Budget iPhone SE 4 to receive 6.1-inch OLED screen from Chinese manufacturer

The budget Apple iPhone SE 4 will receive a 6.1-inch OLED screen, the exclusive supplier of which will most likely be the Chinese company BOE.

According to MacRumors, three companies were in negotiations to supply Apple OLED panels: Samsung Display, BOE and Tianma. Samsung, however, backed out of the deal due to pricing issues, despite having stock of iPhone 14 OLED panels that were expected to be used in the iPhone SE 4.

Apple, according to media reports, insisted on a price of $25 per panel, but Samsung was not happy with a price below $30. But Chinese competitors BOE and Tianma agreed to lower the price tag below $30 apiece. However, Tianma has not yet reached the screen manufacturing quality that meets Apple's requirements. Therefore, most likely, BOE will produce, if not all, then certainly most of the screens for the iPhone SE 4.

The panels for the iPhone SE 4 are much cheaper than those used in the iPhone 15. According to MacRumors, this could indicate that the SE will use legacy parts identical to those found in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14. For suppliers manufacturing parts for Apple, this is very profitable, since they will not have to adjust existing production lines to produce fundamentally new components.

The fourth-generation iPhone SE is rumored to have a design similar to the iPhone 14, a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID instead of Touch ID, a USB-C port and an Action Button.