Apple has launched its new iPhone 16E with an up to date design, extra options — and no residence button or MagSafe charging. This revamped model of the corporate’s finances cellphone might be going for $599 and can embrace a USB-C port, a notch, a customizable Motion Button, a quick A18 chip, and many extras. So what does that do for many who may need been trying ahead to a smaller cellphone? Is the brand new Motion Button a superb factor? Will you miss MagSafe?
We requested the employees of The Verge for his or her first impressions of the iPhone 16E. In fact, we might be working a full evaluate of the cellphone, which can ship on February twenty eighth. However in the meantime, listed below are a number of the emotions that the information has generated in a few of our iPhone customers.
You’ll be able to’t go Residence once more
Look, I’m simply as a lot a fan of bodily residence buttons as anybody, however possibly it’s time we are saying our goodbyes for good. The swipe-up gestures for unlocking, returning to the homescreen, or managing apps feels pure and fluid now. I positive don’t miss the extreme bezels, and I recognize the reclaimed display screen actual property to take pleasure in each dot of edge-to-edge OLED goodness I can. And you realize what? As a lot as I hate the notch, it provides extra to the general aesthetic and person expertise than it detracts from it, so I’m effective with that tradeoff, too. – Quentyn Kennemer, commerce author
A customizable Motion Button
I really like that Apple introduced the Motion Button to its new inexpensive iPhone 16E. It’s one of many higher {hardware} options Apple launched lately. It launched on the iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max and was included on all iPhone 16 fashions in 2024. I’ve mine set to launch a flashlight (and use it on a regular basis), however you possibly can set it to launch different apps, too, like Apple Translate, the digicam app, shortcuts, and extra. I’m form of stunned Apple included it since earlier iPhone SE mid-year launches often included a more recent processor however in a physique just a few years previous. – Todd Haselton, deputy editor, opinions and commerce
That’s a no for me. Not a lot for MagSafe cost pace — wired is at all times quicker anyway — however as a result of the magnetic ring is so helpful. You’ll be able to at all times add a magnetic case, although, so if the digicam is first rate sufficient, I assume it’s not the tip of the world. – Nathan Edwards, senior opinions editor
OLED at a pleasant 6.1 inches
As somebody who at present wields a 6.7-inch brick of a cellphone, I’ve began to lengthy for my iPhone 6S days. At 6.06 inches, the iPhone 16E’s display screen measurement looks like the right medium between too huge and too small. It’s greater than the iPhone SE launched in 2022 however roughly the identical as the usual 6.1-inch iPhone 16 (although it’s additionally 0.1mm narrower and 0.7mm shorter). That can hopefully be a plus for these of us who need to put our telephones in our pockets.
And whereas the iPhone 16E could also be (barely) smaller and cheaper than the iPhone 16, however Apple isn’t skimping out on high quality: not like the final iPhone SE, the iPhone 16E comes with an OLED show panel. It’s good to see Apple bringing a few of its premium options to its budget-friendly units. – Emma Roth, information author
Rushing forward with an A18 chip
I’m barely relieved to see the brand new iPhone 16E makes use of the present A18 processor discovered within the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. Earlier iPhone SE fashions additionally borrowed the most recent chips from the pricier iPhones of their time, however there was part of me that puzzled if Apple would possibly shock us with one thing like a last-gen A17. (Keep in mind when the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus acquired year-old holdovers from the 14 Professional?)
The A18 within the 16E does have one fewer GPU core (4 as a substitute of 5), however I doubt anybody’s actually going to really feel that distinction. Perhaps when you do some side-by-side comparisons with high-end video games like Resident Evil 4, however no one shopping for an iPhone 16E goes to do this (and apparently nobody’s really buying those games anyway).
Having the latest-gen processor means the iPhone 16E ought to see years of assist, which is likely one of the advantages of shopping for an iPhone. And it’s arguably extra vital today now that some Android producers have gotten their act collectively and promised as much as seven years of software program updates on a few of their newest fashions. – Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer
Bye-bye Lightning, whats up USB-C
I really like my iPhone 12 Mini, however I’ve additionally been excited about upgrading as a result of I need an iPhone with a USB-C port. I most likely don’t really need many of the fancier options on the principle iPhone 16 lineup, so the brand new iPhone 16E looks like it might serve me properly for a few years.
However do I actually need to pay $599 largely for a USB-C port? My iPhone 12 Mini nonetheless works properly, particularly after I changed the battery final yr. My Lightning cables nonetheless work effective for charging, as does my Lightning-equipped MagSafe Duo. I don’t actually need a USB-C port for another purpose besides comfort.
I feel I’m simply going to hold on to my iPhone 12 Mini and see what’s in retailer for the iPhone 17 lineup. However I don’t assume I’ll wait for much longer to get a USB-C iPhone. – Jay Peters, information editor
A simple unlock with Face ID
At this level, switching between telephones is definitely fairly easy. Each Android and iOS have made upgrades straightforward, and you may even swap between working methods with a cable and a few hours. However each time I swap to a tool with out Face ID or an identical gaze-based authentication system, my muscle reminiscence collapses. Whether or not I’m paying for stuff, accessing passwords, or making an attempt to lock myself out of social media apps, I exploit the biometric system greater than I notice — and face unlock is quicker, extra dependable, and simply simpler. I really like the tactility and smashability of a house button, however I’ll fortunately commerce it for that instantaneous, my cellphone is already unlocked feeling you get from Face ID. – David Pierce, editor-at-large
This design change means the SE lastly looks like a contemporary tackle an inexpensive cellphone: extraordinarily highly effective, filled with AI (for higher or worse), and with a full-screen design that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
The notch isn’t precisely Apple’s bleeding edge — I assume we’ll have to attend just a few extra years for the Dynamic Island to work its manner all the way down to the SE line — but it surely brings with it each Face ID and much more display screen actual property. It’s the finish of an period, although: there’s now not any iPhone available on the market that has an uninterrupted show. – Dominic Preston, information editor
Just one rear digicam? No drawback
It isn’t remotely shocking to me that the iPhone 16E solely offers one rear digicam. Not solely does that mirror the 2022 iPhone SE (which sported a 12-megapixel sensor, in comparison with the iPhone 16E’s beefier 48-megapixel sensor), however cameras additionally are inclined to have a noticeable correlation with cellphone value. This is a perfect alternative for individuals who don’t want all the flowery digicam {hardware} offered on highly effective, costlier flagship telephones.
Images-driven inventive folks usually splurge on the most recent Professional or commonplace iPhone mannequin anyway or use a devoted digicam. The design and efficiency of the iPhone 16E have already been modernized according to most of Apple’s present generational lineup — any extra and it would as properly simply be an iPhone 16. – Jess Weatherbed, information author
The suitable value for a correct cellphone
It’s been a very long time since Apple supplied an “inexpensive” iPhone that doesn’t require making huge function tradeoffs for the value. That appears to be altering within the new $599 iPhone 16E, and it’s about time. The Android ecosystem has had some very nice choices round $500 for the previous few years from Google, Samsung, and OnePlus — all with huge, fashionable screens, loads of storage, and night time mode within the digicam app. That’s simply not a mixture you can get from a brand new iPhone for below $800 over the past three years.
Some of us could be dissatisfied by shedding the house button or having to modify to USB-C (one in all us… one in all us…), however I feel bringing a contemporary function set to the iPhone SE and holding the value comparatively inexpensive greater than makes up for the loss. I’d love for it to be a bit cheaper, and never providing MagSafe is a bizarre alternative. However this could be the cellphone that lastly will get my husband to improve from his XR, and for that, I’m grateful. – Allison Johnson, opinions author