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The Pixel 9a eats this thing alive on the spec sheet and I do think it will win over more people who want a good smartphone that's not a thousand bucks or more. An SE around 400 dollars was such a no brainer for cost conscious people -- with life becoming insanely more expensive and income not rising to match, now the cheaper and likely better Pixel 9a is where normal people who still want something decent will throw their money.
The SE was a great value, but smaller LCD screen, 64gb, and older hardware. So, yeah cheap, but it was a significant compromise. This is not an SE phone, it's a cheaper 16 with the same screen, an a18 chip, and same base 128 gb storage as the regular 800 usd 16. People will be buying these for their kids, imo. I think they're going to sell really well, but hurt 16 sales.
 
Gotta love the boomers in this thread complaining about a really solid $600 iPhone.

Time to upgrade your iPhone 7!

“Really solid” is subjective
Also why the need to attack
iPhone 7 and certain folks?

I for one still have a working collection
Or 6, 6S, 8, 11, 12, SE2 , SE3 and 13
that work just fine and
I sold of a 7 a while ago 🤷‍♀️
 


Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.

Apple-iPhone-16e-Feature.jpg

The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the end of an era.

The iPhone 16e is powered by an A18 chip, enabling support for Apple Intelligence features, such as notification summaries and Genmoji for creating custom emoji. In the iPhone 16e, the A18 chip has a 6-core CPU and a 16-core Neural Engine, but a binned 4-core GPU. The A18 chip in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus has a 5-core GPU.


The device is also equipped with an Apple-designed 5G modem called the C1, whereas other iPhones have a Qualcomm modem. Apple says its own modem is so power efficient that the iPhone 16e offers the longest battery life of any 6.1-inch iPhone model ever. For example, Apple says the iPhone 16e can get up to 26 hours of battery life for video playback, up from 22 hours on the standard iPhone 16.

Apple on the C1 modem:On the back of the iPhone 16e is a single 48-megapixel Fusion camera, which provides a 2x "optical-quality" Telephoto option, according to Apple. On the front, there is a 12-megapixel camera with autofocus.

Other key features include an Action button with Visual Intelligence support, a USB-C port instead of a Lightning port, a Ceramic Shield front cover, IP68-rated water resistance, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3. The device does not have the Camera Control button that was introduced across the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup last year. In addition, the iPhone 16e lacks MagSafe.


In the U.S., the iPhone 16e lacks a physical SIM card slot, but it is still present in other countries.

iPhone 16e supports Apple's satellite features. When outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, the iPhone 16e supports Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages, and Find My via satellite. Availability of the features varies by country.

Apple will be accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 16e starting at 5 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, February 21, and the device launches on Friday, February 28 in 59 countries and regions. In the U.S., pricing starts at $599. The device is available in white or black, and with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage capacities.

Article Link: Apple Announces iPhone 16e With A18 Chip and Apple Intelligence, Pricing Starts at $599
Had it not had the old notch, best buy for me..

Well, hoping for at least the current one on it next year. Then I’m sold.
 
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600 (closer to 700 after tax) bucks for the new "budget" iphone with no magsafe, binned gpu, notch, 60hz refresh rate, and only 128gb. Hilariously poor value. It's just too damn expensive for what it is. I really wish I didn't hate Android so I could just buy the new pixel 9a and feel like I got something for my money other than an unwanted buggering.

The SE is truly dead. Once the mac Mini of the iphone lineup. New one came along every few years and overperformed w/r/t price point. One of the true value buys Apple offered up. Welp, no more.
It's a far better value than the 14 it replaces.

It's going to sell so much better than the 14 would have this year, or the 15 in 2026. And compared to the 2022 SE? Please
 
No magsafe seems like a huge miss. That's a deal breaker for me. I am surprised Apple left this out. I wonder if it was do to cost, or manufacturing/space issues.
Update. Wireless charging still works on this phone. You can always get a case with mag safe (like spigen) and still use magsafe accessories.
 
The SE was a great value, but smaller LCD screen, 64gb, and older hardware. So, yeah cheap, but it was a significant compromise. This is not an SE phone, it's a cheaper 16 with the same screen, an a18 chip, and same base 128 gb storage as the regular 800 usd 16. People will be buying these for their kids, imo. I think they're going to sell really well, but hurt 16 sales.

That's why it's the iPhone 16e, and not the iPhone SE (2025). Apple is positioning this as a cheaper alternative to the iPhone 16, and not as a "budget" iPhone. Apple could have called it the iPhone 16 Essentials edition.
 
I wouldn’t even call it a 16 in new pajamas. The 16 is a better phone in several ways. I lol’d when looking at Apple’s website and found their numbers are from comparing it to the iPhone 11. I mean, I hope a new phone, ‘budget’ or not, would stack up well against a phone from 5 generations ago. Sheesh.
 
I guess the price difference is regional. Here it's 110$ difference for the 128GB model.

Where is "here"? Switzerland? If so, the 128GB 16e in Switzerland is CHF 629 (with VAT/fees) compared to CHF 849 (with VAT/fees) for the 128GB 16. That's a CHF 220 difference. I, again, wouldn't say the 16e is "barely cheaper than the 16" as you had put it.
 
Is that it? All that waiting just for a new SE. What happened to all the other products I’m waiting for like new MBA and new iPads? How much longer do we have to wait for them?
 
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'Deflation' makes the 16e £480 at the time of the SE 3 launch, priced £420 in 2020. I'd prefer it to be cheaper and smaller, but the SE 3 form was around for a very long time with high inflation in the meantime. For further comparison the 16e is deflated to £450 in 2016 when the first SE was launched at £360.
 
It's a far better value than the 14 it replaces.

It's going to sell so much better than the 14 would have this year, or the 15 in 2026. And compared to the 2022 SE? Please
You can easily find a 14 pro with 1tb of storage for less than the base 16e. Would much rather have that phone. It has magsafe, it has a dynamic island, it has a better camera, it has 120hz refresh rate...

You take away the names and release dates of the two phones and compare them and the 14P wins by a mile. usb-c and AI are not a huge draw IMO.

At a max starting point of $499 it would have been good. $400-450, great. $600? Joke.
 
This is hurting...just looked at the google phone website and their Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is $899...comes with 16gb ram, 24+ hours of battery life, etc. What do you think is going to happen when Google releases the Pixel 9a? It's going to run wild on Apple and the 16e. Tim Cook really needs to go, this is blunder after blunder with him. I'm open to other brands and products (I really wanted the Ubuntu Phone!), but I can't even defend apple anymore at this point as much as I liked their products in the past. Zero innovation, higher prices, and no end in sight with Tim at the helm.
 
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