According to a just-leaked report, the initial models of the Apple iPhone SE 3 (or iPhone SE 2022) have just reached their first market. Specifically, a total of three model numbers have been discovered making their way to India for preliminary testing, in preparation for a wider release.
Budget iPhones are (intentionally) a rare commodity these past years. So far, Apple has only released a total of two iPhone SE models, with the launch dates being few and very far between. The last one was released in 2020, or two years ago.
We still don’t have any information on the iPhone SE 3’s exact price tag, which will be of great interest to most users. However, 91Mobiles‘s report does say that the phone’s base price is known to be $300, before import duties and other taxes are applied.
All taxes and fees included, we can expect the iPhone SE 3’s final cost to be equal to—or possibly slightly higher than—its predecessor’s $399 release price (in USD). Even if it costs $450, however, that’s still well in the mid-range budget phone price, and may prove quite appealing to Apple fans who aren’t keen on splurging on a $1000+ flagship.
iPhone SE 3 concept render
The iPhone SE (2022) is coming soon, and we can never be sure it won’t be the last.
However, Apple hasn’t forgotten what it achieved with the original iPhone SE and iPhone SE (2020). With a perhaps ever-so-slight compromise to its brand identity, the company managed to keep millions of users inside its tight ecosystem, many of which it may have lost otherwise.
The last budget iPhone also managed to draw in plenty of new users, with its more affordable price tag. And we all know it: once you’re in Apple’s ecosystem, it can be very, very hard to get out.
