Apple iPhone 16e pictured as iPhone SE spiritual successor before early 2025 launch

Rumours of a new iPhone SE are coming to a head. Recently, the long-rumoured handset may not launch under the iPhone SE brand at all. Instead, Apple is expected to incorporate the unreleased handset within the iPhone 16 series as the iPhone 16e, much like it did years ago with the iPhone 5C and iPhone XR.

Long-time Apple leaker Sonny Dickson has now shared images of two dummy units, which will likely be the basis for third-party accessory manufacturers. Therefore, device characteristics should be accurate, as should its proportions. However, there may be differences in finer details, such as an Action Button rather than the mute switch shown.

The overall look matches previous leaks, which spoke of an iPhone 4-esque design with a single rear-facing camera that is much larger than the version found inside the iPhone SE 3rd Gen (curr. $165 - renewed on Amazon). The iPhone 16e has flat sides like recent iPhone releases too, in another hark back to iPhones of yesteryear.

Although the device's display is difficult to make out, it is reputed to be the same 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel found in the iPhone 14. Other features include an Apple A18 chipset with 8 GB of RAM to facilitate Apple Intelligence, as well as USB Type-C connectivity and a 48 MP rear-facing camera. Currently, the iPhone 16e or iPhone SE 4 is anticipated to arrive this quarter.