iPhone 'SE': iPhone 6s On The Cheap?

The rumored 4-inch iPhone "SE" could be a good deal if pricing expectations hold up.

Expected to be announced at an Apple event on March 21, the new iPhone will be -- if reports at 9to5Mac are accurate -- an iPhone 5s-like design with newer internals.  The 5s, introduced back in 2013, retails at a starting price of $450, inexpensive by Apple standards. So, any SE priced in that ballpark (let's say, between $450 and $550 UPDATE: it starts at $399 for 16GB verion) should be a good deal. Here's why.

iPhone 6/6s Internals: the SE is pretty close to the 4.7-inch 6s, as spec'd out by 9to5Mac, citing "additional sources" in a post this week that followed its original report in January. Those internal specs include a much-improved 12MP camera, a faster A9 processor compared to the aging A7 chip in the 5s, and NFC for Apple Pay. Pretty serious specs for a phone likely priced well below the 6s, which retails for about $650 for the 16GB version and $750 for 64GB in the U.S.  

Emerging markets: As consumers flock to large phones like the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus and Galaxy S7 Edge, Apple appears to be making a play for price-sensitive consumers who aren't focused on screen size. Those consumers are found in larger numbers in emerging economies, as pointed out by Japan's Nikkei, which added that the "cheap new iPhone" will not be a boon for Japanese parts suppliers and be "tough" on earnings.

Morgan Stanley chimed in this past week too, predicting a new 5s-like phone. “A new 4 [inch] iPhone could provide an additional boost” to Apple, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty said this week in a research note. “They will likely announce a refresh to the current 4 [inch] iPhone (5s), which has been in the market since September 2013,” Huberty wrote in her note. An analysis from AppleInsider spells out in more detail why Apple is announcing a new 4-inch 'iPhone SE'.  AI adds that the "stigma of buying 'last year's phone' is very real with consumers...But a brand new handset at a [low] price point might be more appealing."

The new phone would also help Apple to fill a product gap between the 6s introduced last September and the next-gen phone due this fall. Whether Apple would, at some point, take this a step further and offer a more contemporaneous physical design is less certain. But whatever happens, Apple appears ready to offer a lower-end phone with high-end internals.  That should make a lot of consumers happy.