We'll have to pretend we’re shocked that Apple has just revealed the iPhone 16e, as anyone who's kept their ear close to the ground in the tech scene will know the successor to 2022's iPhone SE Gen 3 was leaked days ago.
Tipped as an iPhone for the more budget-conscious user, the original SE was released way back in 2016 and didn't quite come with all the bells and whistles of its bigger brothers, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
Jump forward to 2025, you might be confused for thinking the iPhone 16e will fill the gap between the iPhone 16 and the inevitable release of the iPhone 17 later this year. Instead, it's pitched as another budget-friendly model that's confusingly dropped its SE designation.
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Back when the original SE was launched, its lettering stood for 'Special Edition’.
There are criticisms that alongside the iPhone 14, the 2022 iPhone SE has also been killed off. This will force people into buying the 16e, with the current iPhone lineup being reduced to the iPhone 16e, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 series. With a new $599 price tag, it’s also eliminated the option for a sub-$500 iPhone.
Over on Reddit, the 16e has been branded a 'downgrade', with one disgruntled user writing: "This price is insane, $599 for a single camera phone. LMAO."
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Another added, "Am I tripping or didn’t the SE used to start at $399? A $200 jump seems crazy," and while the first SE came out nine years ago, there's no escaping the math for many on this one.
Referring to the official iPhone 16e landing page saying, "Latest iphone. Greatest price," someone else chuckled: "Greatest price and it starts at $599. Hilarious." Someone else fumed: "This is legit the grandparents upgrade."
When one person joked, "What's the 'e' stands for? economical?," another concluded, "Expensive."
That isn't to say the 16e isn't without its merits. As well as boasting a larger OLED panel and a better camera, the latest addition to the Apple family also includes the souped-up A18 chip that can support Apple Intelligence.
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The 2022 SE started at $429 with only 64GB of storage, so at least the 16e offers double that...for an extra $170.
Also new this time around, it's out with old of the Home Button, as Touch and Face ID come to SE lineage.
With a new full-screen design, the 16e looks a lot closer to the mainline 16 in design, just with a single camera. Speaking of which, Apple says the 16e's 48MP Fusion camera has "the capabilities of two cameras in one." Then again, there’s still the fact it’s just one camera.
There's a move from Lightning to USB-C, although the 16e is missing the rest of the 16 line's Action Button and Camera Capture controls.
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Others are unimpressed that the 16e won't support MagSafe connectivity, meaning MagSafe cases, chargers, battery packs, and wallets are just out of reach.
In general, it seems some could've stomached the 16e if it wasn't forcing us to downgrade our cameras and stick an extra $170 on the price of the SE while simultaneously killing that option off.