The next iPhone SE reportedly enters final verification stage

Whether or not Apple is going to host a media event in late March to unveil its newest low-cost iPhone remains to be seen, but the rumor mill is still painting a pretty clear picture the handset will arrive pretty soon.

DigiTimes has a preview of an upcoming report that states the new low-cost iPhone, which has been called the “iPhone SE 2” and the “iPhone 9” so far, has reached the final verification stage ahead of its impending launch. Details are light for now, as this is just a preview of a forthcoming report, but based on the description of the report Apple has reached a milestone ahead of the new phone’s arrival at some point in the (probably near) future:

New LCD iPhone enters final verification stage

Apple will soon introduce a new LCD iPhone series, dubbed tentatively SE2, which has recently entered the final phase of verification at an assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China, according to industry sources.

The preview does note that this handset will feature an LCD screen, which would certainly line up with the previous rumors regarding the handset.

As far as the other rumors are concerned, they’ve been a bit all over the place as of late. At least in some categories. Let’s start with production. Even with this report indicating that Apple has reached the final verification stage, there have been earlier rumors suggesting that Apple would miss its targeted mass production goals for the low-cost iPhone due to the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, a separate report said the complete opposite, suggesting Apple would still launch the iPhone SE 2/iPhone 9 in March anyway.

As far as features, specs, and pricing of the new low-cost iPhone are concerned, we previously heard the device would feature a 4.9-inch display, and it would cost probably $399. The case could resemble the iPhone 8, despite the slight up-tick in screen size. Under the hood, the iPhone SE 2 is said to boast 3GB of RAM, and it will probably feature an A13 processor.

The new low-cost iPhone will probably also feature Touch ID and not Face ID, and will not feature the edge-to-edge display design of the iPhone 11 series. Or the notch.

It stands to reason that rumors of a March event are probably not going to pan out this time around. With major tech events like Mobile World Congress and Google’s upcoming I/O developers conference getting the axe from the schedule, one can guess that Apple will probably not host an event this month. The new low-cost iPhone might get revealed by a press release sometime in the next few weeks.

We may not have long to wait before this handset gets the official unveiling from Apple. And if that is indeed the case, are you looking forward to the launch?