Apple’s next iPhone launch is expected to be one of its cheapest. With the new iPhone 17e, a follow up to last years first generation iPhone 16e – the company will add three important upgrades to the device, though one thing won’t be changing: the price.
iPhone 17e upgrades
In today’s Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shares the following details on iPhone 17e:
The new iPhone 17e, which replaces the 16e from a year ago, is due imminently. The big changes include the device getting the A19 chip from the iPhone 17 and MagSafe charging. And it’s shifting to Apple’s newest in-house cellular and wireless chips, I can confirm. I’ve also been told that the company is planning to keep pricing the same, at $599, setting up a simple advertising pitch: You’ll get more features for the same cost.
In short, it’ll be a no-thrills upgrade – as we already expected. New chipset, MagSafe, and improved wireless chipsets – likely Apple’s C1X and new N1 chip. The first Apple modem, C1, debuted in iPhone 16e, while the new N1 networking chip and upgraded C1X modem debuted in the iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air respectively.
And yes, the price will remain the same. I can’t imagine anyone would’ve expected the iPhone 17e to get more expensive, but many people were disappointed with the price point of last year’s iPhone 16e. If you were hoping for a price reduction, that likely own’t be the case.
One thing of note is that previous iPhone 17e rumors suggested that Apple would introduce Dynamic Island on its cheapest iPhone. Gurman makes no mention of that here. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not going to happen, but it is worth noting.
It’s also unclear if Apple will be increasing the amount of base storage from 128GB to 256GB as they did on every other iPhone 17 model.
Wrap up
All in all, iPhone 17e is exactly what you would expect for a one year follow up to a budget-tier Apple product.
iPhone 17e at $599 honestly does feel slightly odd in the context of the rest of the iPhone lineup. Currently, Apple sells iPhone 16e at $599, iPhone 16 starting at $699, iPhone 17 at $799, iPhone Air at $999, and iPhone 17 Pro starting at $1099.
If iPhone 17e includes 256GB of base storage at $599, that will make it more compelling than the 128GB iPhone 16 at $699, though it does still feel like the iPhone 17e will have a hard time matching up to the iPhone 16 at just $100 more. iPhone 16 offers an ultrawide camera and a plethora of nice-to-have features that iPhone 17e won’t offer.
Though, it’s possible none of that will matter. In all likelihood, iPhone 17e will mostly sell at a steep discount through US carrier deals and whatnot, so the true cost on Apple’s website may be irrelevant to the phones success.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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