Generally speaking, “iPhone” and “good value” aren’t usually found in the same sentence, but the $749 iPhone SE actually puts almost every other smartphone in the price bracket to shame thanks to the impressive power of Apple’s own mobile chips. 

That looks set to continue with the upcoming iPhone SE 3 which, according to supply chain sources carelessly blabbing to DigiTimes, is set to arrive in the first half of 2022. 

Another report, from Nikkei Asia, says that the phone will use the same Apple A15 Bionic processor that’s set to power the far more expensive iPhone 13, which is due to arrive in September. So in raw speed terms, you’ll get a phone that’s just as good as Apple’s flagship for much less money. Assuming you’re prepared to wait a few months.

But Apple has to make cuts somewhere, and it sounds like the company has sought to make savings by not wasting its employees’ time with an expensive redesign. The iPhone SE 3 is set to remain the ugly duckling of the Apple smartphone family with the report saying that it will retain the same 4.7-inch LCD screen and Home button as its predecessor. 

In other words, it sounds like it will look virtually identical to the current iPhone SE, which itself is virtually indistinguishable from 2017’s iPhone 8, thick bezels and all.

But hey, if it runs iOS and the millions of iPhone apps as well as the top-of-the-range iPhone, then who cares if it looks like a four-year-old handset? Add in the fact that thieves may be less inclined to try and snatch your phone, and it feels like the iPhone SE 3 should be a winner when it arrives next year.