Following in the footsteps of the compact iPhone SE from all the way back in 2016, last year's second-gen iPhone SE caught plenty of hardcore Apple fans by surprise with a design that looked nothing like the company's other 2020 (or 2019, or even 2018) handsets.
Of course, some people were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable price and powerful processor of the vastly upgraded 4.7-inch device while many others bemoaned that outdated screen size, massive bezels, single rear-facing camera, and lack of facial recognition technology.
If you're (still) part of the latter group and can't afford (or simply don't want) an iPhone 13-series high-ender, there's a very good chance at least some of your criticisms will be dealt with as early as next spring.
Who wants a modernized iPhone XR with 5G?
Despite what many recent (and semi-recent) reports suggested, the iPhone SE (2022) is not expected to resemble 2017's iPhone 8 by the folks over at MyDrivers today (translated here).
That... actually makes a great deal of sense, as the second-gen iPhone SE borrowed the iPhone 8's look and 4.7-inch display rather than rehashing the even smaller body and unattractive appearance of its own predecessor.
The 2020 iPhone SE design is reportedly about to become history
As such, we can totally see the third-gen iPhone SE cloning the 6.1-inch screen and slightly more modern design of 2018's iPhone XR, although that's obviously just an assumption on our part and it's also unclear exactly where MyDrivers got this info from.
If it does prove accurate, the latest prediction calls for the good old fashioned front-mounted Touch ID button on the iPhone SE (2020) to be replaced with a side fingerprint scanner in the spring of 2022 while Face ID is apparently "not ruled out."
It's not entirely clear if that means MyDrivers expects facial authentication to be a part of the iPhone SE 3 package or simply that the Chinese publication is not ready to rule that out as a possibility just yet.
Either way, the "iPhone XR-based" SE (2022) is pretty much guaranteed to support all the latest cellular technologies, thus bidding for next year's title of the best budget 5G phone you can buy.
How low can an Apple A15 powerhouse go?
Much like the second-gen iPhone SE shared a then state-of-the-art A13 Bionic chip with the late 2019-released iPhone 11 family, the third-gen iPhone SE is now tipped to feature the same impressive A15 Bionic silicon as the iPhone 13 quartet.
But if the non-noise-cancelling AirPods 3 and very familiar-looking Apple Watch Series 7 have taught us anything, it's that something that seems too good to be true is often... not true.
The iPhone SE 3 is expected to borrow its super-powerful SoC from the iPhone 13 lineup
With A15 raw power, standard 5G connectivity, a 6.1-inch screen sporting a large notch but slim bezels, and possibly fingerprint recognition doubled by Face ID technology, a $400 iPhone SE (2022) clearly sounds like a pipe dream.
Granted, Apple could still cut a few corners to try to keep production costs relatively low, with the third-gen iPhone SE shaping up to be the company's last-ever LCD handset, for instance. Said LCD panel might retain the mediocre 1792 x 828 resolution of the OG iPhone XR, and we definitely wouldn't rule out the battery and single rear shooter going unchanged as well.
Even with all that in mind, we remain unconvinced Cupertino will leave the base price of the iPhone SE 2 unchanged for an entry-level 64GB storage variant of such a radically redesigned and vastly upgraded sequel, which is precisely what MyDrivers is anticipating... in China.
While hope springs eternal, our cynicism makes us think that the iPhone SE (2022) will either resemble the iPhone 8 after all or start at a slightly higher price than $400, at least stateside.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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