Apple has debuted a new member for the iPhone 16 portfolio, catering towards the more budget conscious users in these challenging times.

Apple on Wednesday revealed the cheaper iPhone 16e as a replacement for the iPhone SE of 2022, but is still powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, bringing AI capabilities to a new segment of the smartphone market.

Prices for the iPhone 16e are certainly more expense than the £429 iPhone SE, and start at $599 (and £599 in the UK). The new phone will go on sale on Friday 28 February, and is only available in matte black or white.

And the new device also signals the end of the Home Button on iPhones after a 18 year run, as the iPhone 16e doesn’t have a home button or fingerprint sensor, but instead uses Apple’s FaceID scanner.

Apple iPhone 16e

Apple is touting the iPhone 16e as offering a “fast, smooth performance and breakthrough battery life, thanks to the industry-leading efficiency of the A18 chip and the new Apple C1, the first cellular modem designed by Apple.”

So what exactly is new the handset? Well, on the outside the new iPhone 16e boasts an aluminium frame, glass front and back, and a 15.4cm (6.1 inch) Super Retina XDR display (OLED).

The handset also features the notch-style cutout at the top of the screen, as found on older iPhones such as the iPhone 14. It does not have the newer pill-shaped dynamic island design used by newer iPhones.

Apple however placed the TrueDepth Face ID sensor in this notch, for unlocking the phone and authenticating payments.

Under the hood (or bonnet), the iPhone 16e starts with 128GB of storage as well as Apple’s latest A18 chip, which allows the budget handset to offer AI with Apple Intelligence.

The A18 chip is a 6-core CPU, which Apple says up to 80 percent faster than the A13 Bionic chip on iPhone 11. The chip also has a 4-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine.

And this new phone has 5G powered by a new Apple C1 modem for the first time, which Apple says “contributes to the extraordinary battery life” of the new handset.

It should be remembered that Apple had purchased Intel’s modem division for about $1 billion (£780m) in 2019 to replace the modems it buys from Qualcomm (Apple had hoped to feature its first inhouse modem in 2021).

The iPhone 16e also offers the emergency satellite messaging found in other handsets, and charges via USB-C.

It also comes an action button instead of the mute switch in the side, which allows users to quickly access their favourite feature.

Camera capabilities

The camera is where Apple has shaved some costs as the iPhone 16e only has a single 48-megapixel camera on the back instead of the double or triple cameras of other iPhones. However this does not stop it from taking remarkable photos.

It also can also record 4K videos with Dolby Vision (up to 60 fps).

iPhone 16e also records video in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system, and enables more ways to edit video sound with Audio Mix.

The iPhone 16e however lacks the recently added camera control button on the side.

“iPhone 16e packs in the features our users love about the iPhone 16 lineup, including breakthrough battery life, fast performance powered by the latest-generation A18 chip, an innovative 2-in-1 camera system, and Apple Intelligence,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing.

“We’re so excited for iPhone 16e to complete the lineup as a powerful, more affordable option to bring the iPhone experience to even more people,” said Drance.

iPhone 16e is splash, water, and dust resistance with a rating of IP68. It also offers a Ceramic Shield front cover that Apple says is “an advanced formulation that is tougher than any smartphone glass; and the toughest back glass in a smartphone.”

Apple will be hoping that despite the sizeable price increase over the outgoing iPhone SE, the new budget handset can help it recapture some of the mid-range smartphone market and improve slumping sales in countries such as China.

Apple will also be hoping that the new handset will allow a larger number of iPhone users to utilise Apple Intelligence, which at the moment is limited to just the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 range.