Apple is introducing the iPhone 16E. That smartphone gets more modest specifications for what Apple considers a budget-friendly entry-level price.
Apple is launching the iPhone 16E. That new phone is available starting at 719 euros (inc. VAT) for the entry-level model. For that money, you get a classic-looking iPhone with a 6.1-inch screen (2,532 x 1,170 pixels).
Apple powers the phone with the A18-SoC. That’s a chip from its own stable built on six ARM cores: two P-cores and four E-cores. A GPU and an NPU also draw presence. The latter is relevant for those who want to take advantage of Apple Intelligence. The SoC is assisted by 8 GB of RAM.
As for cameras, Apple is economical considering the price tag. You get one main camera with 48 MP sensor (26 mm, f1.6, equipped with optical image stabilization). The selfie camera gets a 12 MP sensor.
Old standard
About the battery, Apple doesn’t resolve many details yet, except to say that you can charge it half-full in half an hour. That can be done with an adapter (not included) of 20 watts or more, suggesting that the battery is especially not that big. Charging is done with a cable through the USB-C connector, behind which Apple integrates the 25-year-old slow USB 2 file transfer standard. That one is about 160 times slower than USB 4 2.0, which has been around since 2022.
For 719 euros, you will also get 128 GB of storage. 256GB will already cost you $849, and Apple charges $1,099 for the 512GB version. The phone comes with iOS 18 at launch. The price difference with the regular iPhone 16 is no longer that great.
More expensive than ever
The most important specification of this phone from Apple, of course, is that it is a phone from Apple. Apple charges for that. Indeed, at $719, the entry-level iPhone is more expensive than ever. In return, you get a basic version of the iPhone, with no significant innovations along the hardware side. The device will be available starting at the end of this month.