It ’s not every February we get an iPhone announcement – in fact , it ’s rarely February . But seldom does n’t mean never , and on Wednesday , Apple took the wraps off the iPhone 16e , a new model that brings cutting - bound internals to an old form component .
But entice as you might be to call the 16e the 4th - genesis iPhone SE , this new manakin does n’t precisely fit the moulding . For one thing , this is the first time Apple is using this new lower - end iPhone to launch a brand fresh piece of technology . For another , this lower - toll iPhone is n’t exactly as low price as its predecessor .
Suffice it to say , the iPhone 16e is n’t your parent ’ iPhone SE . But after almost a decade of those model , Apple seems to be taking a slightly different tack this metre around .
While it’s part of the iPhone 16 lineup, the iPhone 16e is very different from its brethren.
What’s in a letter?
The iPhone SE ’s name dates back to itsfirst generation , introduced in 2016 . It both hearkened back to an earlier age – theclassic Macintosh SEfrom the late 1980s – as well as paving the mode for later mathematical product with the same moniker , such as the Apple Watch SE .
While it ’s part of the iPhone 16 batting order , the iPhone 16e is very different from its brethren .
Apple
While it’s part of the iPhone 16 lineup, the iPhone 16e is very different from its brethren.
But with iPhone 16e , Apple ’s returning to a name style it has n’t really used since at least 2018’siPhone XS / XRmodels if not all the manner back to theiPhone 6sin 2015 . While Apple ’s naming schema are often the affair of tea leaves and Kremlinology , it ’s hard not to wonder if there ’s something to be divined here . I ’m concerned less with the “ e ” ( which , I ’m sure , does n’t tolerate for any one thing , though Apple would in all likelihood be plenty happy if it was interpreted as for “ efficiency ” ) than with the use of “ 16 . ”
After all , nothing in particular calls this out as an iPhone 16 — it does n’t even resemble the eternal rest of the 16 line , given its consumption of a notch display rather than the Dynamic Island , the lack of a Camera Control button , and the fact that its proportion are exactly those of theiPhone 14 . ( A role model that Apple continued to sell properly up until the 16e ’s declaration , which also bump to handily make it the sometime model for which the companionship likely still had a ferment production ancestry . )
Does Apple tying this to the 16 batting order presage more frequent updates for this low - death telephone ? In the past , the iPhone SE was update only every few year . But perhaps call it the iPhone 16e should have us expect an iPhone 17e next wintertime ? Or , at the very least , an iPhone 18e two age hence ? It may , in large part , reckon on just how fast the society ’s future Apple Intelligence features are expected to outrun the A18 micro chip on which the 16e is based .
The iPhone 15 is still available but it cannot run Apple Intelligence.
Value over budget
In the past times , the iPhone SE has been Apple ’s lower - monetary value option . Notice I do n’t say “ cheap ” or “ cheap . ” While the first- andsecond - generationiPhone SE models both debuted at $ 399 , thethird - generationjumped up slightly to $ 429 . The iPhone 16e , by comparison , starts at $ 599 . That ’s markedly in high spirits – perhaps another reason that Apple may have elect not to continue the SE name , lest consumers expect it to carry a like monetary value tatter .
Granted , the 16e has a issue of components that no doubt make it more expensive to produce , not least of all its well large OLED screen and twice the memory board capability of the third - generation SE ( and you have intercourse how Apple loves to command a price exchange premium for its depot tier ) . As a outcome , it ’s efficaciously about halfway between the price of those original SE models and the iPhone 14 on which it ’s base . It ’s also just $ 100 cheaper than the price Apple normally uses for its premature year ’s phone ( the iPhone 15 , currently , which go for $ 699 ) , helping the company go on its time - honored scheme of staking out price point at every $ 100 increase .
The iPhone 15 is still uncommitted but it can not run Apple Intelligence .
David Price / Foundry
But it also means that the party is leaving a lot of pricing room underneath the 16e . Could that harbinger erstwhile model telephone being sold at even lower damage ? Or a cost drop in some subsequent year of the 16e ’s availability ? When it come to Apple , the voguish bet is that the company ’s never hold out to depart money on the mesa . If Apple ’s charging an even more expensive monetary value for this telephone , that ’s because it sleep together the market will pay for it . There may be cheaper Android phones for those who are purely buy on cost , but Apple also knows that the people who are move to buy an iPhone are willing to pay for it , so why not load more ?
C is for cellular
One major element that ca-ca the 16e stand apart from the SE models that preceded it is the fact that Apple is using the phone as a testbed for a major ironware change : the inclusion of its own wireless cellular splintering , which it ’s dub the C1 .
hearsay of an Apple - built modem have ricochet eternal for year ; thecompany bought Intel ’s modem businessfor a cool billion more than half a tenner ago , and there ’s been slew of expectation that the troupe planned to work up its own radiocommunication – after all , Apple loves tocontrol its core engineering – but account suggest development escape into duplicate challenges . Modem technology is notoriously slick , with multiple networks and frequency bands across the creation , plenty of sharpness cases , and a low margin for unsuccessful person .
Deploying the C1 in the 16e first allow the fellowship to cover several root word : first , the fashion model ply to a more price - sensitive and thus perhaps less performance - tender market that presumably wo n’t be as upset if the potato chip is not as competitive with offerings from other manufacturer ; second , the 16e will likely betray in lower volumes than newer models this fall , allowing Apple to rage up production more lento ; and third , it allow the party to get ahead of any glitch or flaws that could impede a larger pealing - out , either with this fall ’s example or next yr .
Apple ’s said little about the C1 , other than using its own potato chip permit it to rack more bombardment life out of the 16e , which is exactly the form of metric that customers of these abject - cost devices are probable to value – the same reason you ’ll see Apple shoot a line the lastingness of the earpiece ’s aluminum natural enclosure and Ceramic Shield drinking glass . After all , these matter have to last until atleastthe iPhone 17e .
Get all the inside information on the novel iPhone 16e .
