Apple Unveils iPhone 16e, a Budget-friendly AI-Powered Smartphone

By Evans Momodu
1 minute read
Published 18:01 UK(GMT) 19 February, 2025

Apple introduced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, an affordable variant of the iPhone 16 Apple intelligence smartphone, marking a renewed effort to compete in the budget smartphone market.

Priced at $599, the device is Apple’s cheapest iPhone to support Apple Intelligence and features the company’s first in-house cellular modem. The iPhone 16e release date is February 28.

Bringing Apple Intelligence to a lower-cost, iPhone could help expand access to the company’s AI tools amid growing competition from Google and Samsung.

Both tech giants have focused on integrating AI into their devices, with Google’s Pixel A-series gaining traction in the budget segment.

The release of the iPhone 16e also signals a shift away from Apple’s iPhone SE lineup, which debuted in 2016 and last received an update in 2022.

According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, the SE accounted for just 5% of U.S. iPhone sales as of December 2024.

While slightly more expensive than the SE, the iPhone 16e offers a more modern design, moving away from the older home button and fingerprint sensor, which Apple phased out with the iPhone X in 2017.

Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted at the launch in a social media post on February 13, teasing the arrival of a “new member of the family” on February 19.
Source: CNN