iPhone 16e: Everything You Need to Know About the Budget iPhone SE's Replacement

Apple just killed the iPhone SE, replacing it with something bigger, better, and packed with more modern features. The iPhone 16e ditches the old-school design for a large OLED display, a more advanced camera system, and Face ID, making it the most dramatic upgrade in Apple's budget lineup yet.

Announced on Feb. 19, the iPhone 16e isn't just a visual refresh — it also introduces Apple's first in-house 5G modem, the C1, which promises improved power efficiency and a more Apple-controlled connectivity experience over the last-used Qualcomm modems. It finally abandons the Lightning port in favor of USB-C, adds an Action Button for quick shortcuts, and doubles the base storage. Apple Intelligence support also brings generative AI-powered tools like Genmoji, Image Wand, and Writing Tools to the mix.

While this is a major step up from the third-gen iPhone SE, it also comes with trade-offs. The iPhone 16e drops nano-SIM support, lacks ProRes video playback, and removes DC-HSDPA for 3G connectivity (though that won't matter much as carriers phase out 3G networks). And unlike the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup, it misses out on mmWave 5G and Dynamic Island — but that's expected given its place in the lineup.

So, how does it compare to its predecessor and other family members? Let's break it down.

Benefits over the last iPhone SE model

Compared to the third-generation iPhone SE model released in 2022, the iPhone 16e has the following benefits:

Basics

• A18 chip vs. A15 Bionic

• Water resistance of up to 6 meters deep (IP68) vs. up to 1 meter (IP67)

• Action button instead of the Ring/Silent switch

• Face ID instead of Touch ID

• Storage starts at 128 GB vs. 64 GB

• Storage maxes out at 512 GB vs. 256 GB

• USB-C port instead of Lightning

• Slightly larger body:

  • 5.78 in. high vs. 5.45 in.

  • 2.82 in. wide vs. 2.65 in.

  • 0.31 in. deep vs. 0.29 in.

  • 5.88 oz. vs. 5.09 oz.

• A larger battery with:

  • Up to 26 hours video playback vs. up to 15 hours

  • Up to 21 hours streamed video playback vs. up to 10 hours

  • Up to 90 hours audio playback vs. up to 50 hours

• High dynamic range gyro sensor vs. three-axis gyro

• High-g accelerometer to power Crash Detection vs. regular accelerometer

• Dual ambient light sensors vs. a single ambient light sensor

Display

• A larger 6.1-inch display vs. 4.7 inches

• Super Retina XDR display vs. Retina HD display

• HDR display

• Ceramic Shield front glass vs. regular front glass

• All-screen OLED display vs. widescreen LCD with IPS

• Higher 2,532 by 1,170 pixels resolution vs. 1,334 by 750 pixels

• Higher 460 ppi pixel density vs. 326 ppi

• 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio vs. 1,400:1

• 800 nits peak brightness vs. 625 nits

• 1,200 nits peak HDR brightness

Software features

• Apple Intelligence support:

  • Visual Intelligence

  • Image Playground

  • Genmoji

  • Image Wand

  • Writing Tools

  • ChatGPT

  • Clean Up tool in Photos

• Improved Siri:

  • Apple Intelligence powered

  • The new Type to Siri shortcut

  • ChatGPT integration

  • And more

• More safety and communication features:

  • Emergency SOS via satellite

  • Crash Detection

  • Roadside Assistance via satellite

  • Messages via satellite

  • Find My via satellite

Rear camera system

• 48 MP Fusion 2-in-1 camera system vs. 12 MP Main single camera system

• Super high-resolution photos (24 MP / 48 MP)

• 2x optical zoom

• Photonic Engine

• Smart HDR 5 vs. Smart HDR 4 for photos

• Night mode

• 4K Dolby Vision video recording

• Audio zoom

• Spatial audio recording

• Wind noise reduction

• Audio Mix

Front camera

• TrueDepth front camera vs. FaceTime HD camera

• 12 MP camera vs. 7 MP camera

• ƒ/1.9 aperture vs. ƒ/2.2 aperture

• Photonic Engine

• Smart HDR 5 vs. Smart HDR 4 for photos

• Animoji and Memoji

• Night mode

• 4K Dolby Vision video recording

• 1080p Dolby Vision video recording at up to 60 fps vs. 1080p HD at up to 30 fps

• Slo-mo video recording

• Cinematic video stabilization for up to 4K vs. up to 1080p

Cellular/wireless

• Superfast 5G with 4×4 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) vs. 5G with 2×2 MIMO

• Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO vs. LTE Advanced with 2×2 MIMO and LAA

• Bluetooth 5.3 vs. Bluetooth 5.0

• NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation)

• Stores 8 or more eSIMs vs. up to 2

Playback

• Spatial audio playback vs. stereo playback

• Dolby Atmos audio support

• HDR with Dolby Vision video playback vs. Dolby Vision

What the iPhone 16e doesn't get

Things you don't get from other iPhone 16 series models (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max) include:

Basics

• A faster A18 Pro chip with 6-core GPU [Pro models only]

• Camera Control button

• USB 3 support for faster data transfers [Pro models only]

• MagSafe wireless charging

• Qi2 wireless charging

• Lidar scanner [Pro models only]

• ProRes video playback

Display

• ProMotion [Pro models only]

• Dynamic Island

• Always-On display [Pro models only]

• 1,000 nits peak brightness

• 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness

• 2,000 nits peak outdoor brightness

• 1 nit minimum brightness

Rear camera system

• Camera Control button

• Ultra-wide lens with 0.5x optical zoom

• Telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom [Pro models only]

• Sensor-shift for optical image stabilization

• Macro photography

• Next-generation portraits with Focus Control

• Night mode portraits

• Latest-generation Photographic Styles

• Spatial photos

• Apple ProRAW [Pro models only]

• 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 100 fps and 120 fps [Pro models only]

• 1080p Dolby Vision video recording at 120 fps [Pro models only]

• Cinematic mode

• Action mode

• Spatial video recording

• ProRes video recording [Pro models only]

• Log video recording [Pro models only]

• Academy Color Encoding System [Pro models only]

• Macro video recording

• Slo-mo 1080p video recording at 240 fps

• Slo-mo 4K Dolby Vision video recording [Pro models only]

• Second-generation optical image stabilization

• Studio-quality four-mic array [Pro models only]

Front camera

• Next-generation portraits with Focus Control

• Latest-generation Photographic Styles

• Cinematic mode

• ProRes video recording

Cellular/wireless

• DC-HSDPA support (but only because 3G is getting phased out)

• mmWave 5G support (which operates in the 24–100 GHz spectrum for faster speeds and lower latency)

• Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip

• Thread networking technology

• Precision dual-frequency GPS

How much does it cost?

The iPhone 16e is not quite as cheap as the third-generation iPhone SE when it was released. While the iPhone SE (3rd Gen) started at $429, the iPhone 16e starts at $599. Take into account inflation and the iPhone 16e is still over $100 more. Compared to the last iPhone SE, the highest-storage option is 55% more expensive. This is partly because of having twice as much storage since the iPhone SE maxed out at 256 GB.

• $599 for 128 GB

• $699 for 256 GB

• $899 for 512 GB

When will it be released?

The iPhone 16e will hit "store" shelves on Feb. 28 but will be available to preorder starting Feb. 21.

• Preorders start Feb. 21

• Available on Feb. 28

Don't Miss: Apple Intelligence: The Features We're Still Waiting for on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Cover image via Apple.