Apple unveils new low-cost iPhone 16e

Apple has introduced the iPhone 16e, a new, less-expensive smartphone that replaces the old iPhone SE and promises most of the features of last year’s iPhone 16 for $400 less.

The 16e starts at $1000 and will hit shelves next week on February 28. It looks like 2018’s iPhone XR but shares a lot of its guts with the most recent iPhones. Yet, Apple has made subtle cost cuts throughout the device.

For example, the 16e has close to the same sized OLED screen as the 16, but it has a significantly lower peak brightness and no support for Dolby Vision. The phone also lacks the Dynamic Island, opting for a regular camera cutout notch for Face ID and the selfie camera.

Around the back, it has a similar 48MP main camera but no ultra-wide for macro or spatial photography and no cinematic mode video recording. It supports wireless charging but has no magnetic MagSafe connector, and while it has a powerful A18 chip, it’s slightly different to the one in the iPhone 16, with less powerful graphics and a new 5G modem designed by Apple. There’s also no ultra-wideband chip, which is used for my precise Find My Phone.

Unlike the previous iPhone SE, the 16e does not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. And since the iPhone 14 is also being removed from sale, this new device completes Apple’s transition away from both the old-school Home button and the Lightning connector, which is replaced here by USB-C.

Apple claims the 16e has the longest battery life ever on an iPhone this size, outlasting the current iPhone 16 by four hours in a video playback test. The company is also promoting the phone as a less-expensive way to get access to the latest features, including the Apple Intelligence suite of AI tools and the satellite-powered Emergency SOS. The 16e also features the Action Button, a relatively new addition to iPhones that replaces the old ringer switch and can be set to perform a range of functions from muting the phone to opening the camera.

The new device represents a shift in Apple’s approach to lower-cost models. Whereas the previous three versions of the SE supported recent features in a significantly smaller and less cool body, the 16e takes an approach similar to Google and Samsung; it’s a version of the most recent phone with some nice-to-haves stripped out.

All details of this new iPhone, except for the name, were successfully anticipated by analysts and leakers months in advance. That could give weight to the other major iPhone rumour for this year: that Apple plans to launch a thin version of the iPhone 17 in place of the usual Plus model.

None of this is great news for fans of smaller-sized iPhones or thumbprint authentication, who will have to find an old iPhone SE rather than going directly through Apple.

However, while the 16e is quite a price hike over the SE (which started at $720 and is currently found much cheaper), the new phone offers twice the starting storage space and will be supported much longer than the now three-year-old SE.

Reports indicate the company’s smartphone business could use a boost. Sales fell about 1 per cent in the holiday quarter when the iPhone 16 failed to entice shoppers. The Apple Intelligence software also has lagged behind rival offerings and isn’t available in much of the world.

Apple is planning a software update in April that will bring Apple Intelligence to more countries and add support for additional languages. It’s also racing to bring Apple Intelligence to China.

The company is reportedly looking to introduce new iPads and Macs in the coming months as well, including a MacBook Air with an M4 chip. In addition to the iPhone overhaul later in the year, the company will debut a new Apple Watch Ultra 3 with off-the-grid satellite capabilities.

With Bloomberg

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