The iPhone 16e simply gave Samsung and different smartphone makers an enormous benefit

It has been practically three years for the reason that third-gen — and now last — iPhone SE launched, and at present, Apple lastly unveiled its successor. The iPhone 16e is not simply an unintentional throwback to one in every of Samsung’s greatest telephones of the 2010s, it is also Apple’s daring technique for providing a extra reasonably priced iPhone. Gone are the times of sub-$500 iMessage machines. Now, in order for you your children, your mother and father, or another budget-minded individual in your life to have an iPhone, you will have to shell out an entire lot additional cash to get there.

After all, in your further $170 — that is a complete of $600, up from $430 — you do get a fairly huge improve. The iPhone 16e combines the iPhone 14’s design, notch and all, with some extra trendy parts, together with, most notably, a shift to USB-C and Apple’s A18 SoC. Whereas it isn’t the precise configuration you will discover in Apple’s costlier iPhone 16, it is nearer than the iPhone SE ever got here. And but, I am unable to assist however really feel like this launch offers Android producers an opportunity to struggle again within the finances house, one they have not had since Apple’s first iPhone SE arrived practically 9 years in the past.

The iPhone 16e is one critically odd product

A few of yesterday, a few of at present, a few of tomorrow

On paper, $600 for the iPhone 16e is not a horrible cut price. It is the identical worth the iPhone 14 was marked at till this morning, when Apple formally retired it for this new machine. There are actual benefits to this machine over each of those it changed, together with USB-C, a a lot quicker processor, extra RAM, and (seemingly) the identical primary 48MP sensor seen on the iPhone 16. I am simply not sure if these strikes — most of which had been impressed both by a concentrate on AI instruments, or the EU’s USB-C necessities — justify a transfer as much as $600.

Whereas it was simple for Android followers to mock the iPhone SE for, successfully, being a group of spare elements thrown collectively right into a single machine, that did not imply the telephones had been unhealthy. Former AP editor Ryne Hager reviewed the third-gen iPhone SE again in 2022, and there is a cause he known as it an “simple Android off-ramp.” Dated design apart, all three iPhone SE fashions had been strong telephones in their very own proper; there is a cause we have seen over two years of rumors about what its successor might presumably be.

In a post-RCS world, I am simply unsure I see the apparent worth on paper right here. The iPhone 16e is lacking some essential options, together with MagSafe help, and because the very first product to ship with Apple’s in-house (and controversial) modem, I would be apprehensive to see simply the way it holds up in on a regular basis use. I am not notably stunned by the choice to essentially push AI right here — might Apple even market an unsupported machine following months of Apple Intelligence being the buzzword in its advertisements? — however proper now, you’ll be able to’t inform me MagSafe help would not be a greater characteristic so as to add in for the type of shopper contemplating a “finances” iPhone.

You would not imagine what Android can ship for below $600

I am unable to even record all of it right here

All of that is exacerbated by the truth that the sub-$600 Android house is perhaps one of the best it is ever been. My AP colleague Stephen Radochia gave the OnePlus 13R a glowing overview final month. Whereas, sure, it is also a $600 smartphone, when you think about that OnePlus will provide you with a $100 low cost for any smartphone trade-in, no matter age or state, you are speaking about plenty of cellphone for simply $500. It is larger — a downgrade to some, for positive, but it surely’s not just like the 6.1-inch iPhone 16e is small — it is bought a handful of digicam sensors, and a large battery that I am unsure you can kill throughout the house of a single day.

If that $100 low cost is dishonest, have a look at the Pixel 8a. Certain, it is a yr outdated, but it surely’s simply as able to performing most AI duties — particularly contemplating the lackluster state of Apple Intelligence in the intervening time — and it is routinely on sale for simply $400. Certain, you continue to haven’t got MagSafe help, however you rating two glorious digicam sensors, a light-weight, comfy chassis, and a few precise colours. Sorry Apple, however black and white choices simply will not minimize it right here.

The very existence of reductions truly breaks the market huge open on the Android aspect of the fence. Whereas reductions on iPhones often have you ever springing for provider offers — which frequently require new strains — the 2024 Moto Razr+ is up for grabs proper now for simply $580. That is a contemporary flip cellphone with two glorious shows, together with an expansive 4-inch exterior panel, for $20 much less than Apple’s most cost-effective trendy possibility.

Samsung nearly has too many sub-$600 choices to select from, with the massively well-liked A-series principally turning into the default One UI expertise for thousands and thousands of smartphone customers on the market. Following the launch of the Galaxy S25, we have seen Samsung working to refresh varied fashions in its A-series lineup for 2025.

And hey, I would be remiss if I did not point out the Pixel 9a. Google’s newest midrange smartphone might arrive as early as subsequent month, and albeit, I feel Google ought to get a transfer on now. Each leak suggests a superb successor to the Pixel 8a, and the proper rival to the iPhone 16e. Two digicam sensors, a bigger battery, Tensor G4 for all the AI processing you might ever need, and — presumably — all the AI instruments that initially launched on the Pixel 9 final yr. All for, if the leaks are to be believed, $500.

Reasonably priced Android units are higher than ever

It is time for Google to behave prefer it

Look, I am not oblivious to the state of the market. The iPhone is massively well-liked within the US, and Apple’s shockingly good at locking in its customers. There is a good probability that anybody trying on the iPhone 16e would by no means take into account an Android machine, irrespective of the worth. The earliest days of low cost Android {hardware} did not assist right here, setting in place the concept you have to purchase an iPhone to have a very good cellular expertise, regardless of how loads of shoppers in contrast Apple’s product to $200 Tracfone units from 2013.

It is also doable that Apple’s priced potential tariffs into the iPhone 16e’s worth, and that each Android cellphone that would have had it beat on worth will lose out if and when these measures go into full impact. However because it stands, the iPhone that Apple is about to place up for pre-order on Friday is, to my eyes, a a lot worse deal than loads of my favourite Android telephones from the previous yr, and with units just like the Pixel 9a on the horizon, that divide between Android and iPhone costs would possibly solely deepen.

The true risk right here, I feel, is the MVNOs that may proceed to promote iPhone 14 (and even iPhone 13) fashions for $500 or much less. Nonetheless, I am hoping Google — and others, together with Samsung, OnePlus, and Motorola — work to make it clear to buyers what their trendy units supply over Apple’s new finances flagship machine. There’s an actual alternative right here to rewrite the idea of a “low cost” Android cellphone. All we’d like is for one in every of these manufacturers to strike first.