The next iPhone SE is likely to resemble the iPhone 14 in size and appearance.
A new report suggests that potential buyers anticipating an updated iPhone SE, or new iPads and their accessories, won’t have much longer to wait.
While 2025 will bring a slew of new and updated products to the table, Apple will be spacing those out across the year. A new report from Bloomberg speculates that while an updated MacBook Air lineup may be among the first hardware products announced in the new year, the iPhone SE will get a notable revamp in the spring as well.
In line with recent reports, the fourth-generation iPhone SE is expected around March or April 2025. As part of an overall redesign, the SE will finally lose the Touch ID home button in favor of FaceID, and bump up to the size of the iPhone 14.
It will likely sport an A18 processor, at least 8GB of RAM, and at least 128GB of storage to accommodate the needs of Apple Intelligence. It could also gain an OLED display upgrade, USB-C and MagSafe charging, and a 48MP single-camera revamp.
All of these upgrades will likely cause Apple to bump up the price of the next iPhone SE, though Apple is expected to keep the price below $500. The current iPhone SE sells for $429, so it is anticipated that the new one will retail for $499.
Some rumors have suggested that Apple could keep the current iPhone SE model around at a reduced price. Given the company’s focus on Apple Intelligence, however, this seems less likely.
Recent rumors have suggested that Apple may change the name of the iPhone SE to the “iPhone 16e.” The reports have been generally deemed as being from unreliable sources, and unlikely to be true.
Updated iPads
By contrast, the 11-gen iPad and seventh-gen iPad Air are likely to maintain their current form factors. The main change is expected to be a bump to the M4 or A17 Pro chip, and the current retail prices are unlikely to change.
Rumors have listed two models of 11th-gen iPads, with codenames of J481 and J482. However, this is likely to be the non-cellular and cellular model codes, rather than two different models.
The regular iPad and iPad Air models are expected to see updates in 2025.
It is also expected that the Magic Keyboards for these new iPad models will also receive an update. The main change from the current models would be the addition of a row of function keys, according to the Bloomberg newsletter.
The regular iPad update is expected to arrive alongside the fourth-generation iPhone SE 4 in March or April. The iPad Air got an update to the M2 chip in May of 2024, so it is possible that the M4 version could wait until May of 2025 to debut.
If so, it would tie in to the anticipated release date of iOS 18.4, likely to be the final version before iOS 19 is announced at the WWDC event in June. The arrival of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 are expected to deliver the final installment of the ongoing Siri upgrade and other improvements.
