iPhone 16 E announced starting at $599/£599

By Oliver, 19 February, 2025

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Quick take aways:

Single 48 mp camera.
No magsafe.
Action button but no camera button.
Custom modem with (best battery ever seen in a 6.1 iPhone)
Apple Intelligence
Face ID (no home button)
Starting price for 128 gb storage, $599/£599

Now the line up is:

i16 E: 599
15: 699 (better cameras and MagSafe but no apple intelligence)
16: 799
16 +: 899
16 pro 999.

Options

Comments

By Dennis Long on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 17:12

I think it is an excellent buy.

By Oliver on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 17:12

Yeah, it's what I'd suggest for a blind user, certainly.

I imagine there will be cases that come out with the magnets in to simulate MagSafe as there are for the iPhone SE.

I'm not sure why they're still selling the iPHone 15. That seems like a very poor deal now.

I know some will be disappointed with the price. It's no longer an affordable phone, it's simply the base phone of the lineup.

By Levi Gobin on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 17:12

This marks the official end of iPhones with a home button, from June 29, 2007, to today, February 19, 2025..
Although I myself have gotten used to iPhones without the home button, the idea of it was very simple and easy to comprehend, rather than some gesture you have to use.
It kinda hits home when you realize this.
No more home buttons. I highly doubt Apple will ever bring this back.
Long live the home button!

By Holger Fiallo on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 17:12

Why not just get the 16.

By Oliver on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 18:12

Or, turning that on it's head, why bother getting the 16? its 33% more expensive for more cameras, MagSafe and the camera button. I'm not sure I think that's worth it.

On the SE, I'm hoping there will be some good deals on the 2022. My mum is rocking an iPHone 7. She's sighted but really likes the formfactor and the home button. To be honest, part of me, if it's the right price, fancies the smaller phone too.

By Holger Fiallo on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 19:12

People need to check any deal with their phone company. I am sure they will give special deals. Myself got went from 13 pro to 16 pro max. Happy.

By Brian on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 20:12

Thank God it does not have a camera button. Personally thought that was one of the worst ideas Apple ever incorporated into the iPhone model. One of those "great on paper, not so great in execution".
I would absolutely buy this phone. Regarding MagSafe, you can simply get a case to enable MagSafe. My current iPhone, SE 2022, has MagSafe capability thanks to the case I'm using.
I'm also very happy with the single camera design.
I actually feel good about this models overall design and functionality.

By Holger Fiallo on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 20:12

Agree. They blew it. They could just givin the action button more power by making it more flexible.

By WellF on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 21:12

I won't be able to change devices in the near future but it's very likelly I'll buy one of these 16E.

By Oliver on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 21:12

A reminder, there is no real such thing as a deal with carriers. You are still paying for the phone though maybe over a longer period. If you can, and you are interested in any of apple's phones, I always suggest either buying outright, though that is difficult for most, or taking them up on their 0 % payment plan. In this case, here in the UK, it is around £24 a month for two years. You then can shop around for sim cards.

It is a little more work but you'll get a far better deal over all without being tied into a cellular contract.

Yes, Brian, it was your case I was thinking of.

I also wonder, considering it is the 16 e, do you think they might move forward with a 17 E the same time next year? It feels like they may be using up old stock to make these, IE, over produced the 14 chassis and repurposed it for the 16 E. I wonder if they won't do the same with the 15 casing etc.

By David Lai on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 21:12

I'll wait for Apple's second gen cellular modem chip. I'm sure the C1 inside the 16E won't be as powerful as the Qualcomm chips traditionally found on iPhones.

By Oliver on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 21:12

I'm not sure 'powerful' really matters. I'm not looking for a monster downloader in my phone, much better that it increases efficiency, as this one seems to do, there by extending battery. I'm excited to see how this translate to battery on the 17s... But I'm a very sad and boring person.

By JC on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 22:12

Hi,

What case are you useing that has magsafe capabilities? I have an iPhone 14 pro with magsafe, and it even includes a case with magsafe, however, I don't think it'll fit the iPhone 16E, as it only supports the pro. also, I'm not sure if I can hold on to it much longer, as it still includes lightning, which has been removed completely in favor of USB-C. And since my Macbook includes USB-C, I may as well upgrade in future. You can get the apple USB-C wired earpods which will not only work with the iPhone 16E, but will also work with macs with USB-C ports.

By Brian on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 22:12

Give me a moment and I will dig up the link to the case I have. These cases go from the iPhone SE models, which I have the 2022 version, all the way up to iPhone 15 and/or 16.

By Missy Hoppe on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 23:12

I've had my ultramarine iPhone 16 since January 28, and all things considered, I think it's the best iPhone I've ever had. I simply use the action button as I did the mute switch on previous models. As for the camera button, I like it a lot! For me, it makes taking pictures a lot easier, and more importantly, I was able to take the camera app out of my doc; I always kept it in the last dock position so that it would be easier for friends and family to access it if need be. Now, I'm able to put the eZ fair app there which I use for buying paratransit tickets. So far, battery life has exceeded expectations, although my iphone 13 pro's battery life was getting pretty sad by the time I traded it in. I'm trying to do a better job of following best practices guidelines with my new phone to keep it's battery in good shape for as long as possible. My only concern is wireless charging. Obviously, it's safe since they've had it as a feature for years now, but I can't help thinking that I remember reading somewhere that wireless charging is harder on phones. I'm using a wireless charger for now, but have a USBC cable near by as well in case I decide to charge that way instead. Then again, the apple watch can only use wireless charging, and my Apple Watch Ultra from 2022 is still doing reasonably well for its age. Anyway, if I hadn't just gotten my iPhone 16, I might have considered this 16E model, but it probably doesn't come in the beautiful ultramarine color, and since I appreciate having the camera button available, I don't regret my purchase.

By TheBlindGuy07 on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - 23:12

It depends. Magsafe for starter will already do huge difference with less dissipation and energy loss so less heat. Then, I have the 10000ma external battery pack from ugreen and it heats less than other qi chargers I've tried.

By Brian on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 00:12

It appears they have updated their inventory, and now even carry cases for the new iPhone 16(E) model! 😃👍

By Abdulwahab on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 05:12

This is something I haven’t seen people talk about here, I think uwb is important.
Also the price is ment to push people to get the 16 instead.
The 16 in my country launched at about 150$ overprice, now it’s down to the official 800$ on some sites.
I expect the 16e to launch overpriced too! So that would be a tough choice given that the price difference would be less than 200$ may be 100$ or 150$

By Brad on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 06:12

I'm probably not going to buy it this year but I'd choose the smaller phone every time.

Sure the speakers might be better in the bigger phones but I don't need amazing speakers.

I did grow up with smaller phones so that might be the reason why but i've always enjoyed small phones over bigger ones any day.

Having said that; I like big laptops.

Our brains can be strange sometimes.

By Oliver on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 07:12

I don't think small phones are coming back. It's like they want them to take over our lives or something.

Remember, with a lot of this stuff, we're the product, not the customer. I know that sounds really tinfoil hat, but apple provides a platform for businesses to access you, serve you, and take your money or data. Apple works as a window between us, the product on one side, and their real customers, businesses on the other paying large amounts through app store taxation etc. They want that window to be big, to be clear, to remind you it is there in your pocket so you reach for it without even thinking.

This is why small, subtle phones won't return.

By Brian on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 08:12

All embrace simplicity.
All embrace mindlessness.
All embrace the abacus!

Oh, and if I could have my way, I would have my iPhone SE 2022 forever! 🥸

By Oliver on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 08:12

I'm in a bit of a pickle. My mum desperately needs a new phone, she's on an iPhone 7, and I'm looking at the SE 2022. I guess there will be another couple of years of support for it, 2028 on the outside? I really don't think the 16 E wil give her anything she cares about. What's the battery like on the 2022 SE if I can get a new one? I know I could get her a battery case, but rather avoid it as she's got qi charging in her car. She's certainly not a heavy user.

By OldBear on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 12:12

I went from a 7 to an SE 2022. The battery gets me through a day on a charge, unless I do a lot of Seeing AI scanning that uses the phone light or something like that.

By Travis Roth on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 14:00

I'll be interested to see how the new in-house Apple modem performs in the real world. They claim it is more efficient. That is all well and good, but when I hear more efficient I also hear lower power. This is also probably fine in 90% of situations, but around here we have some rural areas pretty far from towers and it takes the best modems and considerable battery power. Hopefully someone else tests it before my family has to.

By Brian on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 14:09

Hey Oliver,

There are a number of settings you can toggle to gain an optimal battery life on an iPhone SE 2022. If you'd like, I could post a list of what I have done with my device, either here or through a private message, just let me know. I am guessing your mother has eyesight? Not that it matters, just knowing this will help me to know what to avoid, like VoiceOver settings for example.

By Oliver on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 17:04

Thank you for the offer. I think I'm decided on the 16E though. Squeezing battery life, especially for my mum, who is indeed sighted, yet tech adverse, might be a losing battle.

she does tend to enjoy tech after a while, but she's not good at acclimating to it.

As I said in the other thread, long term support, battery and the difficulty of actually finding a new 2022 unit, has pushed me to the 16E. She'll be very happy with it, I'm sure, after the usual several days of her being very quiet about it.

She wanted a laptop about 16 years ago and, being young and foolish, I decided to get her the first iPad instead. It did not go down well. there were even tears. A month later she came back to me and said sorry and that it was amazing and absolutely perfect for her. I'm hoping this is less of a tempestuous transition.

By Travis Roth on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 18:48

Sighted peoples love big screens for the most part. My mom barely cares about tech but if we shrunk her phone's screen she'd be upset. SO I bet the bigger screen will be a win for you.

By Brian on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 18:53

I only offer because you said she liked the form factor of her iPhone 7. As you know, the SE 2022, is essentially the same form factor as the iPhone 7. 🤷🏽‍♂️

By Missy Hoppe on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 22:12

Just curious what the difference is between magsafe and older versions of wireless charging. I just got a couple of 3-in-1 wireless chargers from Amazon, and now I'm wondering if I should have made sure to get something magsafe specific instead. I truly plan to keep my iphone 16 until it's no longer functional/supported, so I want to do everything I can to treat it right. Is using a non-magsafe charger going to hurt it? Should I just use USBC charging instead? Can authentic magsafe charging only be through chargers sold by Apple? Thanks to anyone who can help this whole topic become less confusing.

By Tyler on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 22:46

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

MagSafe uses magnets on the back of supported iPhones and compatible accessories to ensure optimal placement for fast charging. Other Qi certified wireless chargers should also work normally and safely with all recent iPhones, albeit with lower wattage and thus slower charging speeds.

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 22:47

It helps the phone center from my understanding. This help charge fast and avoid taking forever. Someone will let us know if this is right.

By OldBear on Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 22:49

And let us know what you think of it, Oliver.
I don't use wireless charging, but I think magsafe charges a lot faster than the old kind, @Missy Hoppe.

By Missy Hoppe on Friday, February 21, 2025 - 00:07

Well, if charging speed is the only difference, then it sounds like the wireless chargers I got are safe for my new phone. They had great reviews, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. If anyone else has other thoughts, though, I'm still interested in hearing them.

By Faerie on Friday, February 21, 2025 - 02:19

I hope everyone who buys the new phone has a lovely time with it, but I myself am a huge fan of smaller phones and so will not be upgrading. I know that they're probably gone for good, and eventually I am sure I'll stop clinging to the current (already too big, if you ask me,) size and bite the bullet. For now, though, I don't need more powerful cameras and don't really love FaceID. You can't scan your face with your hand in your pocket, or curled up under the blankets. More battery would be nice, but there are ways of handling that, and I want to look and see if I can't still get my battery replaced. I'll be curious how people find the new one, though, and may reconsider in future.

By Brian on Friday, February 21, 2025 - 08:02

Me too! I absolutely enjoy my SE 2022.
It's funny, everyone keeps trying to impress upon me the awesomeness that is FaceID. 🙄

My response is that you cannot unlock your device while it is in a pocket, with FaceID, like I can with TouchID. 😜

By Oliver on Friday, February 21, 2025 - 09:34

Touch ID is better for the blind, I'd argue. For the sighted who need to look at the screen, it's simply part of the motion, for us, we're having to look at something we can't see and don't need to see, far easier include our tactile experience of the phone to unlock.

Thank you very much for your info, Brian. You're right, she does like the smaller size but I think, as someone sighted, she'll like the larger screen too.

I was reading something about the Samsung S25, I think it is, a small flagship android. Might be worth a look if people are looking to jump ship and want finger print unlocking on a phone that isn't the size of a slice of bread.

By Brian on Friday, February 21, 2025 - 09:44

I have heard something similar as well, that some of the latest Android flagship phones are slightly smaller in scale this go around.