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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[Ishkabibbel]

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.

I think Apple is replacing the iPhone 14 in their lineup with this device, it's not necessarily intended to be an upgrade path for users with iPhone 14s.

 

[poochyena]

low-end
$599

Thats wild. Thats mid to high end pricing. Low end is under $200. Even a $100 phone is perfectly usable for 99% of things people do.

 

[Dputiger]

Guess I'll be sticking to the 13 Mini until it dies.

I do not want a wider phone. If this iPhone 16e was the same size as the 13 Mini, it would represent an upgrade path, possibly even with the single-lens camera downgrade. But as it stands, no thank you.

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

At $800 with AppleCare and taxes, I feel like this is a little too little phone for a little too much money.

Ugh, I hate to say it, but I'll probably save my pennies and get a 17 Pro Max. Sure, it's $1000 more, but it'll be my primary phone for 3-4 years. I do hate paying that kinda money for a phone, but at least it'll work with my chargers.

 

[autostop]

Gonna hold out for the 16ɢs, since it doesn't look like they'll ever launch a 16ᴄ.

 

[colejohnson66]

Everyone's mentioning the price compared to the SE3, but how does it actually compare once inflation and tariffs are considered?

 

[willdude]

Since it doesn't specify, I'm curious if this includes an always-on display, and whether it's stuck with the 60Hz refresh rate of the non-Pro 16's. Those are real differentiators to me for the Pro line, and are also standard in other budget smartphones. (e.g. The Pixel 8a has an always-on OLED with 120Hz, plus 2 rear cameras, and costs $100 less.)

 

[caramelpolice]

Since it doesn't specify, I'm curious if this includes an always-on display, and whether it's stuck with the 60Hz refresh rate of the non-Pro 16's. Those are real differentiators to me for the Pro line, and are also standard in other budget smartphones. (e.g. The Pixel 8a has an always-on OLED with 120Hz, plus 2 rear cameras, and costs $100 less.)

As far as I can tell, no always-on display, and yes, still 60Hz.

 

[Spiders from Mars]

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

I'm more of a basic Iphone model customer, and as we see from the article, this isn't a cheap phone, and so Apple's decision to stick with a single lens camera is cheaping out, imo.

 

[ibranser]

Wow, this phone looks terrible. It's basically an iPhone 16 with one camera and MagSafe missing, and they want $600 for this??

Edit to add: the pricing is even more horrendous in Canada. NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS for the base model. It makes more sense to buy a used iPhone 16/15 Pro instead. Just saying.

 

[adespoton]

As far as I can tell, no always-on display, and yes, still 60Hz.

So essentially, this is for people who don't need a fancy camera or MagSafe, but want an iPhone 16. The only other reason to get one is the fact that it'll be supported for the next four years, most likely.

 

[emag]

The pricing increase from the SE3 is painful, but looking at the 16E vs the 16, you're only giving up Camera Control, the wide lens, dynamic island, and Magsafe to save $200-$230 and get improved battery life. (The display is also lower quality, one GPU core is disabled, and the jury's out on the modem, but those factors may be less noticeable.)

At $499, the 16E might have entirely cannibalized the 16's sales. Even at $599, I personally would have bought the 16E instead of the regular 16 for family members on my plan had the option been available earlier.

 

[islane]

Guess I'll be sticking to the 13 Mini until it dies.

I do not want a wider phone. If this iPhone 16e was the same size as the 13 Mini, it would represent an upgrade path, possibly even with the single-lens camera downgrade. But as it stands, no thank you.

The size is their biggest mistake here. I don’t want a larger phone. I want the “pro” internals and cameras on a SE3 -sized frame.

The price and the particular changes Apple has made tells me they are, unfortunately, not interested in selling a smaller device and not particularly serious about the 16e as a product.

 

[Frank C.]

Six hundred bucks is cheap these days, eh? Holy shit.

 

[caramelpolice]

The pricing increase from the SE3 is painful, but looking at the 16E vs the 16, you're only giving up Camera Control, the wide lens, dynamic island, and Magsafe to save $200-$230 and get improved battery life. (The display is also lower quality, one GPU core is disabled, and the jury's out on the modem, but those factors may be less noticeable.)

At $499, the 16E might have entirely cannibalized the 16's sales. Even at $599, I personally would have bought the 16E instead of the regular 16 for family members on my plan had the option been available earlier.

I think fundamentally they should've just not put an A18 in this thing. No one would complain if this was an A16 for $499 instead. But AI brainrot has completely consumed the tech industry at this point.

 

[macosandlinux]

Exactly the price point I thought it will be, although disappointed in no color options. The lowest-tier should be the most 'fun' - will be used my many younger users.
I want a teal 16e.

 

[ERIFNOMI]

Thats wild. Thats mid to high end pricing. Low end is under $200. Even a $100 phone is perfectly usable for 99% of things people do.

When the actual high end is twice that or more, I'd say that's low end.

There's a lower-than-low end, and Apple isn't interested in that segment. They never have been.

 

[xWidget]

I think fundamentally they should've just not put an A18 in this thing. No one would complain if this was an A16 for $499 instead. But AI brainrot has completely consumed the tech industry at this point.

I doubt using an older SOC would save them anywhere near $100, since it's all in-house anyway.

My guesses are either that the modem isn't really quite ready for prime-time and they want to get it field-tested but not so widespread that they have another "you're holding it wrong" moment". Or that they think that offering the SE for so cheap (by Apple standards at least) will make it harder to keep pushing the price of the Pro/Pro Max later, from inflation and/or tarrifs.

 

[Jeff3F]

I have a few family members using 2022 SE's. I'm hopeful price gets a bit lower by the time I need to start replacing those SE phones. Because for whatever reason they weren't able to stick the landing pricepointwise. I'd hate for it to be related to needing extra hardware to accommodate apple intelligence, as that's not fully baked yet anyway and it wouldn't be awful for an SE type phone to not have it.

also it would be worse if this were part of a marketing strategy to slide the upcoming 2025 iphone 17 series prices higher.

 

[ibranser]

I have a few family members using 2022 SE's. I'm hopeful price gets a bit lower by the time I need to start replacing those SE phones. Because for whatever reason they weren't able to stick the landing pricepointwise. I'd hate for it to be related to needing extra hardware to accommodate apple intelligence, as that's not fully baked yet anyway and it wouldn't be awful for an SE type phone to not have it.

Don't worry. Judging by the SE's depreciation, this iPhone will be dirt cheap in a couple of years. Or, well, at least as dirt cheap as iPhones can get.

 

[objectofconstantwidth]

Black and white only? It's like they don't even want to sell these.

 

[AlexIL]

Apple missed me on this one.

I don't want another phablet. There's so many on offer at great price.

I want a phone that is light so my pocket won't be stone heavy, that is a form factor to fit in a pocket, that I don't have to pay Rolex price for it.

Apple completely missed it all.

Steve Jobs would fire entire team worked on that shit, including Tim.

 

[emag]

So essentially, this is for people who don't need a fancy camera or MagSafe, but want an iPhone 16. The only other reason to get one is the fact that it'll be supported for the next four years, most likely.

I'd be shocked if the 16E was supported for less than 6 years. Apple just cut off the iPhone 8 (2017) with iOS 18 (2024), and even then it still gets security updates.

Also, the iPhone 16E's primary camera is the same as on the other models, so it'll work just as well as a camera for most situations (including night mode and 2X zoom).

 

[DOOManiac]

I was hoping this phone would be the new "mini" since they killed that line off. But nope, it's huge too. Oh well. :/

 

[ottojschlosser]

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

For once, I seem to be on trend. I use a 13 these days but I found my poor beat up 8 the other day. I used to talk up the compact size of the 8, but I looked at it and thought, "This is tiny! How did I ever use it?"

 

[Chuckstar]

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/

Sometimes reducing the resolution of a photo can make it look soft-edged, like some rendered images. The pic in the article looks slightly that way to me, unless I click to see the full version.

Perhaps that’s what that poster is reacting to.

I remember some of the marketing images from Oppenheimer looked weirdly processed, but then they turned out to be fine at full resolution — implying that the “weirdly processed” was just a result of scaling.

 

[Nikolai(km)]

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

Just my personal take, but wasn't the SE supposed to be an iphone for the outlier? People who were in the apple ecosystem, wanted nice hardware (i.e. fast SoC, good screen, batteries), but otherwise didn't want to pay extra for superfluous features like a dozen cameras on the back or a screen the size of an HDTV?

 

[arcite]

Still rocking an iPhone 12 with 80% battery health. It just won't quit.

 

[TheThirdDictor]

So, to summarize? Apple has totally abandoned the mid-market and below to Android.

I love Apple products, but when I look at the phones I buy for my family? I have a very hard time justifying an extra $200 per phone, times 3 phones.

 

[Flailsafe]

Genuinely curious, is the price of this due to being affected by Trump tariffs, or in anticipating them?

Or no bearing whatsoever?

 

[earlsven]

Would have bought one at £499. Not at £599. The iPhone 16 was on sale for £699 at Amazon last week. That’s a much better deal in comparison.

 

[ERIFNOMI]

Lower than low end would be $50 or less. At $100, phone makers aren't even making real compromises.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/motoro...gb-unlocked-navy-blue/6525883.p?skuId=6525883
Multiple cameras, finger print sensor, 90hz screen, fast charging, headphone jack, etc.

$1,200 isn't just high end, its luxury. Thats territory where you aren't paying for better performance, you are paying for name brand or gimmicks (folding phones).

No compromises? It has an awful screen. It's 2 years old and support ends this year, though it's already behind on updates. The SoC is a bottom of the barrel mediatek offering from 5 years ago.

It's all compromises. They didn't get to that price point by giving up margins. They're not making an iPhone and just undercutting Apple. It's objectively full of cut corners.

 

[hrpanjwani]

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

I agree. $529/549 would have been the sweet spot fro 128 GB.

or else make it $599 but start with 256 GB.

 

[Lew Zealand]

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

Where were you able to find SE3s at this price? I assume they didn't have 128GB or more of storage and all needed battery replacements?

 

[effgee]

Six hundred bucks is cheap these days, eh? Holy shit.

As always... "depends on one's POV".

Regardless of whether or not one agrees, Apple has never positioned themselves or the "entry-level models" to a product line as "the cheapest" of said category. They never positioned these as: "the cheapest car", but rather as: "the cheapest BMW".

Of course no one needs to agree with their positioning, but it is what they've been doing for at least the last quarter century. And despite the perennial doubts and (oftentimes appropriate) criticism, they have been quite successful in terms of "$$$ earned".

 

[gfone]

Value added tax and Apple’s cheeky EU pricing make this a total loser over here. USD equivalent I can buy a lightly used grade A 14 pro max for $100 less and the 15 PM for $100 more. The days of S / XR / SE value no longer just work. I was seriously thinking there would be an actually new iPhone in my family this year, with its long update path, but no there will not. At least I can still benefit from the excellent longevity from Apple, overall I have done well for a loooong time.

 

[LlamaLaBama]

SE and mini owner here. Weird to see the budget phone in the ballpark of what the normal iPhone cost some time ago. I'd rather be mostly connected by the cellular Apple Watch and leave the 6" phone at home for local errands and days at the office.

SE cameras have always been cheap iPad quality, I'm glad to see the bump to 48MP. More pleased to see the full TrueDepth array ported over for FaceTime and selfies. The Cook parts bin has smiled on budget buyers.

Losing MagSafe, keeping basic Qi charing is kind of a mess that might be fixable with the right iPhone case. I'd rather they either add MagSafe or drop Qi all together to a more durable case that would never need glass repairs. The Cook parts bin taketh away.

Edit: Adding the HDR OLED screen is also a win. My favorite switching from SE to the mini.
Edit: It may be big, but 12/13/14/16e cases are smaller than 15/16, and the XR/11 (perhaps the bulkiest 6" iPhone ever). 4mm shorter, 4 mm narrow, 0.5 mm less thick, 27g less. The flat sides also look good, bringing back that 4/4S and 5/5S sharpness that should have never left.

 

[einnocent]

Good news, everyone! If you hate big phones and facial recognition, you now have zero options in iOS land! Isn’t the future wonderful?

 

[the_frakker]

In the past Apple would gradually switch over their chip manufacturing to a new process by continuing to offer older models as well as using previous year chips in the base and cheaper iPhones.

Now that Apple Intelligence is here(?), every iPhone needs to include a 17 pro or 18 SoC. That complicates things for the manufacturing processes as most of their iPhone chip suppliers need to upgrade and switchover.

On top of that is generalized economic inflation and the tariffs. Which all means inflated prices.

I suspect this iPhone 16e pricing is going to look like a deal when Apple decides to up the prices of the base and Pro models either later this year or in the coming years.

I can’t imagine being an SE owner ready for an upgrade and seeing this new price. Recommendation: wait and hope for sales.

(ಥ﹏ಥ)