Apple made a surprising announcement on February 19th, 2025: a brand-new budget iPhone is out, and it’s not your typical SE. The new iPhone 16e is the budget version of the iPhone 16 lineup, but it comes with a few surprises, like Apple Intelligence compatibility and a 48MP back camera. Should you consider buying the iPhone 16e? We’ll give you the pros and cons.
iPhone 16e Release Date & Pricing
Availability:
- Pre-order February 21
- Available February 28
Pricing:
- Starting at $599
Pro Tip
Customers purchasing through Apple in the USA can get up to $630 off when they trade in their old iPhones. You may find even better trade-in deals through your carrier. It’s worth checking!
The iPhone 16e at a Glance
- The iPhone 16e has some of the same features as the high-end iPhone 16 Pro Max model, including a 48MP back camera, an A18 chip, and a battery life of up to 90 hours of audio playback (and 21 hours of video streaming).
- It has only one back camera lens that boasts a 2-in-1 camera system, allowing a 2x digital zoom.
- The 16e model has a notch rather than a Dynamic Island.
- It does not have the Home button, which previous iterations of the SE did.
- You can buy the iPhone 16e in a black or white matte finish.
- The iPhone 16e has a 6.1-inch display size, the same size as the iPhone 16.
- It also charges via USB-C, like the rest of the iPhone 16 line.
- Its $599 starting price tag is over $100 more expensive than the starting model of the iPhone SE 3, but the 16e’s storage capacity starts at 128GB.
The Most Affordable Way to Have Apple Intelligence
Until the iPhone 16e was released, the only phones with Apple Intelligence were the iPhone 16 lineup and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. The iPhone 16e is the cheapest model iPhone that has Apple Intelligence and the A18 chip that powers Apple’s AI on the iPhone. Apple Intelligence offers a lot of new features, including a new and improved Siri, Chat-GPT integration, Image Playground, Writing Tools, Image Clean-Up, and so much more. Introducing this big Apple upgrade at this price-point is a game changer. We can help you decide if Apple Intelligence is worth the upgrade. For more iPhone tips, don’t forget to check out our free Tip of the Day newsletter!
Better than the SE Models, Worse than the iPhone 16
The most notable thing about the iPhone 16e, erroneously referred to by some as the iPhone SE (4th generation), is that it is technically better but also more expensive than the previous SE models. The price is justified by its higher-end features, which we’ve already gone over. You also get features like the extra security of Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, and even Find My, all via satellite so that you can stay safe even if you are off the grid and can’t access your Cellular network or Wi-Fi.
The iPhone 16e also has Crash Detection, which can be set up to notify emergency services and your loved ones if you experience a car crash. Like previous SE models, the iPhone 16e doesn’t quite look like the higher-end models because it only has a single camera on the back, a notch rather than the Dynamic Island, and no Camera Control button (but it does have an Action Button!).
Who Should Get the iPhone 16e?
Any time we have a new iPhone release, the big question is, “Should I buy it?” If you have an iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, or an earlier iPhone model, the iPhone 16e will be an upgrade. However, if Apple Intelligence isn’t that important to you, or if you want to wait until the iPhone 17, then you may want to wait until this fall. Apple is offering pretty good trade-in prices, so it might be worth looking into it. If possible, I highly recommend that you stop by your nearest Apple Store and look at the iPhone 16e in person. If you don’t live near an Apple Store, check out Apple’s website and compare the iPhone 16e to your current model to see if it is worth the upgrade.
We’re excited to have a brand new iPhone in the iPhone 16 lineup. The iPhone 16e has many unexpectedly advanced features for a budget model iPhone, but those features come at a price that makes it hard to call “budget” with a straight face, and it is still missing a few of the benefits a regular iPhone 16 would offer you. If you’ve been itching to try out Apple Intelligence and you can’t quite justify the iPhone 16’s $799 starting price tag, the 16e is a more affordable way to dip your toes into Apple’s latest features.
