I wouldn’t call $599 a budget price. Maybe it’s priced that way to prepare us for a $899 starting price for the iPhone 17 and $1,199 starting price for the 17 Pro?
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Apple Announces iPhone 16e With A18 Chip and Apple Intelligence, Pricing Starts at $599
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Tim: “Gotcha: profit, profit, and profit.”Mr. Cook. Remember the three P’s: Price price and price.📱
Back in 2013, people were buying the new entry "plastic" iPhone 5C for their kids and it started at $549 which is around $745 in today's dollars.
Imagine living in Canada. Our “budget” phone starts at $899 now.
Keep in mind, Canada’s richest province (Alberta) has a lower median income than the poorest state in the US (Mississippi).
The massive price hike kills budget consumers here. We’re basically priced out of buying any iPhone.
As an iPhone SE (3) owner since 2022, I am very disappointed. I was hoping for a new model that would not cost more than $450 base price. Instead of the 16e being a new "budget iPhone", we get just another premium iPhone. I genuinely like my SE's small, pocketable size, low(er) price, descent battery life, Qi wireless charging and zippy A15 processor. Now that's all up in smoke. Maybe it was too much to expect Apple to keep making a budget iPhone.
Crippled how? EXACTLY?
The A18 chip the chip currently in production and supports the latest iOS releases.You will get at least 5 years of official Apple support on this model.
If you were so concerned with having the absolute latest hardware you would not be looking at this phone anyways.
You want a cheap phone - buy a burner at your local mall.
You want one that is capable as a multimedia device at an affordable price point get this new iPhone.
Let me quote myself, it's crippled because:
every other iPhone that is released this year will have an A19.
Official support doesn't mean squat when notifications that used to be instant take 15+ seconds to appear, or apps become unusable on phones more than a couple years old.
You expected the 16e to get the A19 before the 17 lineup?
No, it's not meaningfully better than a 14P, which is cheaper.
And you bring up sales like that matters to any sane consumer. Why would I care if an overpriced piece of **** is popular?
I had a feeling they'd do this, that's why I kept my SE (22), it's not that bad of a phone when you need something temporarily smaller.
I don't like that. But I cannot think of the last time I used the Lightning port for anything but charging. And I wouldn't expect I would do any differently with any phone in the future.
After announcing a new and higher price “ground floor” at $599, it’s possible that’s exactly what Apple will do. It’s also possible the 17e will be introduced next year at the same price.
Here’s my prediction for later this year:
$599 16e
$799 17
$999 17 Air
$1,199 17 Pro (256GB base capacity)
$1,299 17 Pro Max
15 and 15 Plus discontinued
This is why MacRumors never clued in on the $499 price point being too low. The rumored spec made it obvious, but even after the 16e succeeded the iPhone 14 today ( 16e is based on the same design, introduced at the same price, and the 14 was discontinued on the same day as launch) MR still said this device (that's not called the SE or priced at the expected SE price) "succeeds the third generation SE."
The rumored specs (direct from supply chain sources) were right, but everything the rumor sites seemingly added to the story was wrong. $499 was wrong. SE was wrong. It was always obvious that at least one of those things was wrong (I took a lot of flak for pointing this out, so I'll take my partial victory lap). Instead of uncritically repeating the same information over and over again (9to5Mac was even worse) maybe take your own assumptions with a grain of salt and revisit them from time to time.
This wasn't, and seemingly never was the SE successor the rumor sites assumed it would be. Hopefully a true SE successor is in the works (based on the iPhone 13 mini pretty please). That $499 price point is still open if Apple wishes to fill it.
For the record, I guessed high. I thought (and still think) $699 made more sense, but $599 was within my range of expectations. MR has better sources than me. I just see what MR and other sites choose to share. I shouldn't be able to look at the information a rumor site provides and immediately understand that it's wrong, if the sites themselves don't. I was so confident that the price was wrong that I bought a refurbished iPhone 15 Pro as soon as the rumors "firmed" up. I would have considered waiting if I thought $499 would be right, but I didn't. Sadly, I was confident that the sites were right on the general form factor (and they were), because I would have waited for a mini SE if it was on the table of possibilities.
Hopeless mini iPhone dream aside, I'd love if MR would do some actual digging on the price end of things (instead of running with the same bad guess over and over). With the iPhone Air on the way (and possibly pulling buyers from the Pro) it's been my fear that Apple will take this opportunity to raise prices of the Pro (and all models) so that the average selling price of iPhones doesn't drop. Investors don't like that, and this is supported by Apple not keeping the iPhone 14 in the lineup at $499 today like they could have done. I mention the Pro because it's $999 and that's a very hard price point for Apple to break free from ($1099 seems so much worse). However, if the Air can be $999, then maybe it's problem solved and the Pro can be $1099. Problem solved for Apple of course. End result is we pay more.
I'd look into the iPhone 15 supply chain. Is it going to see production beyond this fall? If it's getting discontinued (to have an all AI lineup), the iPhone 17 may not see a price hike because the $699 price would be available for the 16 to drop to. The Air (replacing the plus) and the Pro/Pro Max still could, but wouldn't "need" to based on available $100 price slots. If the isn't discontinued this fall, I think a base price hike for the 17 and above is pretty likely.
I don't think the price of the 16e changes prices in the fall (but it is possible, and then my speculation is moot). If the 16e price doesn't move, the 15 and above probably can't drop more than $50 (Apple could switch to $X49 prices instead of $X99 ones) and may not move at all. Assuming no movement, this would force the 17 (based on $100 price intervals staying as is) to $899, Air (formerly Plus) to $999 and Pro to $1099. Take $50 off if Apple were to switch to $X49 prices instead, but that would still be a $50 increase over current.
A good challenge for MR would be to try and get the price right for the Air (and hopefully the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup) to make up for the SE miss. Rumor sites were off to bad start biting on both the SLIM name and the rumor that it would cost more than a pro max. I think (hope) they've come back to earth on both of those fronts though. As the Air is Apple's most popular brand name and it's obviously replacing the Plus (which has not been the most popular), so it should be priced between the 17 and 17 Pro.... start there, but don't assume the 17 will start at the same price as the 16. We don't know that, and that's why I come to rumor sites... Please don't trip on the start line again. I want MacRumors (and reasoned analysis), not MacRumors (with terrible assumptions on repeat).
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Behind but still fast as hell for a phone. People buying this will not likely be shooting and editing videos in raw etc. For something you pay $25/mo for, or get for close to free from a phone company, and use for 2-4 years, it will run fine, won't it?
MagSafe will be feature drip for iPhone 18e, this is how Cook does business.
Tbh I don’t really use MagSafe or Qi, it’s nice to have like the ultra-wide lens but not much practicality. Might as well plug it in and charge it quickly.
rih here: https://news.microsoft.com/source/f...1-chip-carves-new-path-for-quantum-computing/Umm, say what?
Microsoft-led team retracts quantum 'breakthrough'
The team believed they had found evidence of particles useful to developing quantum computing.www.bbc.co.uk
By the way, I may have figured out the market for the iPhone 16e:
Because the iPhone 16e likely uses less expensive materials than the iPhone 16, it means the phone is more amenable to discounts later this year, including unlocked versions, without affecting unduly the profit from the phone. I wouldn't be surprised the iPhone 16e 256 GB could be sold as little as US$549 unlocked by August 2025 at many retailers, for example Best Buy.
- Upgrading from an older iPhone SE model.
- Upgrading from (probably) an iPhone 7 or 8 model.
- First-time iPhone buyers who want most of the current iPhone technology.
Because the iPhone 16e likely uses less expensive materials than the iPhone 16, it means the phone is more amenable to discounts later this year, including unlocked versions, without affecting unduly the profit from the phone. I wouldn't be surprised the iPhone 16e 256 GB could be sold as little as US$549 unlocked by August 2025 at many retailers, for example Best Buy.
Next year's 17e will get A19, MagSafe. The 17 Pro/Pro Max will get the new camera module design, A19 Pro chips, 12GB of RAM. The 17 and 17 Air will get A19, ProMotion display/AoD (rumored). Camera updates across the board with all models getting the C1 modem as well. That makes sense for the updates this cycle.
What an absolute clown show of a comment you just made. 👋