Apple announced the "iPhone 16e," the successor to the iPhone SE, on February 20, 2025, late at night Japan time. Its appearance is like a blend of the iPhone 13 and XR divided by two.
This time, "e" instead of "SE" will be used for the budget-friendly series.
It comes in three storage capacities: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, and two colors: White and Black.
In terms of features, it gives the impression of keeping only what's necessary while cutting away excess along with costs.
It doesn't support MagSafe and doesn't support 25W wireless charging. It is capable of Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W.
However, it does have an Action button, and the battery life (video playback) is about 4 hours longer compared to the 16. (16e offers up to 26 hours, while 16 offers 22 hours) And of course, it adopts a USB Type-C connector. It weighs 167g, almost the same as the 16 (170g).
The price starts from 99,800 yen (tax included), or from 4,158 yen/month (tax included) with 24 monthly payments. It will be released on February 28, with pre-orders starting from 10 PM on February 21.
While the iPhone SE 3rd generation used an LCD, the 16e adopts the same OLED Super Retina XDR display as the 16. However, with a maximum brightness of 800 nits (compared to 16's 1,000 nits), it's slightly dimmer.
It features the latest A18 SoC. While the CPU core count remains the same, the GPU has 4 cores, which is one core less than the standard 16.
Although it has only one camera, Apple calls it a "two-in-one camera system," capable of taking ultra-high-resolution photos at 24MP and 48MP. It can shoot video up to 4K at 60fps and offers 1x and 2x optical zoom. It cannot do 0.5x wide-angle shooting.
Additionally, it features Apple's C1 cellular modem for the first time. According to Apple, "It's the most power-efficient modem ever included in an iPhone." While it may not be very noticeable in use, its inclusion in the 16e suggests possible adoption in future models like the iPhone 17.
Pre-order on Apple here
The iPhone SE has traditionally been utilized for corporate phones due to its affordability, but this time it has seen a significant price increase as the cost of upgrading. Will it be able to maintain its position as a budget model? It seems a bit questionable.
Regardless, it's always exciting when a new device comes out.
