Apple’s next iPhone is expected to launch in March 2025. With reports that production will begin in December, The Apple community is eager to welcome the new iPhone SE to the family.

Reinventing the iPhone SE

This will be the fourth iPhone SE since the product line launched in 2016, with 2020 and 2022 featuring updated hardware. The SE is actually Apple’s only mid-range smartphone, offering more affordable access to the Apple ecosystem than the main iPhone line. Given Apple’s continued focus on premium handsets, the SE provides a crucial oasis for budget-conscious consumers.

Details on the iPhone SE 2025 come from noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Writing on Medium.com, Kuo notes that “mass production of the iPhone SE4 will begin in December 2024, with planned production of approximately 8.6 million units from December 2024 to 1Q25.”

The iPhone SE will draw obvious comparisons to the GooglePixel 8a and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Fan Edition. Both of these models similarly target the mid-range market and are both derived from more powerful handsets that cost significantly more.

iPhone SE Alternatives

Google launched the Pixel 8a in May 2024. The Pixel family is now on the 9th iteration and Google is expected to launch a Pixel 9a during the I/O Developer event it holds every May. This leaves the iPhone SE in a comfortable position to outperform the Pixel 8a, although the Pixel 9a will be a tougher challenge soon after release.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is also at the end of a product cycle, namely the January 2024 release of the main Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra handsets. With the FE arriving towards the end of this annual product cycle, not only will it be six months older than the iPhone SE, but January 2025 should see Samsung’s marketing shift to the S25 brand, leaving the S24 FE in a curious location in the portfolio that appears older than it is.

Apple generally touts the iPhone SE as being broadly similar in capacity to the main iPhone line. This will certainly be the case for the next model. Tim Cook and his team are pushing the company to enter the generative AI market, and the iPhone SE will undoubtedly be touted as both an affordable AI option and an Apple device “designed from the ground up.” Z” to support the awkwardly retronomized Apple Intelligence suite. of generative AI tools.

Given that Android-based competition at this price point will be heavily invested in AI and that the aforementioned Google and Samsung handsets run second-generation AI software, it will be critical for Apple to gain mind share in AI in this crowded market sector.

The iPhone SE goes way beyond just being an iPhone. It’s an iPhone that expands the reach of the Apple ecosystem. It’s time for Apple to move into the mid-range while doing its best to convey an aura of premium hardware. Without the OS, Apple cannot enter the market with current technology. Without the OS, Apple cannot continue to push its nascent efforts into the maturing generative AI space. And without the SE, Apple would have to cede much of the “my first smartphone” space to the competition.

Production can’t start soon enough.

Now read the latest iPhone SE, MacBook and iPad headlines in Forbes’ weekly Apple Loop news roundup…