Apple has commenced mass producing its rumored 4-inch smartphone that a new report said will unbox as the iPhone 5SE. The device is up for formal introduction March 2016 and the actual release date is expected to happen on the following month or April, the report added.
With the 5SE large scale production already underway, Apple is looking to roll out the smallest of the iPhones springtime this year, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac reported this week. Gurman pointed to unnamed Apple insiders as source of his information.
Gurman's report revealed too that the iPhone 5SE is internally named by Apple as the N69 with the SE label likely alluding to two things - that the device is the iPhone 5S Special Edition or it is the 2013 flagship in Enhanced Edition. As expected, the new 4-inch device will cause the retirement of the old 5S with the former assuming the current iPhone 5S price point.
Apple retails the 5S starting at $450 with 16GB of internal storage and SIM-free.
The 9to5Mac report also declared the recently leaked iPhone 6C clip a fake, saying that save for the huge jump on the internal specs the 5S and 5SE virtually share the same design and build. "The upcoming 5SE features a design similar to 2013's flagship but upgraded internals, software, and hardware features that blend the old design with modern technologies from the past two iPhone upgrades."
Notably though, Apple has ditched "the chamfered, shiny edges," of the iPhone 5S in favor of "the curved glass-like," edge that Apple fans first saw with the iPhone 6 in 2014 then with the 6S last year. And while the 5SE is not considered part of the iPhone 6S line, the device will unbox in the same color options as that of the current flagship - Silver, Space Gray, Gold and Rose Gold.
As wildly rumored since last year, NFC chip will be part of the new 4-inch iPhone package, confirming the reports that the 5SE will complete the Apple Pay implementation on all iOS-powered smartphones. This likewise indicates that the iPhone 5S will soon exit from the scene.
Gurman noted too that the 3D Touch that Apple has introduced with the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will not be part of the iPhone 5SE list of specs and features. And like the iPhone 6, the 5SE will get the same camera combo - 8-megapixel on rear and 1.2-megapixel on front.
Apple will host an event March 2016 that likely will be used to uncloak the iPhone 5SE before the public and as per Gurman, with new set of bands for the Apple Watch. Commercial launch or release date is expected before the end of April.