Tim Cook teases Apple product news for February 19 — likely the iPhone SE

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to X Thursday to tease “the newest member of the family,” set to arrive February 19. The safe money is on a fourth-generation iPhone SE. The budget-minded handset had previously been tipped for a potential release a week prior, but we got new Beats headphones instead.

It’s been three years since Apple released the last iPhone SE at $429. It’s an oversight for a product that plays such an important role for the company in massive markets like China and India. This time out, Apple is likely to ditch the Touch ID home button once and for all in favor of Face ID authentication.

The upcoming handset is also rumored to sport the same chip that powers the iPhone 16, allowing it to run the company’s generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence. The handset would arrive shortly after Alibaba confirmed that it is working with Apple to bring AI to the iPhone in China.