Apple has a new iPhone out. Let's talk about it.
The newly launched iPhone 16e is a bit of a strategy shift for Apple. Rather than doing a budget-friendly iPhone SE model every two or three years, Apple has set itself up to potentially do a slightly compromised version of each year's flagship a handful of months later, if it wants to. It's not as cheap as the SE was, but in this case, you get what you pay for.
If you've been rocking an older iPhone or even an SE for the last few years, the 16e is well worth the upgrade. Here's why.
Apple iPhone 16e: 5 reasons to upgrade
For reference, the iPhone 16e is basically the body of an iPhone 14 with some newer stuff inside of it. Here's how that all shakes out.
Bigger display
The last iPhone SE model, which launched in 2022, had a 4.7-inch display. That was fine if you were used to older iPhones (I rocked an SE until very recently so I get it), but these days, it's possible to make a phone with a bigger screen that's also comfortable to hold. That's what the new iPhone 16e is.
Its 6.1-inch display is a big upgrade over the screen on the SE. It doesn't have 120Hz support or the Dynamic Island you would find on the more expensive flagship iPhones, but that's OK. The bezel is smaller than it was on the SE, too. It's just a nice enhancement over what the SE offered.
Better camera
What you shouldn't expect from an iPhone 16e is a camera array that's anything close to what the iPhone 16 Pro offers. However, compared to the SE, it's a huge upgrade.
You still only get one lens, but it's a 48MP model this time around, compared to 12MP on the SE. More importantly, some of the more advanced software features that Apple included on recent iPhones (but not the SE) are here, such as nighttime photography. This is a godsend, as when I owned an SE, the inability to take decent low-light photos annoyed the heck out of me.
Longer battery life
One big bonus with the iPhone 16e compared to older budget models is the inclusion of Apple's A18 chip, the same one found inside the iPhone 16. That means performance won't be a problem on this phone. More importantly, it also contributes to substantially longer battery life than what the SE had to offer, and surprisingly, even longer battery life than the iPhone 16.
Apple rates the 16e for 26 hours of video playback, compared to 22 on the 16. Our reviewer Stan Schroeder noted that he was able to get about two days of heavy use out of the 16e on a full charge, which is incredible. My old SE couldn't make it through a day on a charge.
Face ID beats thumb print sensors
Personally, I never had much luck with the biometric thumb print sensors on older iPhones, including the SE. For whatever reason, they just didn't work consistently for me. Now, I have an iPhone with Face ID, and even though that has problems of its own, I find it faster and more convenient regardless.
Needless to say after that preamble, the iPhone 16e ditches the home button in favor of Face ID. That's a good thing, in my opinion. Just remember you need to be looking at the camera with your eyes for it to work most of the time.
USB-C means saying goodbye to the Lightning cable
Last but definitely not least, anyone who buys an iPhone 16e can hurl their Lightning cables into a river. Like every new iPhone, the 16e uses USB-C for charging. That not only enables you to use pretty much any cable you have lying around, but it means charging speeds should be faster, too. This has been my favorite thing about owning an iPhone 16, and now 16e owners can get in on the fun, too.
