iPhone 16e
Apple (MacRumors, Hacker News):
Apple today announced iPhone 16e, a new addition to the iPhone 16 lineup that offers powerful capabilities at a more affordable price. iPhone 16e delivers fast, smooth performance and breakthrough battery life, thanks to the industry-leading efficiency of the A18 chip and the new Apple C1, the first cellular modem designed by Apple. iPhone 16e is also built for Apple Intelligence, the intuitive personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in AI. The 48MP Fusion camera takes gorgeous photos and videos, and with an integrated 2x Telephoto, it is like having two cameras in one, so users can zoom in with optical quality.
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iPhone 16e features the Action button, allowing users to easily access a variety of functions with just a press.
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The Action button on iPhone 16e also unlocks a new visual intelligence experience that builds on Apple Intelligence to help users learn about objects and places.
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iPhone 16e will be available in white and black in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities, starting at $599 (U.S.) or $24.95 (U.S.) per month for 24 months.
Just like the now-discontinued iPhone SE, the iPhone 16e does not have MagSafe connectivity.
The newer Photographic Styles are also only for the iPhone 16, 16 Pro, and Pro Max. With Photographic Styles, the iPhone 16 models released in September feature an option to set an overall look for all images captured with the iPhone camera, but this doesn't exist for the 16e. Older style filters are available, however.
There are also several missing video recording features, including Cinematic mode and Action mode, but the new Audio Mix feature is supported.
Previously:
Update (2025-02-27): See also:
- John Gruber (Mastodon)
- Brendon Bigley
- Dave B.
- Jason Snell
- DylanMcD8
- Christina Warren
- Mac Power Users
- Eric Schwarz
- Kirk McElhearn
- M.G. Siegler
- Matt Birchler
- Dan Moren
- Adam Engst
- Abby Ferguson
- Chance Miller
- William Gallagher
- Quinn Nelson
- John Gruber
- Other Reviews
Update (2025-03-04): John Gruber:
I’ve been waiting for iFixit’s teardown to see if removing MagSafe components might help explain the 16e’s physically larger battery. It doesn’t seem to. The 16e battery seems taller, not thicker, and the MagSafe components in an iPhone 15 don’t seem thick or space consuming.
Just days after I got my iPhone 16e, Apple’s (less) budget (than ever before) iPhone, Nothing is out here with new their new budget phones, the Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro. These models start at $379 and $459 respectively, so they certainly undercut the new iPhone, so let’s take a look at what the differences are and whether they make the iPhone 16e look silly.
Update (2025-03-13): Sebastiaan de With:
Compared to the last year’s flagship iPhones there’s little you miss out on.
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Aside from color (iPhone 16e consistently took pinker, warmer shots) — the iPhone 16e gives you a slightly narrower field of view. Its camera isn’t quite as wide angle as the iPhone 16 Pro’s, by about a 2mm focal length (26mm vs. 24mm equivalent). In practice, that felt nice to me — you lack a separate zoom lens, so a little bit closer of a zoom is a nice trade-off.
Crop things in close and you see that the smaller sensor on iPhone 16e does have less detail and a bit more ’smudging’. This gets more aggressive in lower light.
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Recall that lack of the sensor-shift stabilization, though? I found that that — not its smaller sensor — is what is limiting the iPhone 16e most of all. Shots that a Pro-iPhone user would get steady and sharp will be a bit blurry, and that happens a lot more often when the sun begins to set or you are in darker indoor settings.
The absolute delight of shooting on iPhone 16e through a plane window and having it focus on the scenery instead of the window because it has no LIDAR 💆♂️
Update (2025-03-14): Joe Rossignol:
According to complaints from affected users across the Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X, audio being streamed from an iPhone 16e to a Bluetooth speaker periodically stutters or cuts out. It is unclear how widespread the problem is.
Update (2025-03-25): Amber Neely:
Ookla, a company known for measuring internet performance metrics, has offered up some data that shows how Apple’s iPhone 16e is fairing against its higher-end brethren. In most real-world cases, Apple’s modem is on top.
