iPhone 16e – Image Credit: Apple
Apple’s new iPhone 16e is the heir apparent to the iPhone SE, with the new model delivering Face ID and Apple Intelligence at a lower price point.
Launched on Wednesday, the iPhone 16e is a massive rebranding of the iPhone SE, both in terms of name and specification. While it’s unclear at this time what the “e” specifically means, it does at least denote it as possibly an “essential” version of the main iPhone family.
It is a major change from the iPhone SE’s iPhone 8 design to a much more modern vision. The latest edition now uses the design language used by the iPhone 14, with practically the same size and shape as the two-year-old flagship.
While it is very similar, complete with the same aluminum housing, there is one key modernization change. This iteration has USB-C in the base instead of Lightning.
Packing a 6.1-inch OLED screen, complete with a notch at the top, the new iPhone 16e also brings its biometric security kicking and screaming into the present. The last iPhone to use Touch ID has now been upgraded to use Face ID.
That change also means the introduction of the 12MP TrueDepth camera array, giving it the same depth capabilities as flagship devices.
One other external difference from the iPhone 14 is the rear camera, as Apple doesn’t use a dual-camera system on the iPhone 16e at all. There’s only one camera, and that also means no actual camera bump on the rear, resulting in a flatter overall device.
The camera that does remain is still a major upgrade for the SE model, with the fourth-gen version now using a 48MP imaging sensor. This is effectively the same sensor you’d see used as the main Wide camera on an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16.
Apple does include wireless charging in the iPhone 16e, but it’s not MagSafe. Instead, it will work with Qi-compatible wireless chargers, at up to 7.5W.
Like modern iPhones, the mute toggle has been switched out for an Action Button, but there isn’t a Camera Control button.
Budget Apple Intelligence
Arguably the biggest and most important upgrade in the iPhone 16e is a switch to the A18, the same one found in the base version of the iPhone 16. This gives the iPhone 16e the same sort of processing capabilities as the flagships, in a more cost-focused package.
The reason for this being important is that it gives consumers a much cheaper entry point to using Apple Intelligence on a smartphone. The previous cheapest Apple Intelligence option consumers could take was the iPad mini at $499, a position that device still maintains.
By using a thoroughly modern chip, Apple has made the iPhone 16e powerful enough to use the new generative AI toolsets.
This includes features like Writing Tools, image editing in Photos, generative imaging with Image Playground and Genmoji, and summarization tools. Siri is expected to get more improvements beyond supporting ChatGPT, with context awareness set to arrive in a future iOS update.
Other smaller changes
There are two other major improvements in the iPhone 16e over the third-gen SE model. For a start, the battery is much bigger, meaning it has a significantly higher capacity, and therefore a longer usage time versus the original.
The other is that it’s the first model to use Apple’s in-house 5G modem design. Previously known as codename “Sinope,” the modem was intended to replace Apple’s extensive use of Qualcomm modems in its hardware.
While a new modem design is key to Apple, it is still limited to sub-6GHz 5G, not the hyper-fast mmWave.
With the inclusion in the iPhone 16e, the model is now a test case for Apple, to make sure it got everything right before bringing it to other devices in its hardware catalog.
Other wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6 support, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC for Apple Pay, and the ability to use features like Emergency SOS Via Satellite.
The iPhone 16e is available in black and white options, capacities of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, and starts from $599. Preorders start from February 21, with availability from February 28.
