iPhone SE 2 may not come until 2018

Some expected Apple to refresh its iPhone SE alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7S, which are both anticipated to be released in September this year, but a new report suggests the new cheaper Apple phone won't launch until next year.

Sources speaking to Focus Taiwan have claimed Apple manufacturer Wistron is scheduled to start making iPhone SE 2 models now for a first quarter of 2018 release.

The company is currently making the original iPhone SE in India, and the new report claims the manufacturer will switch to the second edition in the future.

Another report from Indian based tech site Tekz24Tekz24 claims the phone is expected to have the A10 chipset, a 1,700mAh battery and the options for either 32GB or 128GB of storage. It’s also expected to launch with iOS 11 on board.

A slight refresh

The report claims Apple will first release the iPhone SE 2 in India and will follow its release around the world in the coming months after that.

It’s an interesting release pattern for Apple, which usually adopts the same release date around the world, but CEO Tim Cook has been open about his opinion on how the company will see the Indian market develop.

In an investors call last week, Cook said, “And so we're bringing all of our energies to bear there. I see a lot of similarities to where China was several years ago. And so I'm very, very bullish and very , very optimistic about India."

Being the cheaper handset in the iPhone line, it would make sense for the company to focus on India for its first release and then roll out the new device to further markets.

Whether the iPhone SE 2 will definitely miss the event expected for either September or October this year remains to be seen, but it's not long now until we see the release of either the iPhone 7S or the iPhone 8.