iPhone SE Plus may have just leaked — but there’s a catch
Evidence of the iPhone SE Plus, a larger version of this year’s iPhone SE, was spotted yesterday before Apple’s product launch event. However, the proof has now disappeared.
An “Insignia Glass Screen Protector for iPhone SE Plus” was spotted on Best Buy (and screen-capped by 9to5Mac), early yesterday. If you follow the link today though, you’ll see the listing mention the iPhone 8 Plus instead.
It’s been some time since we last heard mention of an iPhone SE Plus, but there have been rumors of a 5.5-inch mid-range iPhone, based on the iPhone 8 Plus in the same way the iPhone SE is based on the iPhone 8. It may even be one of three iPhone SE models, with the largest measuring 6.1 inches across, depending on which leaks you believe.
However, the best account we have of the iPhone SE Plus says that it won’t be launching until late 2021. This is why any thought of its appearance at the Time Flies event yesterday was a bit of a long shot.
Now that the Apple event has concluded, we know that there were no phone-related announcements at all. As such, this may have been an act of insurance by Best Buy in case there was an unexpected ‘one more thing’ moment at the end of the presentation.
However. there is one aspect of the iPhone SE Plus that we may have seen yesterday. The larger SE is rumored to also use a power button-mounted Touch ID fingerprint sensor, similar to the one shown off on the new iPad Air 4. This would allow for more convenient unlocking of the phone and could mean the SE Plus will have a full-screen design with gesture controls, similar to the iPhone 11 line.
The next potential opportunity for Apple to reveal an iPhone SE Plus would be its October event, although that’s more likely to be devoted to the flagship iPhone 12 line rather than its cheaper phones. As well as the new handsets, we’re expecting the AirTags trackers and AirPods Studio wireless headphones to make an appearance too, both completely fresh product types for Apple to tackle.
