Apple kicked off its “big week” by announcing the latest budget iPhone, its first with MagSafe, alongside an updated iPad Air. The new iPhone 17e is set for release next Wednesday, March 11, and preorders open from March 4.
The iPhone 17e is priced at $599 with 256GB of storage to start. That’s double the base storage of last year’s iPhone 16e, which cost the same.
Apple says the iPhone 17e runs on its A19 chip, the same processor as the standard iPhone 17. It packs its new C1X cellular modem, which is supposedly up to twice as fast as the iPhone 16e’s C1 modem. It also features support for MagSafe wireless charging — a first for Apple’s budget smartphone line.
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The iPhone 17e is the smallest, cheapest, and pinkest member of the iPhone 17 family.
Credit: Apple
The iPhone 17e sports the same 6.1-inch OLED display as its predecessor, but an improved Ceramic Shield 2 front cover like its iPhone 17 series siblings. Additionally, it has a new 48MP Fusion rear camera system and a new soft pink finish. It’s slightly heavier than the iPhone 16e to accommodate these upgrades (5.96 ounces versus 5.88 ounces).
Apple announces new iPhone 17e, a $599 budget smartphone with MagSafe
Here’s a quick overview of its full spec sheet:
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6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display
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Ceramic Shield 2 front cover
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A19 chip
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Up to 26 hours of video playback
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12MP TrueDepth front camera
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48MP Fusion rear camera system (48MP Fusion Main camera)
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Emergency SOS and Crash Detection
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MagSafe wireless charging
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256GB or 512GB of storage
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Rated IP68
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Apple Intelligence
Mashable’s Stan Schroeder thought the iPhone 16e was “pretty great when compared to other members of the iPhone 16 family,” but dinged it for lacking MagSafe and being pricier than the old iPhone SE. (That was Apple’s prior budget iPhone offering.) In the iPhone 17e, Apple has made several upgrades that bump its value on top of resolving the MagSafe issue. Stand by for our full review, but on paper, it looks incredibly promising.
