Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I’m still rocking an XS because of the godawful camera bumps on every other iPhone model. I’ll keep my iPad and MBP up to the latest spec and I just don’t use my phone for anything that needs higher specs. Will buy the 16e for sure - just wondering why Verizon doesn't have any deals on it.
 
My parents need to upgrade their SE's so will be buying the 16e 🤷‍♂️

yea I feel people wanted a smaller 16 with all the same stuff for $499.... that was not going to happen.

Be happy they didnt give you a new "SE" for $600 with a iPhone 14 or 15 chip. Did the old SE have the things people are crying about?

again this is their baseline phone cheaper than a iPhone 15.

It has USB C - now all my family phones will have the same stupid cable
has the new chips

people I will get the 16e do not care about MagSafe(I am the only one that uses it and never on my phone). Most people don't care about the camera.

is the phone the worst thing ever? No.... is it better than I expected for more than I expected? Yes.

It was never going to be something for those with 13/14 pros to cheaply upgrade with.

with carrier promos this will probably be pretty cheap so a lot of people will upgrade to it. also being the same Model number will stop that ew.... SE label
 
In Canada, the SE (128GB) sold for $649. Still not an inexpensive phone, but almost justifiable if keen on an Apple device - and only if you didn't compare it to other brand's discount models. But the 16E at $899? Apple has given up any pretense of an affordable iPhone.

That said, my spidey senses were telling me back in November that something like this would happen. I was looking forward to buying outright the next SE / 16E, but then I got the feeling I should look elsewhere - during Black Friday sales, I picked up a new Plan from a phone carrier which included a 24 month lease of a 16 at $5 / month. If I choose to keep it at the end of the lease, I pay an additional $300 - for a total price of $420.

Will carriers even offer the 16E as an option? Still doesn't justify the CDN price.
 
In Canada, the SE (128GB) sold for $649. Still not an inexpensive phone, but almost justifiable if keen on an Apple device - and only if you didn't compare it to other brand's discount models. But the 16E at $899? Apple has given up any pretense of an affordable iPhone.

That said, my spidey senses were telling me back in November that something like this would happen. I was looking forward to buying outright the next SE / 16E, but then I got the feeling I should look elsewhere - during Black Friday sales, I picked up a new Plan from a phone carrier which included a 24 month lease of a 16 at $5 / month. If I choose to keep it at the end of the lease, I pay an additional $300 - for a total price of $420.

Will carriers even offer the 16E as an option? Still doesn't justify the CDN price.

I do agree that the price in Canada is too high for 16E
 
Will carriers even offer the 16E as an option? Still doesn't justify the CDN price.
Only time will tell. I think carriers will offer it as the lower cost iOS option once their stock of 14/15 models dry up.

I do agree that the price in Canada is too high for 16E
The price is a little nuts up here. But I still think people will go for it through the carriers if it is an option.

I was talking with my partner about this last night and we agreed that for a bunch of people we personally know this phone would be the one they get if it's through Bell, Rogers, Koodo, etc. Each thing removed would be a shoulder shrug.

Like put them in a store settings and comparing the 16e to the 16 would be like this:

"It doesn't have an ultra-wide lense."
What? / I don't have that anyway / I don't use it anyway.

"It doesn't have MagSafe"
What's that?
"It has magnets so you can slap on a wireless charger and it will stay attached to the back of the phone"
I just plug it in to charge it.

"It has USB-C"
What?
"It has a different charging cable"
Do I need to buy that too?
"No it comes with it."
Okay good.

"It doesn't have the Dynamic Island"
The what?
"See how on the regular 16 the cutout looks like a capsule? On the 16e you can see here it is more of a notch."
Well I already have a notch. / Well I don't really care.


I think people are confusing the idea that a phone that isn't for them equals a phone for no one.

edit: the one thing I am a little salty about with it is the Action Button. I love the Alert Slider and I use it nearly every single day. I've come to terms that my next iPhone won't have it but I'm still not happy about it.
 
Only time will tell. I think carriers will offer it as the lower cost iOS option once their stock of 14/15 models dry up.

Carriers in the U.S. are already offering the 16e at "discount" (with minimum plan) prices. AT&T, for example, offers a 128GB 16e for $215.64 ($5.99/month for 36 months) with a $60.99+ plan.

I would assume something similar would happen in Canada??
 
Carriers in the U.S. are already offering the 16e at "discount" (with minimum plan) prices. AT&T, for example, offers a 128GB 16e for $215.64 ($5.99/month for 36 months) with a $60.99+ plan.

I would assume something similar would happen in Canada??
Eventually, yes. For now though probably not, new phones, especially new iPhones, rarely go on sale for the first couple of months.
 
Carriers in the U.S. are already offering the 16e at "discount" (with minimum plan) prices. AT&T, for example, offers a 128GB 16e for $215.64 ($5.99/month for 36 months) with a $60.99+ plan.

I would assume something similar would happen in Canada??

If compared to U.S. carriers, the charge in Canada is somehow higher, as my observation, means normally less discount.

One thing may hold me back is the 60Hz screen, as I can tell the difference with my pro model and iPhone 11 which is 60Hz.
 
Last edited:
Only time will tell. I think carriers will offer it as the lower cost iOS option once their stock of 14/15 models dry up.


The price is a little nuts up here. But I still think people will go for it through the carriers if it is an option.

I was talking with my partner about this last night and we agreed that for a bunch of people we personally know this phone would be the one they get if it's through Bell, Rogers, Koodo, etc. Each thing removed would be a shoulder shrug.

Like put them in a store settings and comparing the 16e to the 16 would be like this:

"It doesn't have an ultra-wide lense."
What? / I don't have that anyway / I don't use it anyway.

"It doesn't have MagSafe"
What's that?
"It has magnets so you can slap on a wireless charger and it will stay attached to the back of the phone"
I just plug it in to charge it.

"It has USB-C"
What?
"It has a different charging cable"
Do I need to buy that too?
"No it comes with it."
Okay good.

"It doesn't have the Dynamic Island"
The what?
"See how on the regular 16 the cutout looks like a capsule? On the 16e you can see here it is more of a notch."
Well I already have a notch. / Well I don't really care.


I think people are confusing the idea that a phone that isn't for them equals a phone for no one.

edit: the one thing I am a little salty about with it is the Action Button. I love the Alert Slider and I use it nearly every single day. I've come to terms that my next iPhone won't have it but I'm still not happy about it.

Agree every single point
 
Because they will. There's too many compromises in the 16e FOR ME as a tech enthusiast, but to the general consumer... It's a $200 savings/discount compared to the standard 16 and that's more than enough for most.

Also, numerous prepaid MVNOs (Straight Talk and Total Wireless for example) are already offering it for $299 when you pay for a month of premium service.
 
Last edited:
It's basically replacing the iPhone 14 at the same price with an arguably better device that will get iOS updates for longer. If you were someone who was at all interested in buying an iPhone 14 in order to save money (compared with the 15 and 16), you basically get a phone that, with the exception of the Dynamic Island, MagSafe, and the wide angle camera, is better in every other way than the 15 at $100 less.

Apple is obviously out of the SE business, but I can't believe that it's going to impact their business all that much at all.
That sounds a bit like the " what have the Romans ever done for us sketch "
 
That sounds a bit like the " what have the Romans ever done for us sketch "
lol

I also just realized that in a lot of the "this is what the 16e doesn't have" posts I don't really see people mentioning the Camera Control button. Maybe this shows how much people care about it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tenkaykev
Welp...
1740159772671.png
 
Flaws? What flaws? Not everyone needs the latest and greatest or the best. Why would someone pay to upgrade something if they're not going to make use of it? Some people couldn't care less about the camera or the other bells and whistles and just want a simple smartphone. Apple knows what they are doing; they're not dumb.
Exactly. I'm not in the market for this phone, but I typically have 10 minutes of talk and 10 texts (that I actually want) per month on my phone. The cheapest available flip phone is more than enough for me, and that is what I have. It's five years old by the way.

So this new phone is targeted for those who need more than I do, but less than the $1000 (and up) super phones. It's a perfectly valid target market segment.
 
if I absolutely needed to buy a phone and the supply of used 12 and 13 minis had been exhausted, then I would consider this as the next best option
 
  • Like
Reactions: Porco
..,.but at $600 I'd save a little more and buy an iPhone 16 for $800

What do you think about this?
For me this has always been Apple's calculation. Apple employees do not need upsell because the pricing does the for them. As you described, for only $200 more you can get an iPhone 16. And, for Apple doing no more work, you just spent 33% more than you were planning on spending. :)
 
Won't a lot of cell companies just throw this in for free with a 2 year contract? That's my guess.

Look at it this way. My wife has an iPhone 8 and doesn't care about the latest or greatest. If I upgrade for her, it might just be a 15 pro with a new battery or something. I don't think a lot of people will do that. They want something new and easy. They'll get the "cheap(er)" phone. They won't bother comparing processors or whatever.
T-Mobile is doing exactly that.
 
That's the big takeaway, I agree

This could very well be step one in a price hike across the board

Even if it's not, though, it's does get shoppers "closer to the next option", like they've done to Mac configurations for years now, which kick starts the "well if I'm already at X price ... I could just spend a little bit more and get Y!" process.

It's crazy how much mental manipulation is "Cook'd" into Apple product offerings and the overall design of the lineups and pricing.

Some call it "great business" - fair

I personally consider it a nearly abusive relationship with your customers

View attachment 2484185
Apple's pricing has always been this way; it is not a product of Tim Cook's "manipulation."
 
  • Like
Reactions: russell_314
I kind of wonder about this one. It’s not like magnetic car mounts weren’t a thing before MagSafe but if someone already has a MagSafe mount, they may not be happy that their phone doesn’t work with it. However, I don’t think this is product marketed to the “cool kids” so grandma might not have a MagSafe mount in her car. I think this is a really entry-level fountain because it’s even below the base model iPhone that most people are still going to buy.


You’re absolutely correct. Apple is really good at figuring out what customers actually want and making a product that’s competitive so they’ll buy it. That’s the hallmark of a good company.



It’s definitely not what I’d call cheap because you can buy an android phone for less than $100. I do like it though because it lowers the bar of entry to the iOS ecosystem sort of like the Mac mini does for macOS.
Can someone explain why I need a MagSafe car mount?
 
  • Like
Reactions: russell_314
I pre-ordered one. Why? Because I am an iPhone weirdo/collector/afficianado of sorts, and I happened to like the clean matte white color and classic Apple design. Do I care about what anyone on the forums thinks? Absolutely not, but I understand why it's not necessary for the majority of "techies" who already have a pretty recent smartphone. I do wish it was a more "SE-sized" device, but oh well. I also am a bit sad we don't have a ProductRED edition, alas, I probably would've gone for the matte white anyway.

Screenshot 2025-02-21 at 12.47.42 PM.png
Screenshot 2025-02-21 at 12.48.03 PM.png
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.