Apple may be preparing to launch a new budget iPhone 5SE as early as March 2016. The new phone would replace the iPhone 5s in current the lineup, which is an interesting departure from Apple’s traditional method of reducing the price of older models to fill the budget iPhone role.
According to 9to5Mac, the new iPhone 5SE is an upgraded iPhone 5S and will retain the same chassis. In fact, the chassis might be the only thing that remains of the older iPhone. According to the rumours, the 5SE will feature the A9 processor from the iPhone 6s, a curved glass display, NFC chip, and the same front and rear camera from the iPhone 6. It also looks like the rumours of Apple removing the audio jack from the phone will not apply to the iPhone 5SE.
The M9 chip also allows the iPhone 5SE to benefit from the always-on Siri activation, which apparently was not present on the older iPhone 5s.
At the moment, Apple is still selling the iPhone 5s as its budget option alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. By April, it looks like the iPhone 5s will be replaced by the 5SE. It also looks like the iPhone 6 will be discontinued when the iPhone 7 is launched, leading to quite the reshuffle of Apple products towards the end of the year.
