According to reports, Apple has shelved the development of a new iPhone SE. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the business recently informed suppliers that a fourth-generation SE model will not be released in 2024. According to Kuo in a Medium article found by MacRumors, the handset would have marked the premiere of Apple’s first in-house 5G modem, with the firm planning to test and fine-tune the technology on the SE before pushing it out more generally to the iPhone 16 and beyond. Instead, Kuo believes Apple will continue to use Qualcomm modems until 2024.
Kuo does not explain why Apple dropped the fourth-generation iPhone SE or if the performance of its own 5G processor had a role in the decision. Apple has been attempting to minimise its reliance on Qualcomm for the better part of a decade. In 2019, the two settled their heated patent dispute by signing a “multiyear” wireless chip supply agreement. However, Apple eventually purchased the bulk of Intel’s mobile modem division. The business then revealed towards the end of 2020 that it was developing its own cellular chipset. Since then, there has been minimal progress on the project.
