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iPhone 16e Is the 16e really priced that bad?

jntdroid said:
I'm referring mainly to the U.S. and UK where it's consistently $200 / £200 less than the 16. I've heard about the pricing in the EU and other countries where it's much higher and agree that's absurd.

I'm really not trying to troll here. But maybe it was just an expectation issue?

A week ago, the 128gb SE3 was selling for $479. From a cost standpoint, the 16e is an upgrade over the SE3 in every area.

A week ago, the standard 14 was selling for $599. And if you compare the two, here are the losses/gains with the 16e vs. the 14:
  • Loss: Magsafe
  • Loss: Ultra-wide camera / dual camera setup
  • Loss: UWB chip
  • Gain: Much better / newest processor
  • Gain: More RAM (8gb vs 6gb)
  • Gain: Much better battery life
  • Gain/Loss? Action button vs. mute switch
  • Gain/Loss? X65 modem in the 14 vs. the C1 Modem in the 16e
  • Gain/Loss? Apple Intelligence - not a fan myself, but if it does become something useful, the 16e will be able to do it...
I keep hearing people talk about how Magsafe is cheap and easy to add, a UWB chip is cheap and easy to add, etc. etc (I'm not a fan of those being left out either). But by that logic, the fact that they left those out means they aren't actually saving much at all in cost relative to the 14. But one still expects the 16e to be cheaper than the 14 was with all of the newer stuff as well?

It's a 25% price increase over the 128gb SE3, and I don't see how one could argue that it's not 25% better. And it's priced the same as the standard 14, which given cost gains/losses above, I don't see how one could argue it shouldn't be - or at least close.

When I take all of that into account, and the fact that it was just a week ago that Apple had that pricing for the SE3 and 14, I just don't think $600 is that bad of a deal. I know this is a hot topic, and I'm really not trying to troll here. I'm a numbers guy and this is just how my brain analyzes it.

Sidenote: I know the other argument is that a used 15 Pro makes more sense if it's in the same price range. I think that's a valid argument, IF you can find a good one. But the 15 Pro isn't being sold in any official retail capacity any more, so I don't think that should factor into the discussion on how the 16e is being priced in its official retail capacity.
Click to expand...

Regular iphone 14 camera sensor area is 80% more than 16e. This is not even comparable.
 
tried it in the apple store today and idk why but both the 16 and 16e feel slow and super jittery

happy i spent the “extra” on the 16 pro max.
 
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drugdoubles said:
Regular iphone 14 camera sensor area is 80% more than 16e. This is not even comparable.
Click to expand...

My post is about the whole product and its cost, not just the camera. Please don’t come into this thread and inundate it with strong opinions about the camera. That’s been thoroughly covered in your other thread.

UnifiedMelody said:
tried it in the apple store today and idk why but both the 16 and 16e feel slow and super jittery

happy i spent the “extra” on the 16 pro max.
Click to expand...

That’s likely the change from 120hz to 60hz. If you’re a person that notices it, then you’re going to feel that right away if you’re used to the 16pm.
 
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I think the much higher price is disappointing for those who purchase their phone outright, but that is not the majority of people.
For the majority of customers doing trade-ins or carrier deals, it probably won’t make much of a difference.
Apple apparently already has significantly higher sales projections for the 16e than the previous SE, so I doubt that they are worried.
Reportedly Apple expects to sell between 20 and 25 Million of these throughout 2025.
Compare this to the previous SE, which was selling somewhere around 10 to 15,000,000 units and I don’t think that they are worried.
Apple left the budget market because it was barely making a dent into their regular iPhone sales, the regular iPhone ## and the Pro Max always seem to dominate the best selling smartphones of every year, so it really didn’t make sense for them to continue.

$600 is a lot of money, but I have to agree with 91Tech’s latest iPhone buying guide where he pretty much says that the only two iPhones that should even be considered are the 16e and the Pro, unless you want to go into the world of EBay and Facebook marketplace.
If the 16e does anything, it makes the regular 16 an awful value, which explains why they are going to try to replace it with the Air.
 
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jntdroid said:
My post is about the whole product and its cost, not just the camera. Please don’t come into this thread and inundate it with strong opinions about the camera. That’s been thoroughly covered in your other thread.



That’s likely the change from 120hz to 60hz. If you’re a person that notices it, then you’re going to feel that right away if you’re used to the 16pm.
Click to expand...

That is the main difference, you make a list to compare then it makes sense to include.
 
Fyrus said:
The 16e just makes it painfully obvious how overpriced Apple’s latest phones are compared to the current market.
Click to expand...

The 16e offers plenty to justify its price over the SE3 including much larger display, twice the base stored, increased RAM, better camera setup, better chip, better modem, better battery, increased max brightness, super retina XDR display, Apple Intelligence, emergency SOS via satellite, roadside assistance via satellite, Messages via satellite, crash detection, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, ceramic shield, greater water resistance, etc.

The reality is that the starting/entry price of iPhones have always been on the higher side of the market going back to the original. You shouldn't go into a BMW showroom looking for Nissan starting prices just as you shouldn't go into an Apple Store looking for Motorola starting pricing.

Apple's pricing/product strategy seems to have worked quite well for them. According to reported estimates, 2021 to 2024 were the best global iPhone sales years ever.
 
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Just because the 16e is technically better value than the SE 3 that doesnt mean anything.
The SE 3 was a really, really bad value, even for Apple enthusiasts.
The 16e is not as bad, but still bad.
 
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webkit said:
Isn't the 17 Air "replacing" the 16 Plus, not the regular 16?
Click to expand...
This year, but I expect if it is successful, they will pull the same move they did with the original iPhone X and introduce a second screen size the following year, probably 6.1.
It would not shock me if there is no regular iPhone 18 and it’s just 18 Air in 6.1 and 6.7 inch versions.
Looking at the lineup for this year, the regular one clearly sticks out, the only one keeping basically the exact same design as the 16 so it appears the only real difference with the normal model will be a bump to the A19 and 120 Hz.
To me, this is very much a sign that the regular iPhone ## is going out the door over the next couple years, and the lineup is going to just be the big three.
e, Air and Pro, probably to be joined eventually with a Fold and/or a flip..
Just like the transition from the home button to the all screen design took a couple years for the line to completely reset and make sense starting with the 11 and 11 Pro, I believe we are at the very beginning stages of another complete iPhone line reset that will revolve around the Air and the Foldables being the main flagships while the e takes care of the entire market below $700 and the Pro fully dedicates itself to the cameras.

My assumption is that after these next couple years of transition, the line will look something like this…

iPhone 19e: $599
iPhone 19 Air in two sizes: $899 and $999
iPhone 19 Pro and Pro Max: $1199 and $1299
iPhone Flip: $1599
iPhone Fold: $1999
 
vvvvvv said:
Everything has gone up in price. It’s not overpriced for what it is. The people claiming otherwise are the same folks comparing it to flagships.
Click to expand...
You can get the Pixel 8a for below €400 and the Samsung S24 FE for below €500 (and their successor models within this year), which are roughly comparable. These are 30-45% cheaper than the 16e, for which around 10% discount is the best one can hope for.
 
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it sounds like most posts in this thread are saying something similar. the 16e offers good value for what it is, but it's price and feature set are just really close to other phones that apple is offering or has offered in the past.

that's my only real concern with this device is how incredibly little it does to diversify the iphone lineup. they cut the mini and made the SE the same size as the regular. now they offer 5 phones in 2 sizes.
 
webkit said:
Although the USD has weakened (or the euro has strengthened) a bit in the past week or so, the Italy price converted to USD is still fairly similar to the U.S. price.

The pre-VAT starting price in Italy is €591 which is currently around $640 USD (it was $614 USD a week ago) compared to pre-sales tax price of $599 for same phone in the U.S. Slightly higher but don't phones in the EU get additional warranty coverage? That could account for some of the price difference.

However, it is Italy's (and other European countries') high VAT that is responsible for much of the price differences. I hope you and/or your fellow citizens are at least able to get decent benefits from it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately VAT couldn’t be excluded when you go to pay 😅

I think that a 499€ iPhone could be a great seller for a lot of people (adolescent, retired people, everyone that need only a decent battery and a decent camera). And I say that as someone who paid 1k for 12 mini 256gb some years ago 😂
 
It’s pretty bad for what it is in my opinion. It’s €719 here, when for €750 you can get a Galaxy S25, the flagship, and in the 256GB configuration at that. In no universe am I picking the iPhone.

I’ve always seen the cheaper iPhone as the gateway drug to the Apple ecosystem. And the iPhone itself whichever one you pick is the gateway to the Mac, to AirPods, Watch, etc. An affordable iPhone is in theory very much a nice thing in the lineup and I expected it to come at the SE price.

I wouldn’t pay more than 429 for this one, in Euro at that.
 
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ayephoner said:
it sounds like most posts in this thread are saying something similar. the 16e offers good value for what it is, but it's price and feature set are just really close to other phones that apple is offering or has offered in the past.

that's my only real concern with this device is how incredibly little it does to diversify the iphone lineup. they cut the mini and made the SE the same size as the regular. now they offer 5 phones in 2 sizes.
Click to expand...

I just see people mainly say it is overpriced a lot
 
ayephoner said:
it sounds like most posts in this thread are saying something similar. the 16e offers good value for what it is, but it's price and feature set are just really close to other phones that apple is offering or has offered in the past.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarily call pricing of the 16e really close to other phones e.g., the price difference between the 16e and 16 is $230 which is even more than the $170 price difference between the 16 and 16 Pro. Just as some may buy the regular 16 over the 16 Pro to save money, some will buy the 16e over the regular 16 to save even more.
 
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stanza.richi said:
Unfortunately VAT couldn’t be excluded when you go to pay 😅
Click to expand...

True. I was just comparing Apple pricing (not Apple pricing plus government purchase taxes) in Italy versus the U.S. Excluding purchase taxes, prices are pretty similar. Italy, and other European countries, have much higher VAT than typical sales taxes in the U.S.

Just as VAT is added to the €591 price in Italy, state and/or local sales taxes would be added to the $599 price in the U.S.
 
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