The iPhone 16e is official, making it the most affordable model of iPhone in Apple’s 2025 collection – but how does it compare to the regular iPhone 16?
While the two smartphones might look near-identical at a glance, there are differences not only to the overall design but key elements like camera technology, Face ID smarts and more that could sway your vote one way or the other.
Here’s how the iPhone 16e stacks up to the iPhone 16 on paper.
Pricing and availability
The iPhone 16 is a flagship-level smartphone and has a price tag to match, starting at £799/$799 with 128GB memory. It’s available to buy right now both outright and on contract, having launched in late 2024.
The iPhone 16E, on the other hand, is set to go up for pre-order from various retailers and carriers on 21 February 2025 ahead of release on 28 February. It’s not quite as affordable as the iPhone SE was, however, coming in at £599/$599 with 128GB of storage.
Both share the same general look and feel
The iPhone SE 3, which the iPhone 16e is loosely based, sported a much older design than other recent iPhones we’ve seen.
The iPhone 16, for example, sports the same combination of a full screen display, flat edges and rounded corners first introduced way back on the iPhone 12. The iPhone SE 3, released in 2022, had a dated design that looked a lot like the iPhone 8, complete with a smaller screen and the now-ancient Home button.
The good news is that the new iPhone 16e ditches the aged look of its spiritual predecessor, offering the same general look – including the same all-screen design with flat edges and rounded corners – as the flagship iPhone. That brings with it a number of advancements, especially when it comes to screen tech, but we’ll come to that shortly.
Elsewhere, both iPhones sport the same flagship-level IP68 dust and water resistance, something that’s still not commonplace at the iPhone 16E’s mid-range price point. The new iPhone 16e also sports the same upgraded USB-C connectivity as its flagship brethren, finally marking the end of the Lightning port on Apple’s iPhone collection.
Both iPhones also sport Apple’s customisable Action Button, though only the flagship iPhone offers the accompanying Camera Control button on the bottom right.
The colour options differ depending on the phone you go for, with the iPhone 16 available in shades of black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine while the iPhone 16e comes in either black or white, but broadly speaking, the two look pretty similar – much more so than the iPhone SE 3 ever did, anyway.
The iPhone 16 has a slightly larger, more advanced screen
Though the iPhone 16E’s screen might look identical to that of the iPhone 16 at a glance, there are subtle differences between the two.
For one, the iPhone 16 sports an ever so slightly larger screen than the iPhone 16e, measuring in at 6.12 inches compared to the 16e’s 6.06 inches, though just how noticeable this will be in real life is yet to be determined.
The bigger difference is actually the Face ID smarts integrated into the top of the display. While Apple moved the flagship iPhone from the traditional notch to the more responsive and intuitive Dynamic Island, the iPhone 16e still sports the older, larger cutout.
Given how helpful Dynamic Island has proved to be in the years since its launch, it’s a shame it’s not present here.
Elsewhere, however, the two screens are near-identical; both sport the same OLED display tech for deep blacks and vivid colours, the same screen resolution and even the same 60Hz refresh rate.
The iPhone 16e only has a single camera
Apple’s budget-focused iPhones have always had a single camera lens – look no further than the three generations of iPhone SE to see what we mean – and that hasn’t changed with the iPhone 16e.
However, rather than packing an unimpressive 12MP lens like the old SE did, the iPhone 16e sports an upgraded 48MP main camera. It’s not quite the same as that as the iPhone 16s main camera, lacking the upgraded sensor-shift OIS tech of the flagship model, but both offer the same pixel binning tech to boost light and detail, and both offer a digital 2x telephoto too.
Where the iPhone 16 pulls away from the iPhone 16e is with the inclusion of a 12MP ultrawide lens, providing a wider view for those scenic vistas than can be managed from the main lens.
The iPhone 16e also doesn’t offer the same shooting modes as the iPhone 16, lacking support for Action Mode, Cinematic Mode, Dolby HDR recording and more.
The iPhone 16e doesn’t have MagSafe charging
Interestingly, one of the big omissions from the iPhone 16e is MagSafe – a rather odd decision given how popular the magnetic charging tech is on the flagship iPhone range, so much so that Android phone makers have begun to replicate Apple’s magnetic accessory success.
You still get wireless charging on the iPhone 16e, at up to 7.5W, but it misses out on the much faster 25W wireless charging provided by Apple’s MagSafe charger.
Both iPhones feature the A18 chipset and Apple Intelligence
With Apple betting big on Apple Intelligence with the launch of the iPhone 16 range, it only made sense for the company to also bring it to its new budget-friendly option – and that’s exactly what has happened with the iPhone 16e.
In fact, it packs the same A18 chipset as the iPhone 16, even if it is slightly underclocked with one fewer GPU cores than its flagship brethren, to power the Apple Intelligence functionality. And, as confirmed by Apple, it’ll handle all the same Apple Intelligence features as the flagship, including ChatGPT integration, Visual Intelligence support and more.
It also means that the iPhone 16e should be a pretty powerful smartphone for the price, with performance that should allow it to run high-end games and demanding apps at a similar pace to the rest of the iPhone 16 range.
Early thoughts
While there may not be many differences between the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 at a glance, there are subtle changes on offer that could sway you one way or the other.
If you want a modern iPhone experience but aren’t fussed about having the latest and greatest hardware, the iPhone 16e could be a tempting option. It lacks some advanced features and functionality, but it does the job.
However, if you really do care about elements like camera performance and display, it could be worth splashing out the extra cash on the iPhone 16.
We’ll deliver our definitive verdict once we’ve spent some time with the iPhone 16e, however, so head back soon to find out more.
