Apple announces “iPhone 16e” to replace iPhone SE, starts at $599 for 128GB

Lower-end iPhone replaces both the old iPhone SE and the aging iPhone 14.

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[ERIFNOMI]

It'll be interesting to see how their modem stacks up. Historically, modems from anyone other than Qualcomm have been iffy, and Apple already has one mark against them for shitty reception. Hopefully they don't repeat that mistake.

 

[sword_9mm]

That's quite a price jump.

My 2020 SE might be pulling longer duty. Guess I'll need to see it in person and yeah; wait to see if the modem is worth a shit.

 

[caramelpolice]

$599 is too steep for this. Not mentioned: it also doesn't support MagSafe/Qi2.

 

[Spud Spudly]

It's the same size as the 14. That ruins the appeal of the SE which is smaller and lighter.

 

[solomonrex]

$599 is too steep for this. Not mentioned: it also doesn't support MagSafe/Qi2.

OHH no, that's crazy. They really should have mentioned that. A definite avoid then, buy an older model instead.

 

[JustYourAverageJDP]

Not understanding why I should upgrade my iphone 14 for this. I will wait until my company forces me to upgrade. Phones are so boring I don't even bother to ask for a new one anymore with my work phone.

 

[ChefJeff789]

$599 is too steep for this. Not mentioned: it also doesn't support MagSafe/Qi2.

~40% price increase
Larger than SE
No TouchID
No MagSafe
Latest Apple CPU
Apple Modem (not sure if this is good yet or not - I'm expecting not or they'd release it with a flagship)
FaceID

Looks like a disappointing successor to affordable Apple phones.

 

[MrMcLargeHuge]

Pricing is very, very disappointing.

I'd accepted that the phone would be bigger and TouchID would go away, but I was not expecting a 40% price increase.

 

[Biffstar]

Spec-wise and price-wise it's still awfully close to the regular 16... Not sure this can still be considered a "budget" or low-cost phone.

 

[OrangeCream]

Is it just me or does it look like Apple is using really bad AI for their marketing materials now? What is with these reflections?

Where? I’m watching the announcement and not seeing anything that screams AI.

Edit: and the product page seems to show only matte or flat surfaces on the iPhone 16e:
https://www.apple.com/iphone-16e/

 

[Pheran]

Minor quibble - the current iPhone 16 Pro has a 5x telephoto lens, but some of the previous generations were 3x in the smaller model.

 

[Mangosteen69]

$599 is too steep for this. Not mentioned: it also doesn't support MagSafe/Qi2.

It does still have wireless charging though, as per the tech specs. Just no auto align magnets I guess?

 

[wallinbl]

It's the same size as the 14. That ruins the appeal of the SE which is smaller and lighter.

As a long time Mini fan, I'm with you. But, the market in general apparently isn't with us on that.

 

[OrangeCream]

The one thing I want is an integrated wide-angle or telephoto lens, bc it's 2025.

They sell that. The iPhone 16 has a wide angle, and the 16 Pro has both a wide angle and telephoto.

 

[sporkinum]

Considering I just paid $125 for a like new SE 3rd gen, why does this cost so much?

 

[Thomas Harte]

booring. I'm comparing orange vs apple here (pun intended), but just a day earlier Huawei announced a two-fold phone and then we have this from Apple? well, they think differently, for sure.

You're comparing the announced Huawei flagship to the shipping entry-level Apple?

 

[caramelpolice]

It does still have wireless charging though, as per the tech specs. Just no auto align magnets I guess?

View attachment 102979

Right, just standard Qi charging, which is slower and breaks some accessory compatibility. I have a Qi2 stand next to my bed that'll work with any iPhone 12 or newer but not with this.

 

[SirOmega]

Surprised about the pricing a little bit. You think not having to pay the qualcomm tax for the modem would make it cheaper. But it has been a very long road to get to the point of them having their own cell modem chip.

The cell modem chip looks like it supports almost everything the qualcomm one did except for mmWave (not used a ton except for stadiums and other ultra high density areas) and DC-HSDPA (a legacy 3G dual-channel downstream protocol to speed up downloads). That said, the performance is yet to be tested. We will find out more in the next week or two. Looking forward to head to head match-ups of the 16/16Pro vs 16e.

 

[younork]

I was planning on purchasing this phone to replace my 2020 SE, however, my SE died in November, and I couldn't wait. I purchased an iPhone 14 for $630, and I am sure glad I didn't wait. Having two cameras is nice, and according to other comments, the 16e does not have magsafe which is a feature I use daily. Apple intelligence is useless to me.

 

[Mangosteen69]

Surprised about the pricing a little bit. You think not having to pay the qualcomm tax for the modem would make it cheaper. But it has been a very long road to get to the point of them having their own cell modem chip.

The cell modem chip looks like it supports almost everything the qualcomm one did except for mmWave (not used a ton except for stadiums and other ultra high density areas) and DC-HSDPA (a legacy 3G dual-channel downstream protocol to speed up downloads). That said, the performance is yet to be tested. We will find out more in the next week or two. Looking forward to head to head match-ups of the 16/16Pro vs 16e.

That new modem is giving me pause, I would definitely wait a couple months before buying. Cellular tech is tricky and I wouldn't be surprised if there was an antenna gate 2.0 or something similar

 

[OldPhartReef]

I think Apple is accepting the fact that people are done with the annual upgrade cycle. By pricing this phone +$150 over the last SE, they're saying as much. Now, the telling question will be whether or not this new phone is an affordable enough option for entry-level iPhone buyers.

 

[J.C. Helios]

Right, just standard Qi charging, which is slower and breaks some accessory compatibility. I have a Qi2 stand next to my bed that'll work with any iPhone 12 or newer but not with this.

I'm sure someone will sell a case with the magnets built in. I have one for my Android phone, and it's nice and sturdy.

 

[NinjaNerd56]

No more home button and no slider for privacy? Obvs the home button removal has been coming for a decade, but the slider deletion is disappointing. It's like a store brand iphone now.

Traded in a 12 Mini for an SE 2022 so I could have THE BUTTON.

Honestly, they should make a NanoPhone of their own, and charge $399. Just to have a phone that fits in a pocket again would be nice.

 

[April King]

It does still have wireless charging though, as per the tech specs. Just no auto align magnets I guess?

If that's the case, I assume there will be a someone robust aftermarket for cases that provide alignment rings. MagSafe on phones is such a huge upgrade for wireless charging and it's a relatively simple and inexpensive design, so it's a weird decision to not include them.

 

[InfectiousCheese]

At $170 more than the 64GB iPhone SE, I'll just keep my original SE until it dies.

 

[Stentorfly]

edit

 

[Andrewcw]

$599 vs $429 MSRP that's a big jump. Though i'll wait until real subsidized prices come out.

As i was able to get the $429 SE3's for under $100 at certain points of time and $150 now.

Inclusion of MMwave is nice. Though i am an Android user. I have a bunch of SE3's and Ipads. I got into their Airtag tracking on really small and hard to replace devices. I went out of my way to get an used iPhone 11 just to get MMwave to find the damn thing directionally. If android based trackers had that I wouldn't be using airtags.

 

[Zizbuka]

$599 is too steep for this. Not mentioned: it also doesn't support MagSafe/Qi2.

Guess I'll stick to my 12 Pro.............

 

[stormcrash]

$599 is too steep for this. Not mentioned: it also doesn't support MagSafe/Qi2.

Ouch really? That makes it an instant no-go for me sadly then. Regular 16 it is

 

[StrangeOnion]

Pretty meh, though smartphone tech is pretty mature now.

I'm still looking forward to see how the new modem performs and what it does for the battery life.

 

[Nerdalot]

$899 Canadian--wow, that's a lot. $599 USD is about $850 CAD, so another $50 ding.

There's also the psychological barrier: this is going to cost more than $1000 after tax up here. Yikes.

 

[Tagbert]

booring. I'm comparing orange vs apple here (pun intended), but just a day earlier Huawei announced a two-fold phone and then we have this from Apple? well, they think differently, for sure.

So you're bored by the release of the cheapest phone in Apple line? The one that has always been built with older parts and the current SOC to reach a lower price? What were you expecting?

 

[Sifaka]

I assume the pricing will slide down to the old SE territory when Apple releases its next flagship phone, but we will have to see. I would expect this phone to be around for a few years based on how long the SE phone was in the lineup.

Also not sure how much tariffs are impacting this price. Prices for electronics in general are going to go up over the next few years.

 

[adespoton]

OK... you're all complaining about the jump from $429 to $599?

In Canada, it's jumped to $899. I had been waiting for this phone to come out to buy a secondary phone; looks like I'm heading to the used market instead.