With all the rave on Apple Intelligence across Apple’s products, mobile has been a major portion for its adoption. Though the iPhone 16 and/or iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max has been the de-facto requirement, it has left out the the most affordable iPhone SE (last updated in 2022). Now, it’s time to retire the SE. Apple has replaced it with the new iPhone 16e as the newest entry-level update.
IMHO, the ‘SE’ may have been interpreted as Special Edition which usually has a sense of exclusivity/limited availability. With the ‘e’, it looks like Apple may want to tie it as part of each iPhone family they release. I think the ‘e’ likely notes ‘essential‘ to cover the basic requirements, given the starting/entry-level positioning for the device itself.
Same Family, similar internals
Keeping with the rest of the iPhone 16 family, the iPhone 16e is powered by the A18 chipset. This gives it the foundation to run the entire Apple Intelligence suite due to the performant NPU and the minimum RAM requirements (the A18 has 8GB RAM on the die as confirmed via various outlets). There is one small difference – the A18 has one less GPU core to help shave costs and better segment the different SKUs. This also provided the base for running Apple Intelligence on-device.
Even the display gets an upgrade to bring it in parity with the whole iPhone 16 family, sporting an OLED display for better colour clarity and richness.
Even the Action Button makes its debut, which is easily customizable. On another note, it’s bye-bye to Lightning and hello to USB-C but with USB2 speeds.
Probably the biggest change but not emphasized is the introduction of the new C1 – Apple’s first and lon-awaited in-house 5G modem. Apple has had to license it from Qualcomm for many years (it also included a bitter legal dispute years ago which was resolved out of court) and they aren’t the only smartphone brand to use the same brand. This will be a test of their custom model silicon as they’re definitely looking to wean off from Qualcomm and the licensing fees they pay.
Other consolidated features
One tradition the iPhone 16e adheres to for an entry-level model is a single rear camera. This time, it’s given a combo boost using the iPhone 16’s 48MP Wide lens but serving as a 2-in-1 camera system. According to Apple, you can actually get a 2x zoom with it. There are also some other compromises compared to the iPhone 16.
- No capturing spatial image and video
- No Cinematic mode and Action mode for video, yet the Audio Mix feature is there
You might have expected MagSafe to be included. Sadly, that’s not an option thought it still does support the Qi wireless charging protocol. Face ID now comes to the entry-level model, and says goodbye to Touch ID. As a likely test for more markets, it has no SIM slot and goes all-in with eSIM.
Did I mention that the body itself is like the iPhone 14 with the revised notch?
Getting One
With the device available in black and white, it’ll also come with three storage options: 128GB, 256GB and 512 GB. That means no more 64GB. However
Pre-orders will be opening in Turkey, India, UAE, and other markets in the MENA region via authorized sellers. With the rebrand, will the ‘e’ version have an annual refresh for every new iPhone? That’s for Apple to decide and announce.
Image credit: Apple Newsroom
