iPhone SE 2: Release date, price, news and rumours about Apple's forthcoming 'budget' smartphone

Apple's got the premium end of the smartphone market covered with the £999 iPhone X - so it's no surprise that the company is turning its attention to the other end of the spectrum.

The company's iPhone SE was billed as a powerful 4-inch option for those wanting a smaller device when it launched in March last year. And rumours are currently circulating that Apple plans to update it in the coming months.

It's also about time that Apple updated the form factor of the device - which is based on the iPhone 5 from 2012 -as well as updating the internal components to keep it competitive in 2018.

Here's everything we know about it so far.

Release date Read More

There's no telling on when Apple may reveal the next version of the iPhone SE but gadget watchers reckon it could be in March 2018, a year after the first phone was launched.

A report on the Focus Taiwan News Channel suggests that it will be launched in the first quarter of 2018. That same date is echoed by Macworld - a much more reliable source of Apple rumours.

Price The original iPhone SE is displayed (Image: Getty) Read More

As well as the smaller screen size, part of the appeal of the iPhone SE 2 will undoubtedly be the price. Apple raised a few eyebrows with the £999 entry-level price tag of the iPhone X but the SE 2 will be considerably cheaper.

The original iPhone SE started out at £379 for 16GB and was then bumped up to £349 when the internal storage was upped to 32GB. Apple discontinued the 16GB model so it's highly likely the new SE 2 will arrive with 32GB or even 64GB as the minimum. Apple is unlikely to drop the price with the new model so expect it to cost a minimum of £350.

Design A picture allegedly showing the back panel of the iPhone SE 2 (Image: Weibo) Read More

There's limited information around about what the iPhone SE 2 might look like but a report from BGR suggests it will have a glass back. This makes sense as all of Apple's recent handsets have a glass back to facilitate wireless charging.

The site also got hold of a picture (above) that had been circulating on Chinese social media allegedly showing the back panel for the new iPhone SE 2.

What we all want to know though is whether or not Apple will decide to keep the headphone jack.

Features The iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 5Se running iOS 10 (Image: Apple) Read More

According to a report from Tekz24.com , Apple will build the iPhone SE 2 at a factory in India.

It will boast an A10 Fusion processor (the same one in the iPhone 7) and will have a 12MP camera on the back with an upgraded 7MP selfie camera on the front.

The internal RAM will remain at 2GB and storage options will be a choice of either 32GB or 128GB.

The site also says the battery will be raised from 1,640mAh to 1,700mAh. Given that it will have a smaller, lower resolution screen than other iPhones, you should expect the battery life to be fairly decent.

Source: iPhone SE 2: Release date, price, news and rumours about Apple's forthcoming 'budget' smartphone