Apple’s long-standing request to open its own retail stores in India looks likely to be approved by the Indian government after Chinese brand Oppo was granted permission. Apple products are currently sold locally by authorized resellers.

The Indian government only allows single-brand retail stores when at least 30% of the products sold are manufactured in the country. As the iPhone accounts for a high percentage of Apple’s sales, with the SE a popular model in India because of its relative affordability, it seems likely that the requirement will be hit thanks to local manufacturing of the model …

expand full story

What if the iPhone SE was updated with specs on par with the new iPhone X? That’s what this concept from Curved.de imagines, with some renderings that show what a 4-inch OLED iPhone might look like with an edge-to-edge display while otherwise mostly retaining the device’s current design.

expand full story

Apple may be planning to launch an updated version of the iPhone SE with a faster chip early next year, according to at least one rumor. Apple upgraded the storage options for the current iPhone SE earlier this year, but the processor and other specs remained the same.

expand full story

Apple has asked the Indian government to extend the tax breaks it has been granted for its own operations to its suppliers. This would enable the company to move from mere iPhone assembly in India – with the actual parts still made in China – to more of a true manufacturing operation.

We described recently how Apple relies on an entire network of suppliers centred around the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Tim Cook’s discussions with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi have extended to establishing a kind of Little Shenzhen within India …

expand full story

Earlier today, a somewhat sketchy report outlined the possibility of Apple introducing a new iPhone SE next month ahead of the iPhone 8 later this year. While Apple introduced a higher storage tier of the device earlier this year, it has remained essentially untouched since its debut last year.

Would you be interested in a new iPhone SE?

expand full story