The need for a low-cost Apple-branded iPhone – a successor to the iPhone SE, so to speak – has never been greater.
Apple’s cheapest iPhone is the $449 iPhone 8, but that was released more than two years ago and features outdated technology.
By designing a new budget iPhone from the ground up, Apple can create a cheap yet functional device that appeals to the mass market and helps the company reclaim its smartphone market share on foreign turf at a time when new players are disrupting pricing and cutting their margins to increase their market penetration.
Indeed, with more competition than ever before, Apple cannot rest on its laurels and expect consumers to pay over-the-odds for phones that simply cannot compete.
But a successor to the iPhone SE could include features like an LED display, 32GB storage, 2GB RAM, the ability to charge wirelessly, an A11 Bionic chip, Touch ID, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera for around $300, according to a mock-up by Gunho Lee.
Based on competitor specifications and research, Lee has devised an iPhone SE 2 concept that delivers on performance and functionality at a price point that competes with Google, Huawei, Xiaomi, and OnePlus – and it includes a headphone jack to boot.
Granted, the specs won’t blow your mind, but they’re realistic, and a smaller screen offers differentiation from Apple’s high-end iPhones to prevent cannibalization, perhaps the reason Apple has held off on a cheaper iPhone until now.
There’s no denying that Apple is the world’s leader when it comes to smartphones.
Steve Jobs reinvented the wheel with the original iPhone, and successor Tim Cook has pushed forward with new features and functionality ever since. But to appease shareholders and cement Apple’s position as the world’s greatest smartphone brand, the company must now appeal to a wider audience and reach markets it once didn’t want to touch.
With plateauing smartphone sales and growing competition from China, Apple must act fast, and adding an affordable iPhone to its belt could be the ammunition it needs to dominate once more…