Last week, Apple announced plans to launch the latest product in their long-running line of budget-friendly phones. The device, which many consumers tentatively titled the iPhone SE 4, is expected to release later this month, with a presale kicking off on Feb. 21. The initial announcement came jam-packed with surprises and updates, leaving Apple loyalists with plenty of new specs to pour over. If you’re interested in learning more about the iPhone SE 4, we’ve got you covered, with a brief but thorough deep dive into the latest Apple announcements, and a look ahead at what we can expect from the actual smartphone hardware.
What Is The iPhone SE 4?
The iPhone SE series dates back to 2016, when Apple execs decided to offer a budget-friendly alternative to their standard numeric line of smart devices. Unlike its contemporaries, including the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the SE would offer the latest in iOS services crammed into the outdated body of a previous model. While the device may not have been showy, or contain cutting edge bezels, it allowed users a shot at owning an Apple device without shelling out hundreds of dollars for the latest and greatest in Silicon Valley tech. Kids, construction workers and people who were having trouble making ends meet flocked to the SE, as it presented significantly less breakage anxiety than the full-price models, which were notably more fragile back then than they are today.
Fast forward to this week, and it seemed as though Apple was preparing to release the fourth generation of the iPhone SE. Instead, Tim Cook and company left their customers shocked when they announced that the SE title sequence was being discontinued, in favor of a more streamlined title entirely: the iPhone 16e. This naming convention makes a more sense when you think about it, since Apple doesn’t release an SE companion with each new generation. It may be harder for consumers who aren’t die-hard tech heads to understand that the SE 4 has more in common with an iPhone 16 than it does an iPhone 4S. Furthermore, this new device appears to be a completely new take on the budget option, with a fresh new design and internal specs that truly rival the standard iPhone 16 layout.
What’s Inside The iPhone 16e?
Based on previous SE models, consumers expected the upcoming economy phone to be encased in the iPhone 14 body. Thanks to the latest updates from Apple, this seems to be confirmed, as the iPhone manufacturer has stated the new model with have a 6.1-inch OLED display with edge-to-edge design. This means that the home button, headphone jack, and wide bezels of the original SE series are now officially a thing of the past, along with lightning charging ports as the 16e supports USB-C charging. The battery supposedly supports 26 hours of video playback, which accounts for a more than 12 hour increase over the previous SE model. Storage space begins at 128GB and scales up to 256 and 512GB at the user’s request.
The most innovative part of the new phone, however, is the A18 chip with 6-core CPU processing. This allows the phone to come loaded with some of the latest and greatest new features, including Apple Intelligence. Like the iPhone 16, the 16e is said to be powered by a modem called Apple C1, which is apparently the most power-efficient energy source Apple has ever built. The advanced tech means that the 16e will have many of the features available on the full-priced version, including the latest in Siri capabilities, ChatGPT and Visual Intelligence functionality, Face ID and a 48MP Fusion camera with integrated 2x telephoto. There’s been no mention thus far regarding MagSafe attachments or if the bezel will include a Dynamic Island, but by-and-large it looks like this will be the most slim gap in functionality ever developed between a budget phone and mainline iPhone model.
How Much Will The iPhone 16e Cost?
As you can likely imagine, the upgrade in tech also comes with a price hike. According to the latest news, the iPhone 16e will begin at $599, making it only $200 cheaper than the mainline model. This move may have been made as part of a concerted effort to convert budget buyers to the full-priced 16, though it should be noted that these are just the base prices, so there’s still a lot of money to be saved by purchasing the 16e. More information is sure to surface in the coming days as the phone becomes available for presale and eventually general consumption, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any new updates.
