The iPhone SE 2 may not have been revealed, but Apple fans have plenty to be excited about When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up forfor the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks Apple fans had been hoping the much-rumoured iPhone SE 2 would finally make an appearance at WWDC 2018 on Monday. The hugely popular iPhone SE has been due a successor for some time. The entry-level iPhone launched back in 2016 but the following year Apple opted against their typical yearly update. Instead of launching an SE successor in 2017, Apple released 32GB and 128GB models of the SE which offered double the amount of previous storage. Rumours of an iPhone SE 2 launch has been gathering pace in the past few months with tech tipsters predicting a release date in 2018. It’s claimed that the iPhone SE 2 will retain the same aluminium edges of the original SE handset and come in the same small-sized package. However, tech tipsters have said the iPhone SE 2 will also boast an iPhone X-style notched display as well as glass backing for wireless charging. As with all rumours, it’s best to take it with a pinch of salt until official confirmation from Apple. But the claims, along with renders of what the iPhone SE 2 could look like, has already generated plenty of fan excitement.<doc-sep>One of the biggest letdowns of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference was the lack of updates on hardware, particularly about whether or not the company is working on a follow up to the more budget-friendly iPhone SE. It’s not exactly a surprise; WWDC is about software. But the company’s presentation still laid bare why iPhones at a lower price point seem inevitable at some point. In short, the hardware business is cyclical and volatile, explained Andrew Chang, an analyst at S&P Global who follows Apple. The best way for Apple to keep growing is by focusing more on its software ecosystem. “It’s a consumer oriented hardware company, and that’s a business prone to cyclicality, people buy a phone one year but not the next,” Chang tells Inverse. “But in the last few years, Apple’s been extremely successful in harvesting their services business. It’s extremely important in terms of strengthening their ecosystem, which will get users to stay in.” Lots of the most important announcements from WWDC — improvements to Siri which allude to better smart-home products or the early stages of integrating some iOS apps into MacOS Mojave — are all aimed at strengthening that ecosystem. If you’re just as much a customer of Siri, Apple Music, or Photos, as you are the devices that house them, you’re going to be that much more likely to continue replacing your iPhone with more iPhones, and opting for other Apple hardware even when given the option of more impressive or cheap alternatives. Render of the iPhone SE 2 Olixar The relationship between lower priced smartphones and the importance of Apple’s ecosystem was echoed in a recent research note by the Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that was first reported by MacRumors. In the note, Kuo laid out three reasons alongside a prediction that Apple would adopt a more aggressive pricing strategy: Consumers expect cheaper smartphones now, iPhones are getting cheaper to produce, and it wants to spread the adoption of Face ID, in doing so “benefiting the promotion of the Apple service and ecosystem.” iPhone SE 2: Rumored Name, Specs, and Features There are supposed to be roughly three different prototypes of a new iPhone SE phone, according to the Japanese blog Macotakara, though few of the leaks pass the sniff test. The prominent Apple leaker Evan Blass also shared an image on Twitter suggesting that a follow up to the iPhone SE was in the works. What would the new phone look like, exactly? So far, the more credible of the leaks have suggested that the new smartphone will have a bevel-less design and Face ID, but will also likely be a little thinner and be manufactured using a slightly cheaper LED screen. To get the real skinny, we’ll probably have to wait until the September iPhone announcement.<doc-sep>iPhone SE 2 could be joined by three other Apple devices in 2018 When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up forfor the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks The Apple iPhone SE 2 is one rumoured smartphone that fans can’t wait to get hold off. The iPhone SE 2, while not officially confirmed, has been the subject to much speculation this year. It’s been rumoured that the iPhone SE 2 could retain the same shape and aluminium edges of the 2016 original handset. However, tech tipsters have claimed the iPhone SE 2 will feature an iPhone X-style notched display and a glass backing for wireless charging. It’s also believed that the iPhone SE 2 will ditch the headphone jack. Apple could lift the lid on the iPhone SE 2 at WWDC 2018, which is being held in California on Monday. Ahead of the big Apple event, the tech giant’s alleged iPhone plans for 2018 have been revealed. Forbes have reported that Apple in 2018 will release four different iPhones.<doc-sep>
iPhone SE 2 notch confirmed by screen protectors The small iPhone SE might be just as highly debated as the iPhone X before the latter was launched. Its existence has been called in to question and followed by its reason to exist. Now it seems that its design is also going to be subject to debate. More than just a smaller iPhone or a direct copy of the first iPhone SE, the second gen handy smartphone will instead take its looks from the iPhone X, for better or worse. Apple has fully embraced its edge to edge notched design. No matter the size or screen technology, this year’s iPhones will all look similar to each other. The design discrepancy between the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus was just a one-time fluke and now Apple is bringing everything back into the fold. The suggestion that the smallest iPhone of all will have a notched screen isn’t really new. Word of it started just a few weeks ago and is now seemingly being confirmed, a word we use loosely here. The confirmation comes via a Twitter post showing two screen protectors side by side. One is the iPhone X’s while the obviously smaller one is said to be the iPhone SE 2’s. iPhone SE 2 (left) iPhone X (right) screen protectors. SE appears to share the design, however smaller notch. pic.twitter.com/PCJaPkgAOR — Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) June 1, 2018 Also noted is the narrower width of the iPhone SE 2’s notch. That difference is not only understandable but also necessary, given the size of the iPhone SE 2’s screen. A wider notch would leave very little room in that space for the usual status icons and clock. Good thing, then, that the iPhone SE 2 won’t need the plethora of sensors that the iPhone X has, which probably means it won’t have Face ID. That won’t exactly be a surprise, considering the iPhone SE has always been seen as an entry-level option of sorts. How it will be unlocked, however, is the question, given there might not be room for Touch ID either. With WWDC set to commence next week, we might get our answers very soon.