Face ID and Apple Intelligence are among key features of the new iPhone 16e unveiled by Apple overnight in Cupertino.
A long battery life, a 48MP 2-in-1 camera system, and the iPhone 16’s signature A18 chip are other headline inclusions. The phone sports Apple’s home-designed C1 cellular modem, in a break from using regular supplier Qualcomm.
The 16e ditches the home button and instead has a bigger 6.1-inch display. You navigate with gestures as with other recent iPhone models.
It has a USB-C charging port rather than a Lightning port, thanks to the European Commission’s insistence on a standard cable fitting across smartphone models.
And there’s Apple’s action button, which you can also now use to access “visual intelligence” on the 16e.
Apple says you can summarise and copy text, translate text between languages, detect phone numbers or email addresses with the option to add to contacts or identify an animal or plant.
The 48MP 2-in-1 back facing camera system has an integrated 2x telephoto. Users can zoom in and retain optical quality.
Apple is claiming up to 12 hours more battery than with any generation iPhone SE model.
You can also connect to Apple’s satellite features when outside cellular and Wi-Fi range.
iPhone 16e is being released a week after Qualcomm announced its new Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chip that brings advanced artificial intelligence to midrange Android phones, starting with Chinese brands Oppo, Honor, and Realme.
Today, Motorola announced two new phones whose features are amaxing for phones costing less than $230.
Purchasers in the competitive midrange market will be spoiled for choice with AI support standard across models.
As we reported on Monday, speculation had heightened that the coming iPhone SE 4 would indeed be renamed iPhone 16e. It makes sense that the phone’s name mirrors the architecture of the Apple model it is based on.
You do miss features found on up-market iPhone models such as MagSafe magnetic wireless charging, a camera control button, and the Dynamic Island interface.
Based on its specs, you are well ahead of full-blown iPhone handsets a few models back, with the exception of the camera system.
Apple has already announced Australian pricing. iPhone 16e starts at $999 with options of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB storage capacities.
iPhone 16e can capture 4K video at 60 fps in Dolby Vision.
You can choose between a black and a white matt finish. Apple is supplying a series of colourful silicon cases if the black-white choice is limiting.
The cases come in winter blue, fuchsia, lake green, black, and white and cost $65.
Customers can offset the cost by trading in an iPhone 11 for up to $210 in credit, or trade in an iPhone 12 for up to $270 credit.
Pre-orders begin in Australia at 12am AEDT this Saturday, February 22, with availability from the following Friday, February 28.
The current iPhone 14 and iPhone SE models are being discontinued.
The iPhone 16e looms as a worthy choice for a midrange device if you already use Apple’s ecosystem.
But at $999 upwards it’s expensive when compared to the features becoming available on Android midrange phones costing a quarter the price.
