Apple has just announced the iPhone 16e, which will cost $899. That’s $320 more than the iPhone SE from several years ago. The iPhone 16e offers some major improvements over the SE, but is it enough to justify the higher price?
The 16e features elements found on a variety of newer iPhones, leaving the outdated design of the iPhone SE in the past. The new phone seems to take parts from the iPhone 13 and even the iPhone 16. For example, it has a 6.1-inch display that seems straight from the iPhone 13, which has the exact pixel resolution (1170 x 2532), 800 nits of brightness, and 1,200 nits of peak brightness.
Camera-wise, you’re looking at a similar shooter to the iPhone 16 with a 48-megapixel Fusion camera capable of taking high-resolution photos with 2x zoom. That said, it is missing the ultra-wide camera found on the iPhone 15 and 16.
The handset also has the Action Button that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro series. Users can customize the Action Button with tons of functionality, such as toggling mute, activating certain features like Focus mode, activating voice control and more. Plus with the new iPhone 16e you can even use visual intelligence from the Action button.
The iPhone 16e also has the A18 chip with a 4-core GPU, which is one core less than the version of the A18 chip found in the iPhone 16. On a day-to-day basis, this shouldn’t make a difference, but if you play a lot of games, you may want a phone with more GPU power. The iPhone 16e also lacks the Camera Control feature that debuted on the 16 series, but that’s likely not a make-or-break feature for most casual iPhone buyers.
If you were a fan of the iPhone SE you’ll be sad to see Apple has retired the home button and Touch ID. The SE was also the last iPhone device with a Lightning port, which also lays to rest the aging charging spec. Check out a full comparison of the specs below:
iPhone 16e pre-orders launch on February 21st, and the phone will be available on the 28th.
Header image credit: Apple
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