It’s official: the house button is lifeless. Apple has launched the iPhone 16E with an up to date design and killed off the iPhone’s traditional Contact ID interface. As an alternative, the 16E strikes to a Face ID-enabled notch and provides the most recent A18 chip and assist for Apple Intelligence beneath the floor, with a beginning value of $599.
The 16E is a type of iPhone SE successor based mostly on the design of 2022’s iPhone 14, that means it suits the front-facing cameras required for Face ID (and selfies) right into a notch that cuts down from the highest of the cellphone fairly than the Dynamic Island design discovered on the corporate’s newest flagship telephones.
With a 6.06-inch OLED show, the 16E is now near the identical dimension as Apple’s normal 6.12-inch iPhone 16, that means the corporate now not presents a cellphone considerably smaller than its default mannequin — not less than not till the rumored iPhone 17 Air arrives. The 16E’s measurements present it’s about 0.1mm narrower and 0.7mm shorter than the usual iPhone 16.
On the within, there’s an A18 chipset, the identical chip because the iPhone 16. That makes the 16E highly effective sufficient to run Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI instruments that features notification summaries. Even the non-Professional iPhone 15 can’t do this, so the 16E is without doubt one of the most succesful iPhones on the market. Apple has previously confirmed that 8GB RAM was the minimal to get Apple Intelligence assist within the iPhone 16 collection, so it’s seemingly that the 16E additionally boasts not less than that a lot reminiscence. The most affordable model has additionally been bumped to a baseline of 128GB of storage, that means there’s now not a 64GB iPhone.
There’s solely a single 48-megapixel rear digicam; the shortage of extra cameras is the largest downgrade in comparison with the corporate’s different handsets. With assist for wi-fi charging and a waterproof IP score, there’s little it’s a must to surrender elsewhere.
The iPhone 16E can also be the primary iPhone to incorporate a modem developed by Apple itself. The corporate has spent years attempting to maneuver away from modems developed by Qualcomm, and we’re lastly seeing the fruits of that labor. The massive questions now are how nicely the brand new modem performs and whether or not Apple is able to roll out its personal connectivity parts within the iPhone 17 line later this 12 months.
The brand new iPhone 16E is obtainable to preorder Friday beginning at $599, which is a major value hike from the $429 2022 iPhone SE — although you get much more storage (128GB) within the base mannequin and a way more fashionable design. The 16E ships on February twenty eighth.
Replace, February nineteenth: Added dimension particulars and famous lack of MagSafe assist.
Correction, February nineteenth: Preorders open Friday, not Thursday, as initially acknowledged.
