Apple has launched a new iPhone, however what was anticipated to be a brand new iPhone SE announcement this morning has became a very new product line: the iPhone 16e. This is not precisely a follow-up to the iPhone SE from three years in the past, although it formally replaces it. Additionally gone is the iPhone 14, that means Apple’s iPhone lineup now consists of the iPhone 16e, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 sequence. Apple introduced the new system on-line with out a lot fanfare.
The iPhone 16e is accessible for preorder beginning on February 21 for $599, which successfully eliminates the choice of a sub-$500 iPhone. Official gross sales kick off on February 28. This is what’s new with Apple’s newest iPhone.
A Trendy, ‘Cheaper’ iPhone
The brand new iPhone 16E, which is a religious successor to the iPhone SE, says goodbye to hallmarks just like the Contact ID-infused residence button and thick bezels across the show in favor of the fashionable look that is been headlining Apple’s iPhones for the previous few years. Meaning an all-screen entrance, now using an OLED panel, with Face ID baked into the digicam notch.
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{Photograph}: Apple
In contrast to the present iPhone 16 lineup, this iPhone does not use the Dynamic Island system of a floating bar across the front-facing digicam that exhibits dwell info from apps like Maps and Uber. Right here, the digicam notch is only a static void. The display screen is 6.1 inches, the identical measurement because the iPhone 16, an enormous leap from the 4.7-inch display screen on the third-gen iPhone SE. This isn’t a tiny telephone anymore, a blow to anybody hoping for an additional small iPhone—particularly since Apple killed off the iPhone Mini sequence a couple of years in the past.
Annoyingly, this iPhone continues to be caught with a 60-Hz display screen refresh price though most different smartphones at this worth characteristic a 90- or 120-Hz refresh price. The next price means a smoother expertise utilizing the telephone with fluid animations. Apple calls this ProMotion and it is nonetheless solely accessible within the iPhone Professional sequence, although it is anticipated to reach within the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus later this yr for the primary time.
Additionally notable is the swap from a Lightning charging port to a USB-C port. Apple first switched to the common port on the iPhone 15 vary in 2023, and this replace means the whole iPhone lineup lastly options USB-C. Sadly, just like the iPhone 16, the port’s knowledge switch speeds stay the identical at 480 Mbps. For sooner speeds, you may want to purchase the iPhone 16 Professional.
Apple stopped promoting the 2022 mannequin of the iPhone SE and different Lightning-based units within the European Union in December 2024 to adjust to rules that required the common USB-C port on units like telephones and tablets. The sooner-than-expected launch of the iPhone 16e suggests Apple needed to shortly fill within the hole and produce a low-cost iPhone again to that market.
