Apple Announces Its Latest Budget Phone, the iPhone 16e

On Wednesday, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16e, its newest budget-friendly model. Replacing the 2022 iPhone SE, the iPhone 16e starts at $599, significantly narrowing the price gap with the $799 iPhone 16. Available for pre-order on Friday, February 21st, and in stores on February 28th, it marks a shift from the substantial discounts offered by previous SE models.

The iPhone 16e is also the debut device for Apple's C1 cellular modem. While Apple's in-house chips have a strong track record (M-series for computers, A-series for mobile devices), the C1's performance is crucial. Apple will hope to avoid past connectivity issues, learning from the iPhone 4's "Antennagate" scandal.

iPhone 16e

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From the front, the iPhone 16e closely resembles the iPhone 14, boasting an identical 6.1-inch OLED display with a 2532x1170 resolution and 1200-nit peak brightness. While this matches the iPhone 14, it falls short of the iPhone 16's sharper, brighter display. The iPhone 16e does include the Action button and a USB-C port, but lacks Camera Control.

The rear design is more distinct, featuring a single 48MP camera—similar to the iPhone SE. While sharing similarities with the iPhone 16's main camera, it omits sensor-shift stabilization, the latest Photographic Styles, and adjustable portrait mode focus. The selfie camera, however, appears identical and includes Face ID.

The phone uses an aluminum frame, glass back, and Apple's Ceramic Shield on the front. Although Apple continues to promote its toughness, it's worth noting that a newer, supposedly "two times tougher" Ceramic Shield is used in other models. This raises questions about the iPhone 16e's durability, especially considering wear observed on the iPhone 16's display.

Internally, the iPhone 16e showcases Apple's product stratification. While it features an "A18" chip like the iPhone 16, it's a slightly less powerful version. It has the same number of CPU cores but a 4-core GPU compared to the iPhone 16's 5-core GPU. Performance is expected to be lower than the iPhone 16, and even further behind the iPhone 16 Pro. However, it retains the Neural Engine, enabling Apple Intelligence features.

The iPhone 16e's lower price necessitates compromises. While not overly compromised, the discount is less significant than with previous iPhone SE models. At $599, it's Apple's cheapest phone, but the 2022 iPhone SE launched at $429 with the same chip as the $799 iPhone 13, offering a much larger discount despite its dated design. The iPhone 16e at least utilizes a more recent design, albeit with minor yearly tweaks since 2018.

The iPhone 16e's real-world performance remains to be seen. However, with compelling Android alternatives around $600 (like the OnePlus 13R), Apple might face a challenge attracting buyers outside its existing ecosystem.