The Target department store chain is instructing its stores to return a number of iPhone SE units to Apple by today, March 1. This according to an internal Target memo shared by MacRumors.
iPhone SE devices that are to be returned include six unlocked 16GB and 64GB models in Gold, Silver, Rose Gold, and Space Gray, and two Sprint models.
For what it’s worth, Target’s website shows no iPhone SE models available for in-store pickup as of this morning.
The iPhone SE debuted last Spring, and boasts the same A9 chip as the iPhone 6s did, offering double the performance of the iPhone 5s, the handset it replaced. The device also offered the same graphics capabilities as the iPhone 6s, three times faster than the iPhone 5s.
Apple Media Event Rumored for March
The move comes a few week ahead of a much-rumored March Apple media event, where a 128GB iPhone SE could be announced, along with a red iPhone 7/7Plus handset. Target’s return to Apple of the entry-level iPhone models it has in stock could indicate a complete revamp of the SE lineup could be announced at the shindig. Or, it could just mean they haven’t been selling.
As always with speculative reports such as this, don’t get your heart set on anything. Well-connected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier that an SE refresh likely won’t happen in the first half of 2017.
