Apple could be working on an upgrade for the iPhone SE, which like the iPhone 8 would get an all-glass build and design treatment as suggested by freshly leaked details from China. The second-generation 4-inch handset is likely to come out this boasting of a totally redesigned profile.

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The second iPhone SE version would be a total departure from the original, MacRumors said, adding that that front display will be made of Ion-X Glass, which Apple first used with the Apple Watch. And basing on the leaked photo that first appeared on Chinese social media site, the next SE will ditch the aluminum casing in favor of glass-made back plate.

The leaked photo also indicated Apple has given the codename N79 to version 2.0 of the iPhone SE but it cannot be discounted that the image also depicted the iPhone 7S series. Clearly noticeable too is the "bump-less cutout for a single-lens camera with another cutout for what might be a vertically-aligned LED flash," MacRumors added on its report.

But there is a chance the new details are fake. Picking up on the same leaked photo, iDownloadBlog.com said, "The two circular cutouts seen on the nearside appear to have been doctored."

The likelihood though of Apple releasing an upgraded iPhone SE is not remote as the handset model proved a hit for the tech giant, supposedly preferred by users not impressed by the larger displays that came with the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone models. But the new SE coming out soon is another story.

In one of his notes, KGI Securities' Ming-chi Kuo said a sequel to the iPhone SE is unlikely to happen in the first half of 2017. And it seems unthinkable too that the upgraded SE will be released alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7S series in the next few months.

So the possible release date for the second-generation iPhone SE is around the first quarter of 2018 or two years after the original model was launched. It's likely too that Apple will debut the compact iPhone bearing a different label.