Report: 2022 iPhone SE set to gain 5G, spec bump but no new design

Iphone Se 2020 Hero (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

Apple's rumored iPhone SE refresh isn't going to bring a new design this year.
The rumored iPhone XR look will now not happen until 2024.
The 2022 iPhone SE will reportedly get a spec bump and support for 5G.

Apple's iPhone SE refresh will reportedly bring with it a faster chip and support for 5G, but that is likely to be the full extent of what's new — although a camera bump isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

That's according to a tweet by leaker @dylandkt, someone who has proven accurate in the past. This is the same person that predicted the new MacBook Pro release ahead of time as well as the iMac refresh. It's possible they're on the money this time, too.

According to the tweet, Apple's iPhone SE redesign has been pushed back to 2024. That redesign was supposed to make the iPhone SE resemble an iPhone XR by removing the Home button — but that is now a couple of years away. Instead, the new iPhone SE will look like the old one bar the addition of new innards.

https://twitter.com/dylandkt/status/1479164229567537152

This in turn means the new iPhone SE will still look like an iPhone 8, perhaps dating it yet more than it already is. Alongside flagship devices like the iPhone 13 lineup, there is no doubt that the iPhone SE model is an older design. That could be even more obvious once iPhone 14 rolls around if rumors of a hole-punch display turn out to be accurate.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.