This morning, a brand new model of iPhone opened for pre-sales. While Apple tends to launch its latest flagship phones in the fall, sometimes we get something extra during the first half of the year, such as an extra color option or other variant. In this case, the reveal was a new, cheaper addition to the line-up: iPhone 16e. While that moniker is meant to make it fit into the iPhone 16 family, the 16e can really be thought of as a fourth-generation iPhone SE — which largely offers upgraded internals in older form factors. Regardless of the name, what I want to talk about is why my wife and I decided to put in our preorders for this new device this morning.
First, let me set the stage for this update. Currently, I’m using a second-generation iPhone SE (released in 2020), which likely just received its last major iOS update. Meanwhile, my wife is still rocking an iPhone 8 we purchased when the iPhone 11 came out. In other words, it’s been quite a while since either of us got a new phone. Although both work decently most of the time, their age has definitely started to show in terms of battery life, performance, etc. Yet, looking at how much smartphones cost these days, we weren’t ready to bear such an expense.
Despite that, what won me over about the iPhone 16e was the practicality of the upgrades made to the phone. Not only does this model get us the latest chip (minus one core versus the regular 16) but also has a better, bigger battery. In fact, the quoted battery life on the 16e is apparently better than the regular-sized 16 flagships. Plus, once our new phones arrive, we’ll mostly be rid of Apple’s proprietary Lightning connectors as the new models utilize USB C. All of these factors make for a nice upgrade — and the iPhone 16e is $599 compared to $799 for the base model 16.
Of course, Apple doesn’t just shave $200 off of its price for nothing, so you can bet that there are compromises made with the iPhone 16e. The most obvious to those looking at the exterior is that this phone has a single camera compared to two or three for the other models. On the other side, some might also notice that this phone still has a notch for the front-facing camera rather than the “Dynamic Island” Apple introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro. Personally, I don’t mind either of those too much.
However, there is one lacking feature that does irk me a little: no MagSafe. This annoys me simply because, in my review of the Anker MagGo UFO charging station, I noted that I wasn’t getting the full experience since my phone didn’t support MagSafe. Well, it seems that this will continue to be the case since, for whatever reason, that got the axe in Apple’s budgification of the 16e.
Funny enough, our decision to buy the iPhone 16e reminds me a bit of how we landed upon buying the house we now live in. Amid a sea of flips that commanded a premium thanks to their updated fixtures and such, we managed to find a home that may have been a bit more detailed cosmetically but had been updated where it really mattered (a new HVAC, roof, etc.). That strategy served us very well there — and, to a lesser degree, I think is benefitting us here as well.
Ultimately, did we really need to buy a new phone right now? Probably not. However, I do think that the iPhone 16e does present a decent value in context and makes sense for us. Overall, though, I appreciate that Apple managed to create a phone model that emphasizes the features we most need without forcing us to spend extra on those we don’t.