In January, we reported that Apple is preparing a new 4-inch iPhone that is essentially 2013’s iPhone 5s with upgraded internals. At the time, we heard that Apple would call the device the “iPhone 5se” based on it being both an enhanced and “special edition” version of the iPhone 5s. Now, we are hearing that Apple appears to be going all in on the special edition factor: sources say that Apple has decided to drop the “5” from the device’s name and simply call it the “iPhone SE.” This will mark the first iPhone upgrade without a number in its name and would logically remove it from a yearly update cycle.
Based on Apple reinvigorating the 4-inch iPhone screen size at a time where the market is mostly moving toward larger smartphone screens, it would make sense for Apple to position this device as simply the “SE.” Sources say that the dropping of the “5” from the name also simplifies the iPhone lineup as bringing back an iPhone “5” variant amid the iPhone “6” lifecycle could potentially confuse customers. The iPhone SE will replace the existing iPhone 5s and will take its price points.
The iPhone SE will look identical to the iPhone 5s except for slightly curved edges around the sides. It will feature an A9 processor for faster performance, an M9 chip for fitness tracking and always-on “Hey Siri” support, the ability to take Live Photos, an upgraded 8-megapixel camera system, an NFC chip for Apple Pay, and Apple’s latest WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular hardware. Sources say it will come in 16GB and 64GB capacities and add the Rose Gold color option from the iPhone 6s.
Apple plans to hold on event on March 15th, and if it sticks to that plan, release the new iPhone SE as soon as March 18th. Apple is also preparing a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, not an iPad Air 3, with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil support. Additionally, several new Apple Watch band options, including a new line of “high-quality’ nylon straps are in the cards for the event. These Apple Watch enhancements will be the last until the Apple Watch redesign is launched as soon as September.
Image via Karl Conrad
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Little birds whisper that “5” was never considered for the product name nor ever used internally during development.
In addition seems kind of disingenuous to keep calling this “a 5s with upgraded internals” when it’s nothing of the sort. The internals are what define a product revision.
“The internals are what define a product revision.”
Amen to that.
What? Is the iPhone 6S not an iPhone 6 with upgraded internals?
They changed the camera, the touchID, the screen, the vibration motor, etc.
No, it’s a 6S. Look past the number.
no @GrahamJ, the number denotes the form factor . this is why the 6th iteration of the iPhone was called “iPhone 5”, why the the 8th iteration is called the “iPhone 6” and so on.
While that might be true, the tech journos (and Wall Street) would be terribly disappointed if the iPhone 7 shared the same industrial design as the iPhone 6/6s. And the average consumer might think twice about upgrading from a 6/6s to a 7 if it looked the same.
Unfortunately, people are indeed that stupid: they mostly want others to see they have the *latest iPhone* when they’re on the phone in public. Sad, but many are like that.
OR – they assume that if it looks different then surely it must be new and improved
Got a point. How would people feel if Apple make iPhone 7 look like a iPhone 4?
The new 4″ iPhone won’t share the same industrial design as the iPhone 5/5S.
Some commenters are missing the point. The point is that this “story” is completely BS. There was never (not at any point in time) any plan to use the iPhone 5(s) name nor design.
you don’t know that. you’ve shown time and time again over your commenting life at 9to5mac that you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sure you own a lot of apple products, and you might even have 1-2 friends inside at Apple, but you’re going to battle against a site that has broken multiple huge Apple-related stories. i have no incentive whatsoever to believe you over them.
Also that Mark is a knob.
Well, you must feel like a dumbass.
You’re absolutely right Bruno. I’ve been saying this from the very beginning. To define a phone by the physical case that surrounds it is silly. This will have most of the internals of the very latest iPhones, so calling it an “updated 5s,” as most of the tech press still are, is beyond dumb.
Drop the numbering on ALL models
It’s possible that the ‘iPhone 7’ also won’t have a number. It would simplify the naming.
iPhone SE
iPhone Air
iPhone Pro
My guess is that going forward after this there will be two phones.
iPhone Air
iPhone Pro
The iPhone SE will be a ‘one off’.
The iPhone Air will be considerably smaller, 4″ screen but no bezel for the home button, justifying new name.
The iPhone SE fills the demand for a smaller phone whilst the Air is in development.
@robert The new 4″ model will be a one off, but the “Air” model would have a 4.7″ screen not 4. They are plenty of 4.7″ devices that have a footprint close to the iPhone 5. Other manufactures achieve smaller bezels by having OLED displays that have stalled bezels.
I think Apple planned on having the upcoming iPhone 7 with smaller bezels,but got delayed and is why they didn’t release the 4″ model in September. Sounds like we will have to wait until 2018 until we see an iPhone without a home button and reduced bezels and unless Apple releases a Pro or Air line of iPhones sometime between.
No, I think the ‘Air’ moniker is on the way out:
iPhone SE
iPhone
iPhone Plus
simple
I really like “edition” names, so much for attractive for a product. Getting up high in the numbers starts to make it sound like bad sequel, when it is anything but.
Because Apple Watch Edition was such a great idea? Totally stupid. They named it ‘Edition’. Not special, not advanced. They could not come up with anything else so they slapped ‘Edition’ on it and charged people $10K.
It didnt work out too well with the ‘new ipad’ [3rd generation]
thats because it was never actually called “the new iPad” — it was just the new “iPad.” They were dropping the number. Everyone here is just apparently too dense to realize that.
yea, we know that, sure, but it was still a problem from them. When you’d call AppleCare and they’d ask what it was you’d have to say it’s the ipad.. ur.. the third generation one.. and they’d sound very confused half the time.
Please don’t. We don’t need a rerun of the “New iPad”.
From purely a naming perspective it is kind of strange that the special edition iPhone is less advanced than the standard version (in this case iPhone 6S). The name special edition should be a premium version of the standard version. I suspect many would think this is better than a 6S just by the name alone.
If they follow the naming convention for cars, then the “Special” or “Limited” edition is always the crap model with a few useless bells and whistles. It’s absolutely never as good as the top models.
Well, limited is sometimes the highest end model.
But SE generally brings some high-end feature to mid-end model.
It will be TAI : Thirtieth Anniversary iPhone :D
I would love an SE the size and look of the 3.5 iPod touch. The perfect phone for athletes and people on-the-go.
If the internals are excellent, I’d consider dropping my 6 Plus for this. After a year with the 6 Plus I’m starting to miss the smaller form factor.
I went from a 5s to a 6s when it launched, just five months and I’m perfectly willing to fall back half a generation to have a more hand-holdable iPhone again.
iPhone SE. For Secure Enclave. No US agency can access it without owners’ approval.
Jokes aside, I think they should simply name it after a new one has been released. iPhone = latest iPhone. The 2015 model gets the current number, 6s/6s Plus. And so on and so forth.
Did you know there has only been ONE iPhone that has been named after its generation, the 2010 model?
This years’ model ought to be names iPhoneX, since it’s the 10th gen, if they wish to keep on naming them uniquely.
Two models. The iPhone 4 (2010, the fourth iPhone version) and the iPhone 3GS (2009, the third iPhone version)
Oh, if you include the first version in 2007, the “iPhone” then it’s three models. :)
“iPhone 3GS”
Huh? Then why wasn’t it called “iPhone 3”? No, I think the only iPhone that was named after its generation was the forth model, in 2010, the iPhone 4.
So the iPhone SE is effectively the (first) iPhone Classic. I love this idea.
Classic iPhones would need a 3.5″ screen in 4;3 aspect ratio. :)
And a completely skewmorphic interface complete with CoverFlow. :D
those 3.5″ iPhone screens had 2:3 aspect ratio, not 4:3 (that would be scary huge and more square shaped, just google “LG Vu” that has 4:3 screen… )
How about a 38mm leather loop please
Should we have seen leaks for the SE yet? Seems to me we have had component leaks by February of each year for the September release, much less one out in a few weeks.
WE’re seen alleged schematics – of an older and a slightly revised design the other day. Looks like they dropped the upgrade to the dual tone circular shape flash we got on the 6/6s modesl and gone back to the earlier 5s era oblong version. Presumably cost issue.
This device hasn’t generated enough interest for many to risk leaking parts. Most Apple products have very few or no part leaks. Only the major Sept release of the iPhone typically generates part leaks. iPad, Mac, Watch, TV = few or zero part leaks. This relatively minor release is not enough for someone to risk their job over stealing and smuggling parts.
I don’t understand why apple did this mess… they should have simply called it the 6c, 6sc, 6 mini, with the design of the 6th generation and we’d all be fine. Apple is losing its hand when it comes to product naming… and btw, I guess we’re not seeing an iPhone 7, but rather something like and iPhone Air, iPhone Pro or some other confusing thing…
Not 6 mini, 6s mini
It’s doesn’t share the same design as the iPhone 6 series. For example the sides are partly flat as on the iPhone 5 series.
If you believe AppleInsider it looks like a small 6 (6 mini) – If you believe 9to5mac it looks like a 5 (5se / es) – they both have schematics to support their position. I wonder if Mark got punked this time.
The drawings show partially flat sides which are more iPhone 5-like, but it does not have the bevel, it has a radius. So it’s not the same ‘slippery’ edge as the iPhone six range, neither is it identical to the iPhone 5, it’s something new.
To be fair, they haven’t done anything yet.
Apple didn’t do anything yet. The mess was in reporting rumors of the name of an unannounced phone months and months before anyone knew enough about it. It’s why I kept saying to just call it “the new 4 inch.”
anyway all of those names are subjectively worse to me than “iphone se.”
“No one” wanted color iphones remember? They were “cheap”. The marketing team probably wanted to get as far away from that as possible even if Apple considered the 5c was a strategic success.
The 6 never came in a small size They didn’t call the ipad mini the “ipad 2 mini” – So why would calling it the iphone 6 mini make any sense? A 4″ phone would actually still be larger than the original iphone. It’s not the “6” is a line – “iphone” is the line and 6 is just a model number.
I was even fine with the 5 being in the name considering that the 5s was the last good iphone for people who like small phones. The 6 is where things went south. I’d rather not feel like I can finally buy a phone Apple should have made 1,5 years ago to begin with. It’s a matter of perspective.
removing numbers is great. We can stop thinking about a number and just think about the form factor and phone can do for you.
Nice! Hopefully the next iphone drops it completely and the variation with a better camera get’s the pro moniker. This year may be the year ios devices grow up. iOS 10 marks a big milestone too I’m sure they’ll want to play that up.
Might have iPhone 7 ,iPhone 7 plus and iPhone Pro this year
Maybe. It would be a lot of change to drop all at once.
It would also make sense to just introduce a new model now and rename the iphone when there is a significant form factor change. I know the headphone thing is rumored but I don’t think that will be enough unless they can make it really thin or shorter because of that. I was thinking maybe 2018.
I’m with you on thinking iPhones won’t loose the home button or go to small bezels until 2018 I only see that happening of Apple releases a premium (Pro) tier of iPhones sometime next year.
+1
I only pray that its successor isn’t named the iPhone SE2
That would be sed.
How about the iPhone SE/30?
I would very much welcome a comeback of the old naming schemes. iPods were always just called “iPod” or “iPod Nano” and whenever really needed put a “2016 model” … or “5th generation” behind it.
At least with an iPhone 11 they need to come up with a new name. Everything past 10 will sound weird. Maybe the SE will mark the start of an easier naming for phones (and maybe iPads too)
I’d like to see it simply 2016 iphone+, 2016 iphone, 2016 iphone mini. And they could skip the “S” naming on the non-new form factor years. Next year would be 2017 iph, 2017 iph+, 2017 iph mini. There was enough differentiation between the S and non-S models, that this 6s and 6S+ could have been the 7’s, from some of the early reviews I remember reading. Keep throwing the S’s in there and “S+’s” in the names and it gets waaaay too confusing for general consumers.
Note 5SE (note the shape of the S) but rather SE or even 5E.
Interesting, though wouldn’t it be simpler to call it the iPhone mini? “iPhone SE” feels a bit Microsoft-y.
No. Because a future phone will be much smaller, they have to reserve the name ‘mini’ or ‘air’ for a genuinely new form factor.
Doesn’t matter what they call it the back will say iPhone. Just like all iPad’s say iPad on the back. The 4″ version should be called iPhone for India.
eee
iPhone SE name suggests it will be one time thing. Even if SE becomes wildly successful, future 4.7-inch iPhone will shrink in size, eventually matching or bettering SE’s width and height.
The Mac SE was released March 2, 1987. The iPhone SE would be a nice homage to this (about 3 years later)
(I meant 30… I’m on airplane wifi right now)
Darn those airplane WiFi’s! They always drop the b0ll.
Someone else is reading all your communication.
Maybe Apple will go with the Watch names:
– iPhone. (4.7 & 5.5″ screen sizes)
– iPhone Sport Edition (4″ waterproof)
– iPhone Edition Edition (Only in real gold & rose gold)
Makes sense. Kinda dumb to call it a 5 with 6S internals.
I just don’t see the purpose of this phone. But people once said that about huge phones.
1) I don’t think it’s primarily designed to compete with the larger phone.
2) If they didn’t want to lose the smaller sized market (which i think exists in large enough number to make it worthwhile – i have an aunt who is waiting to upgrade her 4s and she doesn’t want a ‘big iphone 6), they had to do something to the 5s which was starting to get old and look hopelessly uncompetitive. The price on that has been sliding, (at least here france, as vendors try and get rid of it)
3) It’ll probably sell better in the ‘poorer’ parts of asia and india with a lower price point. then people can move up perhaps in future years once in the ecosystem, if their finances permit ?
4) If they made a ‘big’ (4,7″) cheaper iphone they’d be worried about killing their flagship model sales. Which presumably stil commands a higher profit in dollar terms (if not as a %)
When Apple can make 4.7″ screened devices close to the size of the 4″ phones it makes very little sense. It’s one of the few times I agree with Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray, he sees. I purpose of a new 4″ decice also.
Even then I want a phone the size of the 4s. The 4″ devices are still too tall for hand and pockets… A 4″ screen in the high of the 3.5″ device bodies would be most ideal to me.
A 4.7″ the height of the 4″ would only be more tolerable.
I’m fine with this change happening across the board.
I’m holding out for a beige iPhone SE/30 with a black and white screen.
iPhone SE – now that makes more sense. Maybe this is beginning of Apple dropping the series numbers again. The upcoming iPhone 7 maybe will just be called the new iPhone, the bigger screened version just the iPhone Plus and so on…
It’s gonna be called the iPhone “yo, this one not as big as the other ones”
Why even bother using SE? It’s not a special edition. I’m betting they call it something totally different.
It will be a one off. They will move to a new more compact form factor instead of updating this phone. It’s an unprecedented mid cycle release. A stop gap to satisfy demand for a smaller phone until a truly small phone is ready. It is a catalyst for growth in developing markets.
I want the tenth version of that!
I’d welcome an iPhone SE 30, in honor of my first Mac.
What does SE stand for anyway?
If it Specisl Edition? If so Its misleading ..as most Special editions are limited and high end versions of a product.
That does not apply to how the 4 inch will be positioned… ..
So does anyone have any idea why this SE rumors keep sticking sround?
When the first gen iPad came out, Apple didn’t call it “iPad 1.” If we take the same route, we may see this in about 10 years:
Tim Cook: We’re introducing the new iPhone SE X!
This is way better than 5SE!
Really hoping the latest rumors are not true regarding it looking more like the 5S than 6/6S. Trying to get 5/5S users to bite with the identical looking phone is the wrong approach. I’m all for the internal upgrades and added features, however using a design from 2012 is a major fail. I’m tired of the way my 5s looks & feels and want the new design with the small form factor. Staying the same on the outside basically reduces my chances of buying from 100% to Zero. Guess I’ll just wait for the 7 mini and hopefully that will include 3D touch.
regarding most comments i’ve read.. why would apple call iPhone pro, iPhone Air and iPhone SE? makes absolutely no sense.
Should be (in my opinion):
iPhone
iPhone Plus,
and of course iPhone Mini.