone SE 2” has had plenty of details surface, all of them unconfirmed. We’ve heard in the past that the handset will boast a design similar to the iPhone 8 and even boast a 4.7-inch display as a result. It will more than likely feature Touch ID on board, too.
The “iPhone SE 2” may feature an A13 Bionic processor (like the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro), and 3GB of RAM. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated in the past that he expects Apple to offer the handset in both 64GB and 128GB storage options.
Kuo also believes the “iPhone SE 2” to start at $399. It is not expected to feature 3D Touch (Apple dropped that feature for Haptic Touch in the latest iPhones, so it would be unlikely to see it pop back up in a handset like this.) Apple may feature a red color as well.
Based on the number of rumors we’re hearing about the iPhone SE’s successor it’s certainly starting to sound like this may be a real handset that gets released early next year. If that is indeed the case, do you plan on picking one up?