The iPhone 8 would be the low-end (previously free-with-contract) iPhone this fall after the next round of revisions. A notional iPhone 11/11Max/11 Whatever line at the top, then the XS/Max/R, then the 8/Plus. By that logic, you’re more likely to see an iPhone SE2 with the body of the iPhone 8 – or maybe even the 7, to save space and cost on the wireless charging and two layers of Gorilla Glass. If the 3D Touch is also going away, as has been rumored, an SE2 based on the iPhone 7 would have the room freed up by no headphone jack, no 3D Touch and no wireless charging to fit the A13 (or A12) and close to a 2000 mAH battery to run it all. Existing parts, cost savings, possibly use the body of the 7. Where it gets interesting is this: the A12 phones (XR/XS/Max) all have Face ID. The A11 phones are either/or. In theory, you could have an A13 phone with TouchID. You might get the XR camera, with its single lens and processor-assisted photography (the apparent trend) but it stands to reason you probably can’t expect to get FaceID or Animoji. Might still get the 7MP front camera though.
Basically you’re looking at the prospect of something like an iPhone 7, upgraded to the iPhone 11 processor and iPhone XR camera, probably for around $500 or so. The obvious comparative target is the Google Pixel 3A, which takes most of the guts of the Pixel 3 and stuffs them in a polycarbonate body without waterproofing or wireless charging, and makes up for a slower processor with a full-power camera, and goes for $400. The iPhone 7 currently goes for $450 at 32 GB, and the iPhone XR (the current entry-level device) will set you back $750 for a 64 GB model. By contrast, when it was the top of the line, the iPhone 6s at full price cost $650 at retail for a 16 GB model, and the SE started at $399 six months later for the same 16 GB capacity. If $450 is the current “cheapest iPhone,” it stands to reason that is a viable price point around which to build some new replacement-class entry level device, and a notional iPhone SE2 would be around $450-500.
Which then leads to the inevitable question: would that be enough?
Nailed it. I had an alarm set for 4:48 AM last Friday morning and the configuration favorited in the Apple Store phone app to increase the odds of getting it, and I did. Good thing too. My delivery date is April 24. Five hours later, the delivery date was in the second week of May. $450 plus tax tag and title for a 128 GB phone (while that option still exists; the current 64 or 256 GB in the mainline iPhones skips my sweet spot) that has the current A13 processor which might be faster than some of my desktop and laptop computers? It’s a no-brainer, really. What will be interesting now is whether that iPhone 12, so-called, with the 5.4” display is actually a thing AND tempting enough to make it worth giving up TouchID and laying down $800 less whatever I can get for the SE (2020) and SE (2016) in recycling credit.
I’m not sure it will. I’d just as soon wait for the iPhone 12S.