iPhone 8 running Mario Kart Tour

What you need to know

  • A replacement for iPhone SE is expected early next year.
  • Analyst Kuo says it will include a new and improved antenna design.
  • Mass production will begin in early 2020.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has become the go-to source for news on iPhone SE 2. And while we're still not sure that's what it will end up being called there seems to be little doubt it's going to arrive. Now Kuo says it'll have a fancy new antenna when it does.

In a new note picked up by MacRumors Kuo says that two companies will begin supplying new antenna components in early 2020. That would allow the phone to be released before the end of the first quarter of the same year.

The antenna will be a new design that's said to improve wireless transition. The liquid crystal polymer antenna (LCP) will be provided by Career Technologies and Murata Manufacturing, according to the report.

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Kuo has been beating the iPhone SE 2 drum for weeks. At this point we're fairly confident that the phone will look like an iPhone 8, complete with Touch ID. But it will gain the same Apple A13 chip that powers iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. 64GB and 128GB storage options are anticipated, with Space Gray, Silver, and Red being the three color options.

Kuo has previously suggested a $399 starting price for the new iPhone. Whatever it ends up being called, it's likely to be competing with Google's Pixel 3a and, presumably, Pixel 4a at some point.