The new iPhone 16e is designed to get Apple Intelligence into as many hands as possible. The company recently began activating its AI features by default during iOS setup, suggesting a harder push to spur adoption and establish iOS as an AI-first platform. But since Apple Intelligence has up till today only been available on the iPhone 16 series (and just the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max before that), there hasn’t been a sub-$600 iPhone that can run the latest suite of tools. So the addition of the $599 iPhone 16e to Apple’s lineup isn’t surprising.
What was slightly unexpected was the framing. The iPhone 16e’s arrival was heralded by feverish speculation about a new iPhone SE, which was last released three years ago for a starting price of $429. Though the iPhone 16e is cheaper than the rest of the iPhone 16 family, its price certainly isn’t what we might consider “budget” or “entry-level.”
Apple Intelligence’s arrival on a lower-cost iPhone is thanks to one of its biggest upgrades from the SE: the A18 chip (the same processor from the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus). That makes it Apple’s cheapest AI-equipped model by $300. However, that’s quite a bump up from the (now-retired) iPhone SE’s $429.
Fortunately, there’s no skimping on the Apple Intelligence features for the cheaper model; you get all the AI goodies found in the more expensive iPhones. That includes AI writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, ChatGPT integration and notification summaries.
The phone has a much bigger display than its predecessor: 6.1 inches, up from the 2022 iPhone SE’s mere 4.7 inches. It’s also the first entry-level model to adopt modern iPhones’ full-screen design with Face ID. (Pour one out for the now-retired home button.) However, it doesn’t have the Dynamic Island found on recent higher-end models.
It also gets the Action button, the customizable physical shortcut on the phone’s side. It debuted in the iPhone 15 Pro series and is found in all iPhone 16 models.
The iPhone 16e also complies with EU standards by switching from Lightning to USB-C, which is probably the least surprising thing about it. It also lacks MagSafe charging, sticking with standard Qi wireless charging at up to 7.5W.
A list of geeky tech specs doesn’t tell the whole story but can still serve as a starting point. Here’s how the new entry-level iPhone compares to Apple’s previous model and its two biggest Android-running rivals: the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy A35 5G. (Although the A35 isn’t quite in the same price range, it serves a similar niche in Samsung’s lineup.)
iPhone 16e
iPhone SE (2022)
Google Pixel 8a
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
Price
$599 / $699 / $899
$429 / $479 / $579
$499 / $559
$400
Dimensions
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm (5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches)
138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 inches)
152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm (6 x 2.9 x 0.4 inches)
161.7 x 78 x 8.2 mm (6.37 x 3.07 x 0.32 inches)
Weight
167g (5.88 ounces)
144g (5.09 ounces)
188 g (6.7 oz)
209 g (7.37 oz)
Screen size
6.1 inches
4.7 inches
6.1 inches
6.6 inches
Screen resolution
2,532 x 1,170 (460 ppi)
1,334 x 750 (326 ppi)
1,080 x 2,400 (430 ppi)
2,340 x 1,080 (389 ppi)
Screen type
OLED
Retina HD LCD
60Hz
Super AMOLED
up to 120Hz
SoC
Apple A18
Apple A15 Bionic
Tensor G3
Exynos 1380
RAM
N/A
4 GB
8 GB
6 / 8* GB
* Non-US only
Battery
“up to 26 hrs video playback”
2,018mAh
4,492 mAh
5,000 mAh
Storage
128 / 256 / 512GB
64 / 128 / 256 GB
128 / 256 GB
128 / 256* GB
MicroSD up to 1TB
* Non-US only
Rear camera(s)
48MP, f/1.6
Wide: 12 MP, f/1.8
Wide: 64 MP, f/1.89
Ultrawide: 13MP, f/2.2
Wide: 50MP, f/1.8
Ultrawide: 8MP, f/2.2
Macro: 5MP, f/2.4
Front camera
12MP, f/1.9
7 MP, f/2.2
13MP, f/2.2
13MP, f/2.2
Water / dust rating
IP68
IP67
IP67
IP67
Wi-Fi
Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax)
802.11ax
Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
v5.3
v5.0
v5.3
v5.3
OS
iOS 18
iOS 18
Android 15
Android 14
One UI 6.1
Colors / finish
Black / White
Aluminum
Midnight / Starlight / (Product)Red
Aluminum
Obsidian / Porcelain / Aloe / Bay
Navy / Lilac
Update, February 19 2025, 1:46PM ET: This story has been updated to add more context about the iPhone 16e in the intro, covering the speculation that Apple was planning to launch a new model of the iPhone SE.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-just-unveiled-the-iphone-16e-heres-how-it-compares-to-the-competition-171306637.html?src=rss
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