iPhone 16e
Apple’s new iPhone 16e is aimed at users on a budget, sporting many popular iPhone features while being priced much lower than its flagship counterpart, the iPhone 16.
This year’s iPhone 16 line blurs the line between the “Pro” and the base-level iPhone by offering a new camera button and the Action Button, alongside the A18 chip.
Apple has finallyunveiled its latest midrange smartphone, the iPhone 16e,following CEO Tim Cook’s teaseof the announcementon X late last week. Serving as a spiritual successor to theiPhone SEline we’ve come to know and love, the 16e offers much of the flagship iPhone 16 experience in a somewhat stripped-back package.
“iPhone 16e joins the iPhone 16 lineup, featuring the fast performance of the A18 chip, Apple Intelligence, extraordinary battery life, and a 48-megapixel 2-in-1 camera system – all at an incredible value,” says Apple in apress release.
With its palatable price tag, the all-new iPhone 16e appears to offer pretty great value on the surface. Here’s the lowdown on how Apple’s latest mid-range handset compares with the existingbase iPhone 16, which released back in September of last year.
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Price, specs, and availability
The essentials
Apple launched the standard iPhone 16 alongside the rest of theiPhone 16 lineup– the 16 Plus, the 16 Pro, and the 16 Pro Max – back in September of last year. Serving as the entry model of the flagship series, the iPhone 16 is priced at an MSRP of $800, and ships with a 128GB base storage configuration.
The all-new iPhone 16e, meanwhile, is priced at $600 for an equivalent 128GB of base storage, which is a full $200 less expensive than its non-lettered sibling. Both devices are configurable in 256GB and 512GB internal storage SKUs, with no option for 1TB on either of the two handsets.
In terms of availability, both devices are on equal footing in the US. Once the iPhone 16e hits the market on February 16, both devices will be readily available for purchase across major wireless carrier stores, big box retailers, and e-commerce sites like Amazon.
The iPhone 16 offers nearly everything I want from a phone
Apple’s base iPhone is a solid, all-around device that really should feature a 120Hz refresh rate display.
Design and build
Both handsets clearly share design DNA
Physically speaking, the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 share a similar design language and bill of materials. Both handsets feature aluminum side rails, soft-touch glass rear panels, glossy front-facing display panels,IP68 water and dust resistance, and an overall angular look and feel.
The iPhone 16e is available only in basic black and white colorways, which is disappointing.
Peering a little closer, there are some subtler design differences worth noting. The iPhone 16e’s rear is flanked by a single camera sensor, in contrast to the 16’s dual-lens array. The 16e’s front side features the tried-and-true ‘notch’ design for housing the selfie camera andFace IDsensors, whereas the vanilla 16 employs the sleekerDynamic Islandand features moderately thinner display bezels.
The iPhone 16e is available only in basic black and white colorways, which is disappointing – the regular iPhone 16 can be had in the much more exciting flavors of pink, teal, and ultramarine.
Should you buy the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro?
The advantages the iPhone 16 Pro offers are smaller than ever this year.
There’s a lot of feature parity on the screen tech front, but neither panel is particularly impressive
Apple has outfitted both the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 with relatively similar displays. Both handsets ship with panels that measure 6.1-inches diagonally, utilize OLED tech, and run at (an impressively lousy) 60Hz refresh rate.
The iPhone 16’s 2556 x 1179 pixel resolution slightly bests that of the 16e’s 2532 x 1170 screen, and the former’s 2,000 nits of peak brightness outshines the 1,200 nits of the latter device by a fairly small degree.
Unfortunately, Apple has neglected to incorporatealways-on displaytech into either unit – you’ll need to pony up for aniPhone Pro modelfor the luxury of an always-runningStandby Modeexperience.
Apple is being overly ambitious with Apple Intelligence, and it knows it
Apple’s goal is worth pursuing, but the company may be a little overeager to get there.
Both models are powerhouses capable of on-device AI processing
Apple has been at the top of its game when it comes to computational performance for several generations now, and both the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 benefit from excellent silicon under the hood. Both handsets are powered by the same A18 chipset, supplemented with 8GB of RAM.
In short, this means that regardless of which model you spring for, you’ll be getting an iPhone that’s capable of advanced on-device artificial intelligence processing, generative AI tools, and otherApple Intelligencefeatures.
…both the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 benefit from excellent silicon under the hood.
One small hardware consideration that’s of note is the iPhone 16e’s lack ofMagSafecompatibility. In an effort to reduce costs, Apple has removed the dedicated ring of magnets that allow the regular iPhone 16 toconnect to peripheralsand floating charging stands.
Other iPhone 16 hardware features that are stripped out of the 16e includeUltra Wideband,Wi-Fi 7, and mmWave 5G radio antennas. While having these cutting-edge connectivity options is a nice perk in terms of future-proofing a device, they don’t fundamentally change the user experience in a meaningful way at this point in time.
The iPhone 16’s Camera Control button sucks right now
It’s both half-baked and redundant for a lot of users.
A choice between a single rear or a dual rear camera setup
Both the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 offer solid 12-megapixel front-facing cameras, though f/stop, pixel and aperture size, and other variables are yet to be confirmed. On the rear side, the 16e features a single 48-megapixel wide angle shooter that’s capable of recording video at up to 4K at 60fps.
The iPhone 16, on the other hand, offers both a 48-megapixel wide angle shooter and an additional 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, which provides an extra focal length for squeezing in more into your photo scenes. Both of the iPhone 16’s rear cameras are also capable of recording video at up to 4K at 60fps.
Notably, the iPhone 16e lacks the dedicatedCamera Control buttonthat flanks the side of the standard 16 model – aside from serving as a dedicated shutter button, Camera Control offers quick access to Apple’sVisual Intelligencefeature for making search inquiries via your camera viewfinder.
The iPhone 16 Pro is now my gold standard for phone photography
Apple Intelligence is still missing, but the Camera Control button and Photographic styles make for a worthy upgrade for photographers.
Verdict: How does the new iPhone 16e stack up to the existing iPhone 16?
The iPhone 16e isn’t without its flaws, but it sure makes the regular iPhone 16 a difficult purchase to justify
Overall, both the new iPhone 16e and the existing iPhone 16 are solid smartphone packages. Both feature high-poweredApple Silicon, access to Apple Intelligence AI features, an all-screen design sans home button, and IP68 resistance for peace of mind while stuck out in the rain.
Both iPhone models are also letdowns in some respects – they share slow 60Hz display refresh rates, they lack always-on technology, and they both arguablyfail to deliver on Apple’s hypeof an AI-driven future.
While I don’t believe that you’re able to go wrong with either device, I feel that the iPhone 16e offers the better bang-for-your-buck. It’s unfortunate that the 16e lacks niceties like MagSafe charging or the Camera Control interface, but for $200 less than the 16, you’re getting a well-built product with the same silicon powering Apple’s more expensive handsets.
Do you really need an iPhone 16? The iPhone 15 is still a great phone
It may be question of how much you care about Apple Intelligence.
