iPhone 16e review: The most expensive cheap iPhone yet
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
The good:
The bad:
The ugly:
- USD 600 as entry price to the iPhone kingdom
- clean looking backside
- 128 GB storage
The bad:
- only same size big phones left
- no mag safe
The ugly:
- USD 600 as entry price to the iPhone kingdom
Upvote
24
(24
/
0)
macosandlinux
Ars Tribunus Militum
It's a model made for carrier deals and to cover a certain price point - one thing the old Apple said they never do 'make a product to match a price point'.
Anyone else that pays for the iPhone full price, don't get the 16e. Look very hard at the 14 with same screen, dual cameras, sensor-shift image stabilization, and you only loose out on the USB-C for Lightning port.
Upvote
-9
(5
/
-14)
A refurb 15 Pro seems like a much much better deal. You get pretty much all the features of a 16 Pro, for the price of this 16e.
It used to be that buying used got you old out of date tech, but with Apple now giving you old tech in their new products that's no longer the case. Look at the new base iPad, a chip thats 3(!) years old.
Buying a 5(!) year old iPad Pro gets you much better tech than a brand new base iPad.
It used to be that buying used got you old out of date tech, but with Apple now giving you old tech in their new products that's no longer the case. Look at the new base iPad, a chip thats 3(!) years old.
Buying a 5(!) year old iPad Pro gets you much better tech than a brand new base iPad.
Upvote
2
(6
/
-4)
I agree with your overall assessment -- Apple is clearly more focused on segmentation and differentiation among the product ladder here than simple cost cutting -- but both the 5c and XR had worse cuts than the 16e does: losing out on the vastly faster 64-bit processor and TouchID (as well as the camera and build) for the 5c, the low-resolution LCD with big bezels on the XR compared to the much nicer OLED on the XS. For the end user, the 16e is a better product than those were.
Upvote
9
(10
/
-1)
I wanted an SE4, this is what Apple chose to give me. Not being a 'power user', I don't really give a damn about the AI aspects. Not being a photographer, the lack of a high quality camera doesn't bother me either. While I might eventually upgrade to this (or its eventual successor) I'm not in any hurry to do so. I will miss the smaller form factor that more easily slips into my pockets once I do upgrade, I'm sure.
Upvote
20
(21
/
-1)
My guess is the regular 17 will be even more expensive than the regular 16 and then the 16e will seem cheap.
Upvote
13
(14
/
-1)
It feels like the people are missing the point with the price--it's expensive compared to the 16, but it's going to seem very cheap next to the 17 in six months. There's every reason to expect the 17 to be quite a bit more expensive, if only from tariffs.
Upvote
11
(12
/
-1)
The fact that I had to scroll down so far to find the first comment about small phones might have something to do with why small phones are dead.
I'm going to cling to my iPhone 13 Mini as long as possible and hope sanity returns to the phone market. I missed Android and tried a Unihertz Jelly Max but the quality was just not there. I really liked my Sony Xperia Compact; there's just absolutely nothing out there for us anymore.
I wonder if a lot of small phone likers have switched over to using a watch for a lot of things. I don't love the form factor though and it's too small for reading, making lists, doing the crossword puzzle, etc which are all things that work just fine on the Mini.
Upvote
19
(22
/
-3)
On the bright side, at least this is one company which maintained its DEI policy, when brought up at its shareholder meeting.
Back on topic, this certainly sounds like a compromise phone. For a number of people having a smaller phone at half the price of the mainline phone may be worth it? Also as tech people our expectations may be higher than that of the general public, but I am not sure?
Upvote
-11
(14
/
-25)
Yes, Trump is president in large part because of huge corporate donors (he did terribly with small donors this cycle). Tim Apple and Zuck each gave a million dollars to his completely opaque “inaugural fund.” Musk is hundreds of millions of dollars in. They expect a substantial ROI for their investment in Trump. If consumers stop consuming and Apple sales fall like Tesla sales are falling, they will not support the GOP in 2026 when the backlash against all the chaos hits.
Enough people buying old phones, old cars, and as many things from the smallest businesses for two years will hurt the rich sociopaths watching Fox, Sinclair, and their Trump ROI.
Edit - I know his name isn’t Tim Apple, it’s an old Leo LaPorte TWiT joke.
Upvote
7
(33
/
-26)
Me, I wanted another SE style iPhone simply due to the small size/screen and basic functionality. I already have very good camera equipment! So, upgrading my old SE2 was fairly easy decision to get iPhone 15. I only had to part with $100 more than I anticipated.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
I do. It’s “e” for enterprise. This set of features is exactly what enterprise bulk purchase want.
Long software update, latest set of chipset and feature matching the rest of the lineup, with minimal cameras that business users care about.
For majority of app developers, this is exactly the test phone that suffice most developer needs.
Upvote
30
(31
/
-1)
This is also for the small-to-medium-sized businesses that were getting the SE3 at $15 per 2-year contract from $mobileprovider and are now getting a pretty major step up over the SE3 at $20 per 2-year contract from $mobileprovider. Problem is, the 16 (not-e) is up around $149 per 2-year contract. So, when you're outfitting a non-insignificant number of people with phones, the 16e is a decent device.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
I'm not sure if Apple is going to be happy about this; but I suspect that these will be a bit of a hit with corporate IT.
IT procurement doesn't always give you much room to rely on still-in-stock older models(depending on how many you need and how much consistency your org requires: more leeway for the older models that Apple more or less officially keeps around as the cheap seats; less leeway for stuff that is basically not being sold but is still on some shelves if you call around); and iOS offers pretty solid supported lifetimes and an MDM experience that is less...eccentric...than Android(especially if you've got Knox upsell bits floating around).
IT is also under constraints related to standardization; so the somewhat polarizing(and sometimes troublesome for users with poorer vision, limited coordination, or sausage fingers) small phones were never a uniformly viable standard-issue option; but full-fat 16s are...kind of a lot...for something that is basically there to be a blackberry and run an MFA authentication app or two.
The users who treat company phones as free video cameras are going to be sad; but if I put on my shoving-beige-boxes-at-users-so-they-can-get-to-work hat on the iphone 16 just got a price cut.
Upvote
23
(23
/
0)
What's the alternative? Seriously. I was on Android for years but I left and came back to iphones 3-4 years ago because I was done with the buggy OS from the company that embodies surveillance capitalism.
There's the Fairphone, but its quality is crap. So besides Android and Apple phones, what are my options?
Upvote
-6
(14
/
-20)
Some general comments, and then a few replies to a selection of other comments.
Looking at the 16e from a supply chain perspective, it makes total sense:
1. it replaces the 14 in the available-to-purchase-new lineup at exactly the same price
2. it's definitely reusing the screen from the 14, which gives some ability to drive the price down thanks to using already-amortized tooling
3. coming up with a new dynamic island OLED with lower resolution/brightness than the current 15/16 would be tremendously more expensive, especially considering it won't have flagship volumes to amortize the tooling over, doing this makes absolutely zero financial sense
4. Using an A18 with one less GPU core is almost certainly a strategy to increase yields from TSMC by allowing them to bin chips that would otherwise be rejected
5. The other main changes (MagSafe, mmwave, BT UWB, etc.) are all direct cost savings by not including them
Now, whether those changes make sense from a consumer perspective is another matter. It would have been a lot more palatable at $499 (or even $549), but I understand Apple's logic a bit here. The 16e is a LOT closer to the 14 it's replacing at the same price than it is to like an XR or significantly different older design like the SEs. In this case, it's a question of tradeoffs vs. the 14 (significantly faster CPU, longer battery life, USB-C, longer support vs. worse camera stack, no MagSafe, some missing advanced tech) rather than the "budget" phone just being worse in every way except the CPU.
Anyway, it's certainly not as attractive a proposition as the cheapest new iPhone. Apple's a pretty conservative company financially though, and I wonder how much of the price increase is segmentation strategy and how much is this being the first iPhone being priced since the 2024 election, with the expectation of new tariffs on Chinese-built goods raising the cost of importing significantly. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire iPhone lineup sees an across-the-board $100+ price increase during the major refresh this fall.
Hah, that's literally my parents, and it's why I'm buying them 16es this month. They're on an XR and a 2nd-gen SE, and neither can reliably make it through the day on a charge (especially the SE). The battery life will be the single biggest QOL improvement for them that any iPhone could give (along with the extended software support, since they'll both be hitting EOL for that relatively soon). All the missing stuff from the 16e is things they never had and will never miss (and they're getting MagSafe cases anyway, so that's not even one of those things). And even things that are a step down from the 14/15/16 flagships will be HUGE improvements over what they have now.
...theoretically. These long software support promises are new enough that they've never been tested to the full promised length. I sure hope they can keep them, but IIRC one of the main holdups to long-term software support in the past has been fuckery from Qualcomm WRT offering any support for SOCs over a couple years old. Not sure if the architecture of Android has changed enough to bypass that limitation, or if Q got their heads out of their collective asses, but I'm hoping either or both is the case.
The 14 is most definitely not better in "every way." It's only got a 12MP main camera sensor with no optical zoom (albeit with better OIS), and it's got significantly worse battery life. The 14/16e comparison is one of tradeoffs, and which particular advantages you find compelling.
The used 15 vs. 16e comparison is a lot more compelling in favor of the 15... if you're willing to take the risk on a used phone.
Looking at the 16e from a supply chain perspective, it makes total sense:
1. it replaces the 14 in the available-to-purchase-new lineup at exactly the same price
2. it's definitely reusing the screen from the 14, which gives some ability to drive the price down thanks to using already-amortized tooling
3. coming up with a new dynamic island OLED with lower resolution/brightness than the current 15/16 would be tremendously more expensive, especially considering it won't have flagship volumes to amortize the tooling over, doing this makes absolutely zero financial sense
4. Using an A18 with one less GPU core is almost certainly a strategy to increase yields from TSMC by allowing them to bin chips that would otherwise be rejected
5. The other main changes (MagSafe, mmwave, BT UWB, etc.) are all direct cost savings by not including them
Now, whether those changes make sense from a consumer perspective is another matter. It would have been a lot more palatable at $499 (or even $549), but I understand Apple's logic a bit here. The 16e is a LOT closer to the 14 it's replacing at the same price than it is to like an XR or significantly different older design like the SEs. In this case, it's a question of tradeoffs vs. the 14 (significantly faster CPU, longer battery life, USB-C, longer support vs. worse camera stack, no MagSafe, some missing advanced tech) rather than the "budget" phone just being worse in every way except the CPU.
Anyway, it's certainly not as attractive a proposition as the cheapest new iPhone. Apple's a pretty conservative company financially though, and I wonder how much of the price increase is segmentation strategy and how much is this being the first iPhone being priced since the 2024 election, with the expectation of new tariffs on Chinese-built goods raising the cost of importing significantly. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire iPhone lineup sees an across-the-board $100+ price increase during the major refresh this fall.
Hah, that's literally my parents, and it's why I'm buying them 16es this month. They're on an XR and a 2nd-gen SE, and neither can reliably make it through the day on a charge (especially the SE). The battery life will be the single biggest QOL improvement for them that any iPhone could give (along with the extended software support, since they'll both be hitting EOL for that relatively soon). All the missing stuff from the 16e is things they never had and will never miss (and they're getting MagSafe cases anyway, so that's not even one of those things). And even things that are a step down from the 14/15/16 flagships will be HUGE improvements over what they have now.
...theoretically. These long software support promises are new enough that they've never been tested to the full promised length. I sure hope they can keep them, but IIRC one of the main holdups to long-term software support in the past has been fuckery from Qualcomm WRT offering any support for SOCs over a couple years old. Not sure if the architecture of Android has changed enough to bypass that limitation, or if Q got their heads out of their collective asses, but I'm hoping either or both is the case.
The 14 is most definitely not better in "every way." It's only got a 12MP main camera sensor with no optical zoom (albeit with better OIS), and it's got significantly worse battery life. The 14/16e comparison is one of tradeoffs, and which particular advantages you find compelling.
The used 15 vs. 16e comparison is a lot more compelling in favor of the 15... if you're willing to take the risk on a used phone.
Upvote
18
(20
/
-2)
You could have just said "This phone flat out sucks so I'll pass" The whole US thing is not even a factor with what Apple is presenting here.
Upvote
-14
(23
/
-37)
Of course, it is a factor. It's not something that just happened to them. Apple had generous donations towards the new "regime" as well as continued interest in finding ways to escape paying taxes or having to compete on fair grounds (e.g. still fighting GDPR and the DMA).
Would you buy a phone made in Russia or North Korea? Would you purchase services from a company knowing they use this money to erode consumer protections or make your life more miserable? If the answer is no, then "the whole US thing" is relevant for you too.
Upvote
5
(31
/
-26)
Upvote
-15
(3
/
-18)
I'm still not convinced this is an iPhone SE replacement or successor. Did Apple actually say that in it's press release, or is the entire tech media just running with this premise because the SE happened to be discontinued at the same time.
I would like to believe a proper CHEAP iPhone (the true SE replacement) will come out next year or 2027. Or they will price drop the 16e next year.
I would like to believe a proper CHEAP iPhone (the true SE replacement) will come out next year or 2027. Or they will price drop the 16e next year.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Well, this is great news for Android, and Samsung in particular, as their A-series phones come in at half of the 16e's price tag or less.
It's also good news for anyone selling refurbished iPhones. With the entry price being raised, older devices are going to become more attractive now. Amazon sells their "Renewed" line of iPhones for very low prices compared to $600+.
It's also good news for anyone selling refurbished iPhones. With the entry price being raised, older devices are going to become more attractive now. Amazon sells their "Renewed" line of iPhones for very low prices compared to $600+.
Upvote
-4
(2
/
-6)
There has been SHARP inflation in the last 5 years. The CPI is lower than true inflation over that period by a huge factor. Rent has increased by almost double CPI. Staples have done similar. Utilities have done similar. By the CPI, 400 in 2020 is 493 today, making the phone 20% more expensive than the 2nd gen SE was at the time. That's an increase, but not a very large one, and the CPI is low (though perhaps appropriate in this setting). With what I see for staples inflation, the price is near parity, so the cost in terms of how many groceries/rent this costs is the same today. On the other hand, cricket paid $200 of it vs the previous offer of $75, so it was a $399 phone to me, and essentially the same price as if I had bought the 2022 SE for 430-75=355 in 2022 (379 2025). Adjust this value to actual inflation of staples/rent/electricity, and this phone is cheaper to me today, compared to groceries, than the SE 2nd or 3rd gen were at the time.
Upvote
-4
(3
/
-7)
I imagine Geekbench's compute (GPU) tests are tied to screen resolution. The SE3 is pushing less than half as many pixels as the others.
Upvote
-2
(0
/
-2)
It don’t know why so many people seem to intentionally miss the mark on this. This includes the author of this review and this post which seems very inspired by the Marques Brownlee review.
The phone replaced the iPhone 14 in the lineup (not the SE) It’s the same price as the iPhone 14, which Apple can no longer sell in Europe due to the Lightning port. It’s a vastly better phone than the iPhone 14, despite the caveats (especially MagSafe, but can sort of be fixed with a case).
People who were going to buy the iPhone 14, should buy this. People who were considering an iPhone 15, should probably buy this. It’s cheaper, and will be supported longer due to the newer processor and more RAM. People who want AI (I don’t know who you are, but Apple thinks you exist) should buy it. Corporations that don’t want the hassle of provisioning budget android phones, should buy this. And lastly, people who want the cheapest iPhone should buy this because (unfortunately) it’s the cheapest iPhone sold by Apple.
Sure there are ways to get phones Apple no longer sells for less through third party channels, but that’s not what is typically recommended to a mainstream consumer. I got a refurbished 15 Pro last fall and don’t regret that choice, but it’s not the route I’d recommend to my parents.
The “ugly” of Apple’s lineup isn’t the 16e. It’s superior to the phone that sold at the same price point just 1 day prior to launch. The ugly is that the iPhone SE wasn’t replaced.
While on one hand it is fair to judge the cheapest iPhone against what was previously the cheapest iPhone, what I think is really happening is that people are judging this iPhone against their pre-launch expectations for this iPhone. It’s forever judged against the $499 iPhone SE that was never anything more than a figment of people’s imaginations (at least for now, maybe not in a year).
Upvote
26
(30
/
-4)
The premise of this article is false. The SE has never been a repackaging of obsolete iPhones. Every SE has contained the same SoC as the current flagship iPhone. The differences have been in terms of peripherals and displays and, of course, size and price. When the SE shipped it had the same dual-core A9 CPU and 2GB of RAM as the then-latest iPhone 6, 6s, and 6s Plus. All of those devices identify themselves as "iPhone8". When the SE2 shipped it had the same 6-core A13 SoC and 3GB of RAM as the iPhone 11. The 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, and SE2 all identify as "iPhone12". The SE3 shipped with the same A15 SoC and 4GB of RAM as the 13 and 13 Mini. In fact the SE3 has the same CPUs as the later 14 and 14 Plus. Every device from the 13 Mini through the 14 Plus identifies as "iPhone14".
So it has never been the case that iPhones SE "were basically just iPhones that were older than the current flagship".
So it has never been the case that iPhones SE "were basically just iPhones that were older than the current flagship".
Upvote
20
(20
/
0)
I literally setup my 16e last night. I got it because T-Mobile was offering a promo for $500 trade in value and it included my 12 mini and my legacy plan. It's been a while since that combo was the case. Either the 12 mini wasn't included/had a lower trade in value or my legacy plan was excluded. Combined with a $100 Costco promo I'm getting the upgrade from the 12 mini to the 16e free. No tax here in OR and Costco waives the activation fee. I was still relatively happy with my 12 mini but it seemed like this could easily be the last chance for a cheap upgrade deal so I went for it. Yeah, yeah I know it's carrier deal and the credits are over 24 months but I have no plans of switching carriers so no reason not to do it.
I also happen to be upgrading my work phone this week too which went from a Xs to a 15. At this point I've got all 4 phones sitting on my desk next to me because I haven't gotten around to sending back either of the old phones yet.
My thoughts on the 16e
Magsafe- No big deal. Get a Magsafe case for it and you can still use the accessories like the magnetic car mounts etc. The only thing you'd be missing is the faster wireless charging speed and if you need faster charging there's always the option for a cable which will be even faster than magsafe. The case for my 16e hasn't arrived yet but my wife has been doing that with her magsafeless iPhone 11 for a while and it works fine.
Battery life- It's already an easily noticeable improvement over my 12 mini. The 12 mini wasn't the best at release and it's battery is down to the low 80's at this point so even worse but the 16e is a massive improvement. It came at ~80% and I did the new phone setup last night, 30-45 minutes of restoring an iCloud back up and a fair bit of messing around opening apps to make sure they are logged in etc last night and it's still at 50% this morning without having been charged. I'm fairly certain my 12 mini would have been dead before I was done doing the same stuff last night.
Dynamic Island- I just got this on my work 15 a couple days ago so I haven't really gotten used to it or even really noticed when it actually gets used. So far I don't care about the lack of it but that may change as I get more experience.
Size wise it's too early to tell. It's not too much bigger than my work Xs so I expect to be fine but the mini was nice and compact.
The end of the SE line is unfortunate for those who like the smaller screen sizes and/or prefer the TouchID.
I also happen to be upgrading my work phone this week too which went from a Xs to a 15. At this point I've got all 4 phones sitting on my desk next to me because I haven't gotten around to sending back either of the old phones yet.
My thoughts on the 16e
Magsafe- No big deal. Get a Magsafe case for it and you can still use the accessories like the magnetic car mounts etc. The only thing you'd be missing is the faster wireless charging speed and if you need faster charging there's always the option for a cable which will be even faster than magsafe. The case for my 16e hasn't arrived yet but my wife has been doing that with her magsafeless iPhone 11 for a while and it works fine.
Battery life- It's already an easily noticeable improvement over my 12 mini. The 12 mini wasn't the best at release and it's battery is down to the low 80's at this point so even worse but the 16e is a massive improvement. It came at ~80% and I did the new phone setup last night, 30-45 minutes of restoring an iCloud back up and a fair bit of messing around opening apps to make sure they are logged in etc last night and it's still at 50% this morning without having been charged. I'm fairly certain my 12 mini would have been dead before I was done doing the same stuff last night.
Dynamic Island- I just got this on my work 15 a couple days ago so I haven't really gotten used to it or even really noticed when it actually gets used. So far I don't care about the lack of it but that may change as I get more experience.
Size wise it's too early to tell. It's not too much bigger than my work Xs so I expect to be fine but the mini was nice and compact.
The end of the SE line is unfortunate for those who like the smaller screen sizes and/or prefer the TouchID.
Upvote
10
(11
/
-1)
Drop table users;
Ars Centurion
You walk into the Apple Store and ask for the cheapest iPhone.
Most people aren’t techies
Upvote
12
(13
/
-1)
China isn't trying to end the sovereignty of my country.
Our greatest friend and ally is. Canada has stood with America through thick and thin, but this is the end. The Canadian people have never been more united in defending ourselves against the greatest threat to our very existence - The United States of America.
We will never become the 51 state.
I am limiting my support of America in every which way I can. I will lengthen the use of my current hardware to avoid purchasing new American company controlled products.
Canadians didnt start this war. Americans voted for Trump to slap around allies and cozy up to the worst countries in the world, to oligarchs that are stripping away everything that benefits the common person so billionairs can become trillionairs. The tech oligarchy is in full support of Trump.
At this point, my views of China are more favorable than my so called friends south of the border.
Upvote
18
(47
/
-29)
Yes but does it have a 3.5mm headphone jack?
...yes I am still sore about that. Not buying any 6" phones either. Not paying that kind of money. There is no longer an iPhone in the lineup for me, which is a shame because I have been an iPhone user since the original.
...yes I am still sore about that. Not buying any 6" phones either. Not paying that kind of money. There is no longer an iPhone in the lineup for me, which is a shame because I have been an iPhone user since the original.
Upvote
-11
(6
/
-17)
For me a lot of it is the heft.
I have a 13 work phone and a coworker just got a 15. The 'size' isn't that big an issue but the heft is much worse than the 2020/2022 SE.
It's heavy in the pocket. Very very noticeable.
So I can handle the little bit of size difference but the phone just weighs too much imo. Maybe it can't be lighter but that's my biggest complaint.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
I understand why Canadians would feel outraged and threatened by the actions of the Trump government. And of course you should stand up for yourselves here. But something worth mentioning from the 'inside' (within the U.S.) that may not be visible from the outside: millions of Americans are likewise outraged and did not vote for this shit. Something like 2.5 Canadas worth of American voters voted against this and wanted something much better including continued good relations with our Canadian neighbors and other countries. Unfortunately there is that 2.6-ish Canadas worth of other American voters who voted otherwise and there we are. Those in the 2.5 can understand how you're going to do what you have to do at this point. But try to remember the many of us who hate what the Trump government stands for and don't want it and have never had anything against Canada and instead felt and feel a lot of respect for you and other countries too. It is not all American voters or even more than 50% who want this. (Not even 50% because some of us voted for candidates besides Republican or Democrat).
Edit: Fixed arithmetic and typos.
Last edited:
Upvote
44
(46
/
-2)
Yeah. I think a lot of that is just down to the bigger battery in the larger models so I don't think there is going to be much to do there. I think the preference for more battery life is part of what pushes people towards those larger phone so I don't think you'll see larger phones that are lighter without the extra battery life.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
raschumacher
Ars Praetorian
Grrr... They can have my AI-free SE Gen 2 when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Upvote
5
(6
/
-1)
"#NotAllAmericans! bla bla bla..."
We don't give a shit. You had the power to prevent Trump. We didn't. As long as he remains in power, mocking our soveraignty on a daily basis (and most importantly, normalizing the idea of it to the populace), and you continue to do nothing about it, you're all complicit in this.
Last edited:
Upvote
-7
(28
/
-35)