Mario Bautista
Apple is planning to release an updated version of its iPhone SE early next year, along with new iPad Air models and Magic Keyboards, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Sources familiar with the matter say the upcoming iPhone SE, codenamed V59, will finally ditch the legacy Home button and feature an edge-to-edge screen similar to the iPhone 14. It will also support Apple Intelligence, of course.
The new SE is aimed at making Apple more competitive in the low-end smartphone market, where it faces strong competition from Android brands like Huawei and Xiaomi, especially in China.
The current SE design based on the iPhone 8, priced from $579 in Canada, offers fewer features than its pricier siblings, but the redesigned model should help bring in more entry smartphone users, on a budget.
In addition to the iPhone SE, Apple is set to release new iPad Air models, codenamed J607 and J637, which will include internal updates. The company will also launch a refreshed Magic Keyboard that brings some iPad Pro features to the Air lineup. We saw Apple release an M2 iPad Air earlier this year, with a larger 13-inch display option.
There’s also a new iPad mini, codenamed J410, expected possibly by the end of 2024. There’s a billion iPads still in the Apple line up. It really needs to be simplified.
Apple also will soon update its Mac mini, MacBook Pros, and iMacs, with its new M4 chip to support Apple Intelligence. The M4 chip is also slated to come to other Mac models, including the MacBook Air and Mac Pro, in 2025.
The M4 debuted earlier this year first in the newest iPad Pro models. Too bad iPadOS is still half-baked to support this beast of a chip.
