Apple’s new mid-range smartphone, the iPhone 16e, will be available at a recommended retail price of R15,999, and pre-orders will open at 15:00 on Friday, 21 February 2025.

The Cupertino-based tech giant unveiled the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, 19 February. It packs Apple’s in-house A18 SoC, the same chip featured in the iPhone 16, announced in September 2024.

Apple’s launch price for the iPhone 16e is $599 (R11,048, excl. VAT and duties). However, buying it in South Africa will cost you nearly R5,000 more.

The smartphone replaces the 2022 edition of the iPhone SE, which still featured large bezels and a round home button at the bottom of the screen.

With the iPhone 16e, Apple has removed the home button and given it a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display.

The home button doubled as a fingerprint scanner in the iPhone SE. With its removal, Apple has given the iPhone 16e FaceID capabilities.

The new mid-ranger has a 48-megapixel camera on the rear and a USB-C charging port, replacing the lightning port featured on older Apple devices and the previous-generation SE.

With the A18 chip, the iPhone 16e will also run Apple’s AI software, Apple Intelligence. It also features an in-house cellular modem chip.

The chip, which Apple didn’t say much about in its announcement, is the result of a multibillion-dollar move that involved hiring thousands of engineers and acquiring Intel’s old cellular modem division.

Notably, the A18 chip in the iPhone 16e is a four-core chip, down from the five cores offered in the iPhone 16.

Regarding battery life, Apple said the new mid-ranger can play video for up to 26 hours, which it said was a nine-hour improvement over the iPhone 11.

The latest edition of the lower-end iPhone is a significant change over previous generations. As part of the move, Apple discontinued the iPhone 14 and iPhone SE, which was last refreshed in 2022.

The table below summarises the specifications of Apple’s iPhone 16e smartphone.