With the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple discontinued the iPhone 14 and SE 3 as anticipated. Upon studying that the brand new entry-level iPhone now begins at a staggering $599 (up from $429), I used to be sure Apple would low cost the iPhone 15 to round $499—successfully changing the SE mannequin for budget-conscious consumers. Boy, was I incorrect. As a substitute, Apple has the braveness to maintain promoting the iPhone 15 on the identical $699 value. It is not sensible.
The iPhone 15 and 16e share many specs
From afar, the iPhone 16e could appear a bit dated in comparison with the iPhone 15. It’s tainted by the controversial notch, packs a single rear digital camera, and prices $100 much less. In actuality, each telephones share many inner specs and the identical major set of options customers usually count on—together with the common USB-C connector.
Regardless of being cheaper than the iPhone 15, the all-new 16e mannequin presents the same 6.1-inch Tremendous Retina XDR show, letting you devour crisp media and look at true black ranges. The 2 iPhones are additionally constructed from aluminum and glass, boasting the identical IP68 score for water and dirt resistance. So, when it comes to sturdiness and on a regular basis scrolling, the iPhone 15 and 16e are basically comparable.
Given how outdated the iPhone SE 3’s rear digital camera is, the 16e’s single-lens setup might scare off potential consumers. Effectively, fear not, as Apple has geared up it with a 48MP digital camera, much like that included with the iPhone 15. So, you may seize 4K video at 60fps, emulate 2x optical zoom with out sacrificing the 12MP output high quality, take portraits, and so on. Your Instagram Tales received’t look grainy, and your followers received’t mistake it for an Android.
Equally, each the iPhone 15 and 16e pack a 12MP TrueDepth digital camera, enabling Face ID, Memoji, slo-mo video recording, HDR help, and extra. So, the selfies you tackle both machine ought to look the identical. The 2 iPhones each have a base storage of 128GB, and you may go for 256GB or 512GB.
Superior options at a lower cost
Whereas the iPhone 15 and 16e are constructed on the identical basis, they naturally characteristic unique perks. Surprisingly, the extra reasonably priced iPhone 16e consists of newer know-how absent from the 2023 mannequin.
For starters, it’s powered by Apple’s (binned) A18 chip, that includes 8GB of RAM, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores, and 16 Neural Engine cores. Consequently, the iPhone 16e helps the complete Apple Intelligence suite, together with Writing Instruments, Picture Playground, ChatGPT integration, Genmoji, and extra. For reference, the iPhone 15 packs an A16 chip, barring it from operating Apple’s AI system.
The iPhone 16e replaces the basic mute swap with the multifunctional Motion button, a characteristic lacking from the iPhone 15. So, you get to remap the important thing to execute customized shortcuts, together with conditional duties that adapt to your location, time of day, and different components. You possibly can even have it provoke Visible Intelligence, a perk curiously lacking on the succesful iPhone 15 Professional fashions.
Foundry
Talking of chips, the iPhone 16e is the primary to pack Apple’s C1 modem. Whereas this may occasionally sound like an insignificant tidbit aimed toward geeks, it truly might impression informal customers’ every day lives. Due to its improved energy effectivity, the iPhone 16e boasts the longest battery life amongst 6.1-inch iPhones. Based on Apple’s claims, the iPhone 15 and 16e can play video on a single cost for as much as 20 hours and 26 hours, respectively.
One other noteworthy iPhone 16e perk you received’t discover on the iPhone 15 is the Audio Combine characteristic. With this utility, you may management the audio of your video footage to spotlight a selected speaker or ambient noise. Coupled with wind noise discount, you may create better-sounding content material with out essentially counting on skilled microphones.
Foundry
Insignificant iPhone 16e no-showsÂ
It goes with out saying that the pricier iPhone 15 additionally packs some options which are excluded from the 16e variant. Nonetheless, they’re arguably not definitely worth the above-mentioned trade-offs and $100 upcharge.
Maybe probably the most noticeable omission is the Dynamic Island, which retains Dwell Actions seen always. In its place, you may merely test the Notification Middle or Lock Display in your iPhone 16e.
One other iPhone 16e absentee is the Extremely Huge lens, which allows the 0.5x zoom on the iPhone 15. This lets customers seize extra topics or parts throughout the digital camera’s body. Whereas a helpful addition, it’s hardly important, and lots of customers not often reap the benefits of it.
Foundry
Within the video division, the iPhone 15 helps the Motion and Cinematic modes. The previous stabilizes shaky movies, whereas the latter provides a depth of area to your footage for topic isolation. Each options are helpful—I personally depend on them—however selecting the extra reasonably priced iPhone 16e means going with out them.
In any other case, the iPhone 15 presents the U2 Extremely Wideband chip for Precision Discovering and the mmWave know-how for superior connectivity. Nonetheless, the iPhone 16e presents normal 5G and Discover My performance, so that you shouldn’t be lacking out on a lot.
A extra notable con is the shortage of embedded magnets, that means the iPhone 16e doesn’t natively help MagSafe and is restricted to Qi wi-fi charging. It additionally misses out on the colourful shade choices and solely is available in white and black. Luckily, MagSafe circumstances can treatment each flaws on the iPhone 16e.
Low cost or discontinue the iPhone 15
Contemplating the professionals and cons—and factoring within the value distinction—the iPhone 16e clearly presents extra worth for much less cash. Whereas the iPhone 15 does have just a few unique options, they merely don’t examine to the iPhone 16e’s future-proof A18 processor. As Apple rolls out extra AI-powered instruments with iOS 19 and past, the iPhone 15 will solely turn out to be much less related, because it received’t help any of them.
If you happen to’re not trying to spend $799 on an iPhone 16, the $599 iPhone 16e is the apparent selection. At $699, I can’t advocate the iPhone 15 to a single class of shoppers. Apple ought to have both dropped its value to $499 or discontinued it completely.
