Apple announces newest budget phone: meet the iPhone 16e

Apple has ditched the ‘SE’ moniker and introduced its newest addition to the iPhone 16 family: the iPhone 16e.

The new phone has a 6.1” Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2532 by 1170 pixels. The screen’s max brightness is a whopping 1,200 nits, which should be no problem to use outdoors in bright sunlight. On top you’ll find a notch containing a 12 MP wide angle lens to make selfies and enable Face ID.

Its aluminum frame is IP68 dust and water resistant, and immersible up to 6 meters for 30 minutes. Apple will offer only two color options: black and white.

The iPhone 16e is powered by Apple’s A18 chip, which we first saw in the more expensive models that were launched in September last year. The CPU is equipped with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. In addition, it contains a quad-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, which enables the phone to power all AI features that Apple Intelligence has to offer.

The newest budget flagship is Apple’s first device to feature the C1 chip, an in-house modem designed for cellular connectivity. Apple claims the chip allows for longer battery life, but doesn’t provide any details.

Unlike its predecessor, the iPhone 16e doesn’t have a Lightning port but a USB-C connector. Apple took this step to comply with European legislation, which, as of last year, requires new phones to have a USB-C connector.

Instead of two lenses, the iPhone 16e only features one 48 MP sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS). The primary camera also enables as a 12 MP 2x telephoto lens. That’s why Apple calls it a 2-in-1 camera system.

The iPhone 16e does have an Action button, but it isn’t as advanced as the one in the upper price segment. The storage capacity varies, depending on how much you’re willing to spend. It starts at 128GB and goes all the way up to 512GB.

You can pre-order Apple’s newest budget phone on February 21. Shipments will start on February 28. The entry level iPhone 16e will cost $599, or €719. The 256GB and 512GB edition will carry a price tag of $699 and $899 respectively, or €849 and €1,099 in Europe.