Tim Cook hints at new iPhone on X

Wednesday's big reveal could be the return of an 'affordable' iPhone SE

Life

Tim Cook. Image: Apple

The rumour mill is at full speed again. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has hinted at a new model to be presented Wednesday 19 February. For weeks there has been speculation about when Apple was going to release the new iPhone SE 4, but now it is Tim Cook himself who is drawing attention.

It is still unclear what Cook will present on Wednesday. According to Business Insider it seems most logical that it will be a new variant of the iPhone SE, the budget model among iPhones – last updated in 2022. A new entry in the line will be a welcome addition to budget-conscious users. One reason we haven’t seen the line updated is that the third generation SE no longer complies with the EU’s ‘right to repair’ legislation.

Rumour has it that the iPhone SE 4 will omit the home button, departing from the classic hardware features. The device may get a larger 6.1″ display, possibly upgrading from LCD to OLED. Furthermore, you will also be able to charge it with a USB-C charger.

Cook described the new model on X as “the newest member of the family”. So it could be about the iPhone 16 family. There were already rumours that the new iPhone SE was not going to be called that, but rather iPhone 16E.

That the announcement was made on X shows something of a thawing in relations following the election of US President Donald Trump. Cook was a guest at Trump’s inauguration ceremony Cook as were fellow billionaires Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.

Apple had taken the decision to stop advertising on X in November 2023 after owner Elon Musk posted an anti-semitic tweet.

Musk, an avowed “free speech absolutist”, has a fraught relationship with advertisers, many of whom left the platform on his watch. For Apple to return is a signal that Big Tech is falling into line behind the new administration, which has promised to slash regulations and waste in the public sector with the aid of Musk’s DOGE advisory group.

DOGE has no standing in US law but the Trump administration has given it access to systems across government and is making recommendations for sweeping job cuts.

In the meantime Apple is trying to maintain its image as a socially progressive voice in Silicon Valley. Where Meta and Amazon have scaled back their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programmes, Apple has resisted shareholder pressure to do similar.

Business AM

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