(Pocket-lint) – Comments by an oft-accurate display analyst suggest that Apple’s next iPhone SE will get a notch and lose the Home button for the first time.
A report claims that we should expect the next model to feature a notch, making the device look more like the recent iPhone 14. That would also mean the removal of the Home button for the first time, meaning a switch to the gesture-based interface just like Apple’s flagship models.
This is based on an interview published by MacRumors, in which the site discusses the next iPhone SE with Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young.
Young had previously suggested that the 2024 iPhone SE refresh would feature a display running between 5.7 and 6.1 inches in size with a hole-shaped cutout for the camera. He’s since had a change of heart, saying that that the device will come a 6.1-inch display and have a notch.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that we will get Face ID as part of the refresh, though. While some reports have already suggested it will, it’s also possible Apple could choose to put Touch ID in the iPhone’s Side button just as it has with recent iPad models, starting with the iPad Air. If that happens, MacRumors suggests that the next iPhone SE could use a smaller notch than handsets that require space for Face ID components.
If Apple does choose to go the Face ID route, the new iPhone SE would bear more than a striging resemblance to the popular iPhone XR, a device that was released in 2018 and brought Face ID to a device that didn’t cost high-end iPhone money.
Writing by Oliver Haslam. Editing by Rik Henderson.
