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The next iPhone SE may steal this feature from the iPhone 15

Christine Romero-Chan
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Sports scores for an NBA game displayed in an iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

While most people look forward to Apple’s mainline iPhone devices, there is also the more budget-friendly iPhone SE. Apple’s last iPhone SE was released in 2022 and it is due for a refresh. According to leaker @MajinBuOfficial on X (formerly Twitter), the next iPhone SE may steal one of the biggest features from the iPhone 15 series. Yes, we’re talking about the Dynamic Island.

The past two models of the iPhone SE have recycled the old iPhone 8 body, but with more recent A-series chips inside. According to this new report, it seems very likely that the next iPhone SE will go with a more modern look and feel with a design more akin to the standard iPhone 15.

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The interesting part about this is how the leaker suggests that the next iPhone SE will get the Dynamic Island instead of having a notch. They also suggest that the next iPhone SE might get a vertical rear camera bump, which is similar to the iPhone 16 rumors, but it would only have one main camera lens rather than a dual system. The vertical camera bump design would also position the LED flash underneath the single camera lens.

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However, take all of this with some skepticism as @MajinBuOfficial has a mixed track record when it comes to Apple rumors, though it seems that their leaked iPhone 16 design schematics are allegedly accurate. Still, @MajinBuOfficial also said that this iPhone SE information is unconfirmed, and it’s a possibility that Apple may have multiple iPhone SE prototypes in the works.

Mockup of fourth-generation iPhone SE with a Dynamic Island.
@upintheozone / X

The first iPhone SE came out in 2016, with the second generation launching in 2020, and the most recent iPhone SE debuting in 2022. The time frame for the next iPhone SE is slated to be 2025, which seems about right. But again, this could also change at any time.

I think it would be great if Apple skipped the notch with the iPhone SE series because, honestly, I never liked it — it felt like a waste of space. And though the Dynamic Island may not be super useful for everyone, at least it does something. With the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, Apple eliminated the notch from the lineup, and bringing the Dynamic Island to the iPhone SE would keep the iPhone lineup notch-free.

However, I have to question the single-lens vertical camera bump design. It just looks a bit odd to only have one camera in that module, with the flash underneath it. To me, it looks like a Cyclops. I think it’s fine if Apple decides to just go with a single camera for the iPhone SE, but maybe just get rid of the vertical pill-shaped bump.

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Christine Romero-Chan
Christine Romero-Chan
Staff Writer, Mobile
Christine Romero-Chan has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade. She graduated from California…
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