Case maker bets on 'iPhone SE 2' design as March rumors mount

AppleInsider · February 11, 2020 5:04AM

Totallee, a smartphone accessory vendor, recently became one of the first case makers to initiate preorders for a protective cover designed to fit Apple's as-yet-unannounced iPhone SE follow-up.

Totallee's Thin iPhone SE 2 Case.

While the company fails to provide information regarding the product's design, the "Thin iPhone SE 2 Case" is likely based on leaked schematics, supposed renders or best-guess estimates of Apple's much-rumored iPhone SE successor.

Apple has yet to announce a so-called "iPhone SE 2," but reports dating back to October suggest the device's design will borrow heavily from iPhone 8. It appears Totallee buys into those rumblings and is manufacturing a compliant case set to ship out on March 24.

Analysts, including Ming-Chi Kuo, expect the "iPhone SE 2" to feature a 4.7-inch display and include modern internals like an A13 Bionic processor and LCP antenna design. Apple is anticipated to carry over Touch ID biometric authentication in lieu of a switch to its TrueDepth camera array and Face ID.

Ever eager to get a leg up on competition, third-party case makers have for years relied on unofficial information to get iPhone accessories on store shelves at or ahead of Apple hardware launches. Cases for nearly every iPhone, as well as iPad and other Apple product lines, have popped up online in the months or weeks leading up to an official debut.

Betting on unofficial specifications and being first to market -- with days or weeks of exclusivity -- can be a boon for business, but companies run the risk of losing large investments should their "inside information" turn out to be incorrect.

Apple is rumored to launch a new affordable iPhone model in March. Recent reports claim the company is eyeing a starting price of $399, the same price assigned to the original iPhone SE in 2016.

kopfschmerzen · February 11, 2020 7:42AM

Easy bet. Just make a case identical to one for iPhone 8.

coolfactor · February 11, 2020 10:55AM

If Apple does this, what a major fail at listening to their customers. Of course, we'll adapt, but it would be a real shame. All we want is an iPhone SE form factor and a XR user experience. The all-screen user interaction is fantastic.

georgebmac · February 11, 2020 11:02AM

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.

I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

gordy · February 11, 2020 2:01PM

Not rocket science here. Take an existing iPhone 8 case and repackage it as an iPhone SE2 case. Key point: limited supply until an announcement.

gutengel · February 11, 2020 3:02PM

coolfactor said:

If Apple does this, what a major fail at listening to their customers. Of course, we'll adapt, but it would be a real shame. All we want is an iPhone SE form factor and a XR user experience. The all-screen user interaction is fantastic.

If they did that, they wouldn't be able to hit the $399 price point. This phone if for attracting people new to Apple and developing markets, not for your niche dream phone.

canukstorm · February 11, 2020 3:25PM

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

It wouldn't be any different strategy than the $329 iPad 7. According to IDC, it made up 65% of iPad sales last quarter.

hentaiboy · February 11, 2020 4:19PM

gutengel said:

coolfactor said:

If Apple does this, what a major fail at listening to their customers. Of course, we'll adapt, but it would be a real shame. All we want is an iPhone SE form factor and a XR user experience. The all-screen user interaction is fantastic.

If they did that, they wouldn't be able to hit the $399 price point. This phone if for attracting people new to Apple and developing markets, not for your niche dream phone.

It’s also for “developed” markets that don’t have the fortune to pay US dollars.

georgebmac · February 11, 2020 4:32PM

canukstorm said:

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

It wouldn't be any different strategy than the $329 iPad 7. According to IDC, it made up 65% of iPad sales last quarter.

No, the iPad 6 & 7 are not obsolete. In fact, they're barely discernible from the AIr.

m68000 · February 11, 2020 5:21PM

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

So, one of the rumors is it will have an A13 cpu. If that is the case please do tell us how such a phone is obsolete. let me guess - it could have bezels and/or Touch ID making it an ancient or allegedly inferior design? I love my “obsolete” 8 plus, not obsolete to me

edited February 2020

pscooter63 · February 11, 2020 5:29PM

M68000 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

So, one of the rumors is it will have an A13 cpu. If that is the case please do tell us how such a phone is obsolete. let me guess - it could have bezels and/or Touch ID making it an ancient or allegedly inferior design? I love my “obsolete” 8 plus, not obsolete to me

If memory serves, iPhone SE bested the 6s internals in some respects (which had been released the previous fall)... battery life, for example.

m68000 · February 11, 2020 6:11PM

pscooter63 said:

M68000 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

So, one of the rumors is it will have an A13 cpu. If that is the case please do tell us how such a phone is obsolete. let me guess - it could have bezels and/or Touch ID making it an ancient or allegedly inferior design? I love my “obsolete” 8 plus, not obsolete to me

If memory serves, iPhone SE bested the 6s internals in some respects (which had been released the previous fall)... battery life, for example.

Yeah. Also, as much as I enjoy the larger phone that I use, I also know many people want small phone. If they just reused the size of the 8 it might be a bit of a let down. But on the other hand they will sell millions of them. Would have been nice if it was slightly bigger than SE phone and smaller than the 8 phone, would be sweet spot for many users including women with smaller hands.

georgebmac · February 11, 2020 8:12PM

M68000 said:

pscooter63 said:

M68000 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

So, one of the rumors is it will have an A13 cpu. If that is the case please do tell us how such a phone is obsolete. let me guess - it could have bezels and/or Touch ID making it an ancient or allegedly inferior design? I love my “obsolete” 8 plus, not obsolete to me

If memory serves, iPhone SE bested the 6s internals in some respects (which had been released the previous fall)... battery life, for example.

Yeah. Also, as much as I enjoy the larger phone that I use, I also know many people want small phone. If they just reused the size of the 8 it might be a bit of a let down. But on the other hand they will sell millions of them. Would have been nice if it was slightly bigger than SE phone and smaller than the 8 phone, would be sweet spot for many users including women with smaller hands.

Most people want a bigger screen in a smaller phone (with different emphasis on each for each person). Making an SE sized phone without the bezels would have made that happen for many.
But, instead, according to the rumors, they went with the old fashioned bezels and made the phone bigger.

I don't know of anybody who likes bezels.

apple ][ · February 11, 2020 9:07PM

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

Depends what you mean by obsolete.

I'm still using my SE which came out a long time ago and it still works great. It's fast, it's smooth, it's speedy and it runs the very latest OS.

Of course a $400 SE2 coming out soon will not have all of the latest new features that a $1000 top model iPhone coming out in September will have. That wont mean that the SE2 will be "obsolete".

edited February 2020

apple ][ · February 11, 2020 9:11PM

GeorgeBMac said
No, the iPad 6 & 7 are not obsolete. In fact, they're barely discernible from the AIr.

I recently bought a new Air to give to somebody as a present.

The Air will last longer than the current cheap iPads in terms of running the newest iPad OS as they use an A10 and the Air uses an A12.

They will be cut off before the Air gets off.

m68000 · February 11, 2020 9:12PM

GeorgeBMac said:

M68000 said:

pscooter63 said:

M68000 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

My friend was thinking o upgrading her iPhone 7 -- she wants something "new" but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.
I told her about the SE2 coming out but advised her to wait till September when modern iPhones would be released with full face OLED screens and 5G.

If the rumors are true, the SE2 is obsolete before it's even released. It's sole claim to fame being: It's cheap.

So, one of the rumors is it will have an A13 cpu. If that is the case please do tell us how such a phone is obsolete. let me guess - it could have bezels and/or Touch ID making it an ancient or allegedly inferior design? I love my “obsolete” 8 plus, not obsolete to me

If memory serves, iPhone SE bested the 6s internals in some respects (which had been released the previous fall)... battery life, for example.

Yeah. Also, as much as I enjoy the larger phone that I use, I also know many people want small phone. If they just reused the size of the 8 it might be a bit of a let down. But on the other hand they will sell millions of them. Would have been nice if it was slightly bigger than SE phone and smaller than the 8 phone, would be sweet spot for many users including women with smaller hands.

Most people want a bigger screen in a smaller phone (with different emphasis on each for each person). Making an SE sized phone without the bezels would have made that happen for many.
But, instead, according to the rumors, they went with the old fashioned bezels and made the phone bigger.

I don't know of anybody who likes bezels.

You don’t know anybody that likes bezels but yet Apple has sold hundreds of millions of those type phones? Obviously not that big a problem. I’m not picking on you George, let’s just have a laugh about the whole thing. I agree if they did full screen in smaller body than the 8 it would just be an awesome phone. But at the same time, still nothing wrong with bezels, which avoids having a notch. But let’s just leave it at that.

georgebmac · February 12, 2020 9:18AM

apple ][ said:

GeorgeBMac said
No, the iPad 6 & 7 are not obsolete. In fact, they're barely discernible from the AIr.

I recently bought a new Air to give to somebody as a present.

The Air will last longer than the current cheap iPads in terms of running the newest iPad OS as they use an A10 and the Air uses an A12.

They will be cut off before the Air gets off.

Yeh, that's true. The iPad 6 was a great bargain. The iPad 7 less so. But I was talking in terms of appearance and functionality -- prior to the processor becoming too slow to keep up with newer OS's.

And, that is definitely an argument in favor of how they are rumored to have designed the SE2 (with a modern processor but old screen technology): if it is meant as primarily a low cost phone then that was a smart move. Because the phone start's off cheap but will last as long as the flagship pro models -- making it a bargain both today and tomorrow. One that doesn't shorten its expected lifespan for a bargain basement initial price.

But, while out on a run yesterday I thought of another reason for them putting that obsolete small screen with bezels in the phone: If they had put in a full face bezel-less screen it would be competing directly with their mainline phones, the 11 or even the 11-Pro, and taking business away from them.

So, even while being critical of Apple I was reminding myself that they usually thought things out pretty carefully -- and this was no exception.

The part that fooled me was the dual nature of the original SE, where it was BOTH cheap and highly functional in that people loved its form. I suspect that with the SE2 they are going all in on low-cost and that's OK. That benefits Apple by amortizing their fixed costs over a higher volume and serves the needs of those who either don't need more high end features or who simply can't afford it -- particularly in developing countries like India and China where they have had trouble competing.

Added afterthought: One of the two major attractions of the SE for its fans was its small size. But Samsung just captured that "small is beautiful" market with its newest, foldable flip phone. So, again, Apple was wise for focusing on "cheap".

edited February 2020

Case maker bets on 'iPhone SE 2' design as March rumors mount

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