My dream setup would be to cut the iPhone (angst over what phones have done to us as a species) out and have a Cellular MacBook Watch integration. Likely will never happen but if only…
“Excited” for me means “glad they are inflicting this only on entry-level buyers and not mainstream iPhone or Mac products”.
e.g. Apple has a miserable track record with modem chips - Remember the OG Intel modem chips that we all had to figure out which iPhones NOT to order because they didn’t work that well?
I’m all for Apple bring modem chips in-house, but I want to be on rev 2 or rev 3, not rev 0 for any product I buy.
FWIW - Remember when Microsoft software was always so bad it was important to always wait for “version 3” before adopting anything? Windows V3, Word V3, Excel V3, etc. etc.?
I don’t wish that on Apple, but they have a lot to prove with modem chips.
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What I think is: It will reduce the price half a year later (when 17 is out) like the first generation of SE (I bought this SE when iPhone 7 was out and attracted by the reduction in price). Maybe decrease again when 18 is out. Upgrading chip will follow then.
I wonder if iPhone basic series (16/Plus) will be on sale on their second year like Pro/Max.
Apple usually love selling budget model in an expensive price at first. MacBook Air with new design is an example (2018 and M2).
But when new MacBook Air is out, there is a previous model which is cheaper. This time we don’t have other options other than iPhone 16e.
I am still using iPhone 13 mini which will be 3 years old. Dropped today without case but still works. I won’t give up my small phone.
A used 15 can’t do Apple Intelligence. This might make them cheaper, but it’s lousy for a longer term purchase.
I don’t want to use Apple intelligence, At least not for a couple of years. It’s off on my MacBook Air. Not using any of the commercial LLMs.
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The value proposition regarding AI for us in Europe is even worse, as Apple Intelligence is not yet available (at all – except on the Mac). So, much like for the 16 series, we’re paying for something we can’t really use.
I was considering recommending the new SE / 16e to someone who wants an iPhone but just needs and wants the basics.
I still can’t grasp why Apple wants to cede that market to other companies now that the SE is dead, and 16e is not a replacement.
The 16e creates a confusing mess of the iPhone lineup, aligning it with the mess that is the iPad lineup.
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Not just software, Hardware too.
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I don’t remember this, but then I’m not an SE customer. Was this a price drop in all geographies, or just in the UK?
Apple’s stance is usually not to reduce the price on current models as they age (unless they bring out a newer model and relegate the current model to a cheaper option.) They price so that improvements over time (yield, cheaper components) and writing off of R&D costs, increase their margins over time.
By maintaining the same price regardless of the age of the current model, it means that they can slot a new version in at the same price without seeming to increase the price.
I get that. But IMHO Apple Intelligence is almost certainly “the future”, and I would expect future operating system improvements to become increasingly reliant upon it. It’s not that phones in Europe are never going to support it – it’s that it is taking longer to roll out.
Buying a phone that can’t support it likely means the phone will be forced out of OS updates much sooner. Maybe not an issue if you are on a two year upgrade cycle, but probably not great if you are expecting the phone to last another four years.
The only reason I welcome this is that in the next 2 years when iPhone 18 is out, the iPhone 16e would be sold at a discount (new, by Apple Reseller). Then, I can upgrade my iPhone 13 Pro 
My kids are grown and I don’t really need a good camera any longer, so I don’t mind a single camera phone. I wonder if the 16e supports Always-On?
Always-on display remains supported on Pro models only.
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I was just looking this up. I wasn’t aware that the standard 16 didn’t have it. Bizarre.
Not that I use it on the pro at all.
The always-on display requires adaptive refresh rates, available only on models supporting ProMotion. Pro models can go down to 1 Hz, refreshing the screen once per second, while standard models are fixed at 60 Hz, which would drain the battery.
For what it’s worth, I also have AOD switched off on the 16 PM as I find it distracting.
That surprised me too. Apple is now building iPhones in India where the average price of a smart phone is around $255. If that’s correct, the price of an SE was already a stretch for most people. Are there any new markets left, with large numbers of people that can afford iPhones at these prices?
I am “excited” in the sense that if this works it will open the door for the Cellular Mac I actually want.
The iPhone 15 is my first not SE iPhone so I am well aware of that entry level life. I would have kept my SE 2 if the motherboard didnt fry.
Some of the pundits are saying the price hike is forward pricing to allow for the uncertainty around tarriffs and probably lines up with possible pricing for the next round with iPhone 17 increases also?
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Maybe. A Bank of America analyst on CNBC expects them to raise prices by 9.5% eventually. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they do both.
I’m not in the US but apparently Walmart already has it listed at $549
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