Apple iPhone SE sequel reported on track for March despite coronavirus

Apple’s new budget iPhone entry, a sequel to the SE phone, is still expected in March, despite potential production problems from the Coronavirus in China. 

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from Taiwan-based TF International Securities, who tends to have his finger on the pulse of the Apple production pipeline, released a note Monday saying the new phone would still launch in the first half of the year. CultofMac calls him “The best Apple analyst on the planet.”

MacRumors first reported on the note. 

The previous edition of the SE, discontinued by Apple in 2019, had a 4-inch screen and was the answer to consumers who wanted a smaller body and lower price. It was selling for $349 before Apple pulled it. 

The lowest-priced iPhone from the current lineup is the iPhone 11, which starts at $699. Apple also sells the older iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models, from 2017, starting at $449 and $549. 

Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, expects the new iPhone, which would be called either the SE 2 or the iPhone 9, to sell for $399. 

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According to MacWorld, the phone will have a 4.7-inch display, larger than the previous edition – but still way smaller than the 6.1 inches of the iPhone 11 – and come with 64 gigabytes of internal storage, double what previous SE buyers got with their 32 GBs.