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 starting Friday, February 21st, with a release date of February 28th, it marks a shift from the substantial discounts offered by previous SE models.

The iPhone 16e is notable for being the first phone to utilize Apple's C1 cellular modem. While Apple's in-house chips have a strong track record, the C1's performance is crucial. Hopefully, Apple has addressed potential connectivity issues, learning from past experiences.

iPhone 16e

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From the front, the iPhone 16e closely resembles the iPhone 14, boasting a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 2532x1170 resolution and 1200-nit peak brightness. While not as sharp or bright as the iPhone 16, it includes the Action button and a USB-C port, omitting the Camera Control.

The rear design is more distinctive, featuring a single 48MP camera, similar to the iPhone SE. Sharing similarities with the iPhone 16's main camera, it lacks sensor-shift stabilization, the latest Photographic Styles, and adjustable portrait mode focus. The selfie camera, however, appears identical, retaining Face ID functionality.

The phone's construction uses aluminum, a glass back, and Apple's Ceramic Shield on the front. While Apple continues to promote its durability, it's worth noting that a newer, supposedly "two times tougher" Ceramic Shield exists, raising questions about the iPhone 16e's screen resilience.

Internally, the iPhone 16e showcases Apple's product stratification. While equipped with an "A18" chip like the iPhone 16, it features a 4-core GPU compared to the iPhone 16's 5-core GPU, suggesting a performance difference. Despite this, the Neural Engine remains, supporting Apple Intelligence features.

The iPhone 16e's lower price point necessitates compromises. At $599, it's Apple's cheapest offering, but this represents a smaller discount compared to previous SE models. The 2022 iPhone SE, priced at $429, offered a nearly 50% discount compared to the iPhone 13. While the iPhone 16e's design is more current, dating back a few years with minor annual tweaks, it lacks the significant price advantage of its predecessor.

The iPhone 16e's performance remains to be seen. With competitive Android alternatives like the OnePlus 13R available around the $600 mark, Apple faces a challenge in attracting buyers outside its existing ecosystem.