iPhone 16e

Introduced in February 2024, the iPhone 16e is the next-generation version of the iPhone SE, and it is the most affordable iPhone that Apple sells at the current time.

The iPhone 16e is a blend of the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 16 in terms of design, featuring a 6.1-inch OLED display with a notch for the TrueDepth camera system, an aluminum frame with squared-off edges, a Ceramic Shield display, a single-lens rear camera, and an A18 chip with Apple Intelligence support.

With the iPhone 16e, Apple phased out several older technologies. There are no longer iPhones with Lightning ports, LCD displays, or 64GB storage options, and 6.1 inches is now the smallest display size that Apple offers.

Apple didn't call the iPhone 16e the iPhone SE 4 because it adopts enough features from the iPhone 16 to join the iPhone 16 lineup. It has the same current-generation A18 chip with 6-core CPU, but there is a 4-core GPU instead of a 5-core GPU, so GPU performance won't be quite as good. The chip uses a 16-core Neural Engine and it has 8GB RAM, so it is compatible with all Apple Intelligence features. Storage starts at 128GB, up from 64GB with the iPhone SE, and the iPhone 16e can be upgraded to 512GB storage.

Priced starting at $599, the iPhone 16e is $200 less than the iPhone 16, but it is $170 more than the prior iPhone SE, which was priced at $429. It is Apple's cheapest iPhone, but the definition of cheaper is no longer quite as affordable as it was with the iPhone SE.

The iPhone 16e looks almost identical to the iPhone 14, featuring an aluminum frame in either black or white, a glass back, and a notch rather than the Dynamic Island that the iPhone 16 uses. It uses the same 6.1-inch Super Retina OLED XDR display as the iPhone 14, which is protected by Ceramic Shield technology. The display features 800 nits max brightness and 1200 nits peak HDR brightness, plus it has features like True Tone, Wide Color, and Haptic Touch.

There is no Camera Control button, but Apple did add the Action button that replaces the mute switch. The Action button is customizable and can be used to activate the flash light, turn on the camera, open the Translate app, turn on a Focus mode, and more. The Action button supports Visual Intelligence, a feature previously limited to iPhone 16 models with Camera Control.

The single-lens 48-megapixel f/1.6 Fusion camera is the same as the Wide camera in the iPhone 16, and it is a 2-in-1 camera system that offers standard wide photos and photos with a 2x zoom. The camera does not support some options like Focus Control for Portraits or next-generation Photographic Styles. Since there is just one lens, the iPhone 16e cannot capture spatial photos or videos.

As for video, the iPhone 16e supports 4K dolby vision video recording like the iPhone 16, but it dos not include Cinematic mode or Action mode. It does, however, support the new Audio Mix feature for optimizing the audio in video recordings. The iPhone 16e also uses the same 12-megapixel front-facing TrueDepth camera with f/1.9 aperture, but it does not support Cinematic mode or the newer photographic styles.

Apple equipped the iPhone 16e with its new C1 modem chip, which is Apple's first custom-designed 5G modem. The C1 supports 6GHz 5G networks, but it is not compatible with mmWave. The modem is not as fast as Qualcomm's modems, but it is more battery efficient.

Apple says that the iPhone 16e has the longest battery life of an iPhone with the 6.1-inch form factor, and the battery lasts for up to 26 hours when watching videos, up to 21 hours when streaming video, and up to 90 hours when listening to audio.

There is a USB-C port for charging purposes instead of a Lightning port like the prior-generation iPhone SE had, but MagSafe charging is not supported. Instead, the iPhone 16e is limited to standard 7.5W Qi-based wireless charging.

Modern safety features are available in the iPhone 16e, including Crash Detection that's able to automatically contact emergency services if a car crash is detected, Emergency SOS via satellite for off-grid emergencies, Roadside Assistance via satellite, and Messages via satellite for sending texts when a Wi-Fi or cellular connection is unavailable.

Apple added Wi-Fi 7 to the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models, but the iPhone 16e is limited to Wi-Fi 6, so it is not able to connect to the 6GHz Wi-Fi band available with Wi-Fi 6e and Wi-Fi 7. There is no Ultra Wideband chip for Precision Finding in the Find My app and for indoor mapping, nor is there Thread networking technology included.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 16e are set to begin on Friday, February 21, with a launch to follow on Friday, February 28.

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The iPhone 16e is the same size as the iPhone 14, featuring a 6.1-inch display when measured diagonally. It is 5.78 inches tall, 2.82 inches wide, and 7.8mm thick, plus it weighs 5.88 ounces.

It is close to the same size as the iPhone 16 as well, but the iPhone 16 is just slightly taller and heavier. Like the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16e has an aluminum frame and a glass back, but it only comes in black and white, so colorful options require upgrading to the standard iPhone 16 or better.

The iPhone 16e looks nothing like the iPhone SE 3 that preceded it, as Apple has eliminated the thick bezels and Home button in favor of an all-display design with notch and Face ID. The rest of the iPhone 16 lineup has the Dynamic Island, so the older notch design distinguishes the iPhone 16e as a lower-cost device.

There are antenna bands at the top and sides of the iPhone 16e, with a power button on the right side and volume buttons and an Action button on the left.

The Action button is the same button that Apple included with all iPhone 16 models, and it replaces the Mute Switch. Unlike the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16e has a single-lens rear camera at the back with a more subtle camera bump.

Speaker holes, a microphone, and a USB-C charging port are located at the bottom of the iPhone 16e. In some countries, there is a SIM slot, but the physical SIM has not been included in U.S. iPhones for several years now.

USB-C Port

The iPhone 16e has a USB-C port and it can be charged with a USB-C cable, with Apple finally eliminating the Lightning port from the iPhone lineup. Fast-charging is available with a 20W or better USB-C power adapter.

USB-C allows an iPhone to directly charge AirPods or an Apple Watch using a USB-C cable, and the iPhone 16e is able to provide up to 4.5W.

The USB-C port is limited to USB 2 transfer speeds of 480 Mb/s, the same as Lightning.

Water and Dust Resistance

The iPhone 16e has an IP68 rating for resistance to water and dust intrusion. An IP68 rating means it is able to withstand a depth of up to six meters (19.7 feet) for up to 30 minutes.

In the IP68 number, the 6 refers to dust resistance (and means the iPhone 16 can hold up to dirt, dust, and other particulates), while the 8 pertains to water resistance. IP6x is the highest dust resistance rating that exists. With the IP68 rating, the iPhone 16 can withstand splashes, rain, and accidental water exposure, but intentional water exposure should be avoided.

Water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions, according to Apple, and can deteriorate over time as a result of normal wear. Apple's standard warranty does not cover liquid damage, which means it's best to use caution when it comes to liquid exposure.

Action Button

The Action button on the iPhone 16e replaces the Ring/Silent switch above the volume buttons on the left side of the device. Apple designed the Action button to be customizable, and it can be set to perform one of several different actions in the Settings app.

• Focus: Activate or deactivate a Focus mode (Do Not Disturb is the default).
• Camera: Take a photo (the default), a selfie, video, portrait, a portrait selfie, or activate Visual Intelligence.
• Flashlight: Turn the flashlight on or off.
• Voice Memos: Start or stop recording a voice memo with the Voice Memos app.
• Magnifier: Activate the Magnifier app to use the iPhone's camera as a magnifying glass to zoom in on small text or objects.
• Shortcuts: Open your favorite app, or run a shortcut created in or downloaded from the Shortcuts app, such as sending a message, playing a playlist, or controlling smart home devices.
• Control Center: Several Control Center controls can be assigned to the Action button.
• Accessibility: Access to various Vision settings (Classic Invert, Color Filters, Detection Mode, Increase Contrast, Reduce Motion, Reduce Transparency, Reduce White Point, Smart Invert, VoiceOver, Zoom) Motor settings (Switch Control, Voice Control, Full Keyboard Access, AssistiveTouch, Apple Watch Mirroring, Control Nearby Devices) Hearing settings (Background Sounds, Left/Right Balance, Live Captions) and General settings (Guided Access, Live Speech).
• Silent Mode: Like the Ring/Silent switch on existing iPhone models, toggle silent mode on or off, which mutes or unmutes the ringer and alerts.
• Translate: The Translate action launches the Translate app and start a text or conversation translation.
• No Action.

Activating the Action button is done with a long press, which limits it from being hit accidentally.

The iPhone 16e has an OLED Super Retina XDR display with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio for blacker blacks and brighter whites, along with 800 nit typical max brightness and up to 1200 nits peak brightness for HDR photos, videos, TV shows, and movies.

The iPhone 16e has a resolution of 2532 by 1170 with 460 pixels per inch, which is the same resolution as the iPhone 14 display. The iPhone 16e's display is slightly lower resolution than the 2556 by 1179 resolution of the iPhone 16 display.

Wide color support provides vivid, true-to-life colors, and True Tone matches the white balance of the display to the ambient lighting for a paper-like viewing experience that's easier on the eyes. There's also a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating and support for Haptic Touch, which provides haptic feedback when interacting with the display.

The display is protected by Apple's "Ceramic Shield" material, which is made by infusing nano-ceramic crystals into glass. The ceramic crystals are manipulated to optimize for clarity while maintaining toughness, with the display created in partnership with Corning. The other iPhone 16 models use next-generation Ceramic Shield material, but the iPhone 16e has the standard Ceramic Shield.

The iPhone 16e does not offer the ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate or Always-On display technology available for the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max.

Face ID

Like the iPhone 16 models, the iPhone 16e uses Face ID, Apple's facial recognition system that was introduced in 2017. The iPhone 16 has a Dynamic Island instead of a notch, but the iPhone 16e uses the iPhone 14 design and it continues to have a notch to house the TrueDepth camera hardware.

Face ID is used across iOS for unlocking the iPhone, allowing access to third-party passcode-protected apps, confirming app purchases, authenticating Apple Pay payments, and more.

Face ID works through a set of sensors and cameras. A Dot Projector projects tens of thousands of invisible infrared dots onto the surface of the skin to create a 3D facial scan that maps the curves and planes of each face, with the scan read by an infrared camera.

The facial depth map is relayed to the A18 chip where it is transformed into a mathematical model that the iPhone uses to authenticate identity. Face ID works in low light and in the dark, and with hats, beards, glasses, sunglasses, scarves, masks, and other accessories that partially obscure the face.

Front-Facing Camera Features

The iPhone 16e has the same 12-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/1.9 aperture that's used in the iPhone 16.

The front-facing camera supports many of the same features as the rear cameras, including Night mode for selfies, Smart HDR 5, Dolby Vision HDR recording, Deep Fusion, and the Photonic Engine, but the newer Photographic Styles are not available, nor is Cinematic mode or Action mode when recording video.

With an iPhone 14-style all-display design, Touch ID has gone away on the iPhone. Touch ID is still used for Macs and some iPads, but Apple has transitioned fully to Face ID for its iPhone models with the iPhone 16e.

There are people who prefer Touch ID to Face ID, but Apple is all-in on facial recognition, and it's more secure than Touch ID. There's a less than 1 in 1,000,000 chance that a random person could unlock your iPhone with Face ID, but a 1 in 50,000 chance for Touch ID.

Getting rid of the Touch ID Home button allows for much more screen space, though it is worth noting there is still a notch at the display to house the Face ID hardware. We did hear some rumors suggesting Apple might use the Dynamic Island for the iPhone 16e, but that's another feature that's reserved for the more expensive iPhone options.

Apple equipped the iPhone 16e with a similar A18 chip to the one that's in the iPhone 16, which means it's going to have nearly flagship performance at a much more affordable price. The only difference is that the iPhone 16e's A18 chip as four graphics cores, while the iPhone 16 has five. The iPhone 16e will still be a solid deal, and the A18 chip will allow it to last for years to come.

With the A18 chip, the iPhone 16e supports Apple Intelligence features, and it's a huge improvement over the A15 chip in the iPhone SE. Apple Intelligence requires 8GB RAM, so the new iPhone 16e has double the RAM of the previous iPhone SE.

The iPhone 16e joins the rest of Apple's iPhone lineup in starting with 128GB of storage. That's up from 64GB in the iPhone SE as 64GB is simply not enough storage space, even for a low-cost iPhone.

The iPhone 16e has a single-lens camera with a Wide lens. It has the same 48-megapixel Wide lens that's in the iPhone 16, which will bring a major leap in photo quality compared to the 12-megapixel camera in the iPhone SE 3.

Notably, the higher-resolution lens provides an option to crop in to 2x optical zoom. The iPhone 16e doesn't have a Telephoto lens or an Ultra Wide lens, and while it does use the same Wide lens as the iPhone 16, it only supports more basic portrait mode with depth control (no focus control) and standard photographic styles, not the latest-generation version available in the iPhone 16.

Apple debuted its new in-house C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, and it'll give us our first look at how Apple's modem technology compares to Qualcomm.

The new modem chip doesn't support the fastest mmWave 5G speed, but it does connect to the more widespread 6GHz networks. Apple wants to cut down on its reliance on Qualcomm, and this new modem chip is the first step.

Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection

With the iPhone 14, Apple added a Crash Detection feature that alerts emergency services if you're in a car accident. It's an important safety feature that's also included in the iPhone 16e.

The iPhone 14 and later also supports satellite features for Emergency SOS, roadside assistance, and messaging, and the iPhone 16e includes support for all of these.

The iPhone 16e has the longest battery ever in a 6.1-inch iPhone, offering up to 26 hours of video playback, up to 21 hours of streaming video, and up to 90 hours of audio playback.

There's quite a bit more space in a 6.1-inch device for a battery than there is in a 4.7-inch device like the iPhone SE, so it should come as no surprise that there is a major improvement in overall battery life. Apple's power-efficient custom C1 modem chip also contributes to the longer battery life.

The previous iPhone SE offered 15 hours of video playback and up to 10 hours of streaming video playback.

With higher-end components and double the starting storage capacity, the iPhone 16e is more expensive than the outgoing iPhone SE. While the iPhone SE was priced starting at $429, the iPhone 16e starts at $599.

After being introduced on February 19, Apple will accept pre-orders for the iPhone 16e starting at 5:00 am Pacific Time on Friday, February 21, before launching it one week later on February 28.