iPhone SE Plus: Apple's 5.5-inch smartphone to launch in 2021 with an A13 Bionic SoC

While Apple replaced the iPhone 8 with the iPhone SE last week, the company did not announce a replacement for the iPhone 8 Plus. Apple has still stopped selling the Plus though, leaving a gap in its portfolio. While there has been talk an SE Plus being in development, Jon Prosser claimed on April 3 that Apple had yet to finish production of the device.

While Prosser has teased his followers that he should soon have "some iPhone SE Plus news" to share with them, Twitter account @L0vetodream has offered a different take on the device.  We should point out that even though @L0vetodream has a good track record for providing accurate information about upcoming Apple releases, they do not necessarily rely on internal sources. Instead, the account has clarified that they deduce information by cross-referencing Ming-Chi Kuo analysis and "leaked code".

Nonetheless, @L0vetodream has repeatedly stated that Apple plans to release five iPhone models this year, of which the new SE is one. Codenamed D79, the iPhone SE will be joined later this year by four iPhone 12 models, with the SE Plus following in 2021.

Moreover, the account claims that Apple has not started producing the SE Plus, too. Apparently the SE Plus "project", as @L0vetodream calls it, will begin after June. Confusingly, the SE Plus will feature the A13 Bionic. While Apple is not averse to releasing devices running two-year-old processors, it would seem strange for it to bring an iPhone 8 Plus replacement to market eight months after it released the iPhone SE.