Apple's big March event is only days away and out of all the product announcements, one of the most anticipated is that of the rumored iPhone 5SE, a soon-to-be brand new model in the Apple smartphone lineup. Cost is rumored to be the same as the iPhone 5s currently, and with new features like "always-on Siri" and Live Photos pulled straight from the iPhone 6 lineup, it's sure to continue to garner some major attention.

So what else can you expect from the latest iDevice, and how much will it cost?

The iPhone 5SE Will Feature a Lot of Newer Specs

Special Edition: While the SE stands for "Special Edition, " in February it was rumored that Apple would drop the "5" in the name. The company seems to be concerned that naming it the 5SE could cause some confusion among customers, since it will have different hardware than other 5 models. Referring to it only as SE is also likely to remove it from the yearly update cycle.

Size: It's long been rumored that the SE will be 4", the same size as the iPhone 5s, and notably smaller than the 6 and 6 Plus.

Siri: The A9 and M9 chips are supposed to provide support for the always-on Siri activation.

Design: The exterior of the SE is supposed to be essentially the same as the 5s, but updated in certain ways. The outward appearance of the SE is rumored to have replaced the beveled edges of the 5s with something more akin to the curved glass found on the 6 and 6s.

Color: Available colors are the standard 5s choices of Silver and Space Gray, but Apple is also bringing back the Gold color that was initially available but retired from the 5s lineup, as well as the Rose Gold color that made its debut with the 6s.

Camera: The SE should have the same 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.2-megapixel front camera system of the iPhone 6.

Apple Pay and Live Photos: Even better is the NFC chip that is supposedly included, which will allow for shoppers to utilize Apple Pay. It will also include Live Photos, an iPhone 6s feature. Though the SE won't have 3D Touch, Live Photos will be possible with a long press.

The SE Might Cost the Same as the 5s

ZDNet speculates that although the SE might be cheaper to manufacture than the 6s, those savings aren't likely to translate to customers. In theory, the innards of the SE will be on par with Apple's newer iPhones, but it'll just be sporting an older, smaller size.

As such, ZDNet and 9to5Mac both seem to agree that the SE will likely enter the market at the current price point of the iPhone 5s. That isn't just an arbitrary choice, either. It's rumored theiPhone SE is meant to replace the iPhone 5s, which will be retired when the SE is released.

At the time of this writing, the iPhone 5s is available in two models, 16GB and 32GB, at $450 and $500 respectively. While the SE will likely adopt those price points, some analysts believe that instead of 32GB, the second option will be doubled to 64GB.

Source: www.csmonitor.com