Follow-up to the compact iPhone SE is reportedly set for a 2018 launch

The iPhone X and iPhone 8 may well be some of the best handsets on the market, but they’re also pretty pricey. You may not remember this though — Apple also offers a smaller, lower-cost device, called the iPhone SE.

The SE has gone a few years now without an update, but recent reports indicate that Apple is finally working on an update to the device. Tentatively called the iPhone SE 2, the device is rumored to keep the 4-inch design on the original SE, but will get an update to the latest Apple processor and possibly a few camera upgrades.

A recent report from Tekz24 states the iPhone SE 2 will feature a glass back and offer wireless charging. Tekz24 doesn’t have an established record of confirmed leaks, however, it doesn’t seem that far out of the realm of possibility that Apple would go all in on wireless charging since the iPhone 8 and iPhone X both have the same features.

Another report comes from China Economic Daily, which notes that the new iPhone SE will cost around $450 — the same price of the original SE when it launched. Since then, it has been discounted to $350.

So when will we finally see the iPhone SE 2? The report notes that it could show up before July, which would make sense — the original iPhone SE launched in March 2016, so it’s possible that Apple wants to stick to a similar release schedule. The report also mentions that the phone will be assembled by Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron at a factory in India.

The report follows pretty closely with previous rumors. Another recent report, this one from Focus Taiwan, noted that the iPhone SE 2 would launch in the first quarter of 2018.

Other reports have been a bit more specific when it comes to specs. Tekz24 reports that the phone will come with Apple’s A10 Fusion chip, 2GB of RAM, and options for either 32GB or 128GB of storage. The rear-facing camera will reportedly come in at 12 megapixels, while the front-facing camera will sit in at 5 megapixels. Of course, that report should be taken with a grain of salt, so we’ll have to wait and hear other rumors about the phone’s specs, or possibly wait until the phone actually launches to get official specs.

Tekz24

While the current iteration of the iPhone SE hasn’t really received a true upgrade since launch, it did get a storage bump to 64GB or 128GB — up from 32GB or 64GB — in March.

Updated: Added information about wireless charging.