Apple just revealed the iPhone 16e, here’s how to compare to the competition

The new iPhone 16e is designed to put Apple Intelligence in the largest hand as possible. The company recently began to activate its AI default features during iOS setting, which implies a more difficult impetus to attract the reception and establish iOS as an AI first platform. But since Apple Intelligence is only available in the iPhone 16 series (and only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max before), there have not been below $ 600 iPhone, which can manage the latest set of tools. So adding the $ 599 iPhone 16e to Apple’s composition is not surprising.

What it was The framework was slightly unexpected. The arrival of the iPhone 16e was announced by feverish speculation about a new iPhone SE, which was last released three years ago for a starting price of $ 429. Although the iPhone 16e is cheaper than the rest of the iPhone 16 family, its price is certainly not what we can consider to be a “budget” or “initial level”.

The arrival of Apple Intelligence at an iPhone at a lower price is thanks to one of its biggest SE: A18 CHIP upgrades (the same processor from the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus). This makes it the cheapest AI-equipped Apple model with $ 300. However, this is a lot of bump from (now retired) iPhone SE of $ 429.

Fortunately, there is no omission of Apple Intelligence features for the cheaper model; You get all AI extras found on the more expensive iPhone. This includes writing tools for AI, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, Chatgpt Integration and Wotification Summary.

The phone has a much larger display than its predecessor: 6.1 inches, up from 2022. Only 4.7 inches per iPhone SE. This is also the first model at the entry level to perceive the design of the full screen of the modern iPhone with Face ID. (Pour one for the retired home button.

It also receives the action button, the adaptive physical shortcut on the part of the phone. He debuted in the iPhone 15 Pro series and is in all iPhone 16 models.

The iPhone 16e also meets EU standards by moving from lightning to USB-C, which is probably the least surprising thing about it. He also lacks Magsafe loading, adhering to the standard Qi wireless charging of up to 7.5W.

The Geeky Tech Specs list does not tell the whole story, but it can still serve as a starting point. Here’s how the new entry-level iPhone compares to the previous Apple model and its two largest rivals, managed by Android: Google Pixel 8A and Samsung Galaxy A35 5G. (Although the A35 is not quite in the same price range, it serves a similar niche in Samsung.)

Update, February 19, 2025, 13:46 et: This story has been updated to add more context to the iPhone 16e in the intrroace, covering speculation that Apple plans to launch a new model of the iPhone SE.