Apple presents iPhone 16e: OLED, Action Button, FaceID
After a three-year break, Apple is launching a new entry-level iPhone on the market. It adopts the design of the iPhone 14, gets the A18 chip and costs 200 francs more than its predecessor.
Apple is renewing its entry-level iPhone and renaming it. The fourth generation is no longer called the SE, but the iPhone 16e and has been given the design of the three-year-old iPhone 14. The home button is finally history - as is the small form factor. Instead, the 16e gets a 6.1-inch OLED display with face recognition (FaceID).
The sensors for this are located in a classic notch; Apple has dispensed with the Dynamic Island on its most affordable smartphone. The 16e also does not inherit the shutter button called Camera Control from other current models. At least it has enough for the Action Button and the USB-C port. Apple's new smartphone is available in black and white.
The iPhone 16e is not compatible with MagSafe accessories. It only supports the Qi standard for wireless charging with a charging speed of up to 7.5 watts. Apple does not use the newer Qi2, which would allow 25 watts as with the more expensive models. This is surprising, as even the iPhone 13 was subsequently upgraded to Qi2 via firmware.
On the back, there is still a single camera with a focal length of 26 mm and an aperture of Ζ/1.6. Its sensor has a resolution of 48 megapixels, which are compressed to 24 megapixels as standard (pixel binning). It is likely to be the main camera from the iPhone 15 from 2023. The digital dual zoom is also included.
Source: Apple
Current chip for Apple Intelligence
The Californians are not saving on the chip. The same A18 with 8 gigabytes of RAM is used as in the current iPhone 16. This means the iPhone 16e is equipped for Apple Intelligence. However, the AI functions are not yet available in German and have not yet caused a storm of enthusiasm in English either.
The 16e is the first iPhone ever to receive Apple's in-house 5G modem C1. Until now, this component has always come from Qualcomm. Whether the counterpart developed in Cupertino is better remains to be seen. "Bloomberg" reported in advance that the first generation could be less powerful. However, it already seems to have one advantage: The C1 is said to use 25 per cent less energy than other modems. The battery life of the iPhone 16e is correspondingly good.
Source: Apple
The iPhone 16e with 128 gigabytes of memory costs 629 francs or 699 euros. The old SE started at 429 francs or 519 euros - but only had 64 GB of memory in the basic version. The iPhone 16e will be available to pre-order from 21 February and will be delivered from 28 February.
Header image: Screenshot YouTube / Apple
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Samuel Buchmann
Senior Editor
Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.chMy fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.
