Apple is expected to launch the iPhone SE 4 in 2025. Now, the word is that the budget phone will ship with OLED. In doing so, the entire iPhone lineup will finally shift away from LCD for the very first time — marking a big shift for the lineup as a whole.
According to Nikkei Asia, the shift means Apple will no longer rely on Japan Display (JDI) and Sharp for iPhone displays. The two companies accounted for 70% of iPhone displays a decade ago. The 2025 iPhone SE is expected to use OLED displays from China’s BOE Technology Group and South Korea’s LG Display.
OLED displays are much better than LCDs because they don’t need a backlight to emit light. This allows them to deliver vivid colors and sharper contrast. These displays were first introduced on the iPhone X in 2017, and for a while, they were only available on the iPhone Pro models. That changed with the iPhone 12 series in 2020 when every iPhone switched to OLED — except the iPhone SE models.
The third-generation iPhone SE was released in 2022. Since then, we’ve heard many rumors about its successor, which we expect to arrive in the first half of next year. We have long expected the next iPhone SE to feature a 6.1-inch display, a sizable increase from the current model’s 4.7 inches. The display, now likely OLED, could use Face ID for authentication instead of Touch ID like the current model.
The iPhone SE 4 might also include an Action button like the one on the iPhone 15 Pro series and upcoming iPhone 16 handsets, as well as a USB-C connector replacing Lightning. The new iPhone SE 4 could also contain an A17 chip and at least 128GB of storage, compared to the existing model’s A15 Bionic chip and at least 64GB of storage.
It is still unclear whether Apple will introduce its Dynamic Island feature to the iPhone SE 4. The pill-shaped feature was initially introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro series in 2022 and extended to the entire iPhone 15 series last year. It replaces the traditional notch and is designed to display various system alerts, notifications, and ongoing activities seamlessly and engagingly.
Apple released the previous iPhone SE models in the spring, and we expect the exact timeline for next year’s model. Beforehand, Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 16 series during an event next Monday, September 9. At that event, we should also see the introduction of the Apple Watch Series 10 and the unveiling of new AirPod models.
