First look review: How Apple’s ‘affordable’ iPhone 16e stacks up

Apple has released a new iPhone that is $400 cheaper than its standard model. It’s made some trade-offs but has crammed in a heap of new features. So is it a good deal?

The 16e is Apple’s most affordable iPhone in its latest line-up.

Apple has unveiled a new “affordable” iPhone, the 16e. Affordable is subjective. It priced at $999. This is $400 less than the standard iPhone 16.

But compared with its predecessor, the three-year-old iPhone SE 3, it costs $280 more – almost a 39 per cent increase.

Apple is quick to highlight that the 16e is more durable than the SE and is loaded with extra features, including the latest A18 chip, meaning it is “built for Apple Intelligence” – the tech titan’s AI offering.

The 16e is a faster and smarter phone But does it justify the hefty price increase?

Unboxing

The first thing you notice about the 16e is it’s light. It weighs 167 grams – slightly less than the standard iPhone 16 but considerably lighter than the 16 Pro Max’s 227g.

This is because it’s made from an 85 per cent recycled aluminium enclosure compared with titanium in the more up-market 16 series iPhones.

Apple's iPhone 16e is made from 85 per cent recycled aluminium.

The 16e screen is also slightly smaller than the standard 16 at 6.06 inches versus 6.12 inches. Unlike the more expensive models, it doesn’t have the dynamic island at the top of the screen, opting for the older-style notch instead that houses the front camera.

The 16e also does not support MagSafe charging, and has one camera on the back. The standard 16 has two cameras, a 48MP fusion camera and 12MP ultra wide.

How the iPhone 16e rear camera performs.

Also absent is the camera control button, located on the bottom right hand side, that was introduced on the more expensive 16 models. But it does have the action button on upper left hand side that was introduced in the 15 series. The action button is customisable and can perform a range of tasks from turning on the built-in torch to activating visual intelligence.

Booting up

Apple makes setting up an iPhone a breeze. You don’t even need your Apple ID. All you need is your older device close by and it takes care of the rest.

It supports e-SIMs but if you have a Telstra plan this can be challenging to set-up, with the user being directed to Telstra’s app instead, which is a less-than-desirable experience than Apple’s start-up.

Features

The iPhone 16e is the most accessible entry for Apple Intelligence. And as smart phone upgrades before more incremental, AI-powered features become more compelling.

Image playground allows users to create their own custom illustrations via Apple Intelligence.

But what exactly are AI phones? There are a lot of fun things, like creating your own ‘genmojis’. Want a dog ordering pizza? Done. Image playground is also a novelty, allowing you to create your own pictures – such as your mother trekking in the mountains – in a variety of styles.

But Apple Intelligence comes to life when it helps you perform real-world tasks easier. This includes being able to prioritise and summarise emails rather than be bombarded with an overflowing inbox.

The email assistant is Apple chief executive Tim Cook’s favourite feature and he says he uses it every morning rather than individually reading dozens of emails.

Then there are the writing tools that, like other AI assistants, can change your prose into a variety of styles such as being more professional or more casual, more humorous or even making it sound like you were retelling a murder mystery.

Another handy feature is visual intelligence which is the ability to take a picture and gain more information about a certain object. It works similar to Google Lens, which allows people to ‘search what they see’. If you are travelling, you can take a picture of a restaurant to gain more details about its menu, operating hours or whether it’s child friendly.

You can also customise the action button to act as a translator.

Camera

The best camera is the one that you always have on you. Even professional photographers encourage people to always wear a camera, which is difficult if you’re lugging around a dSLR or even a sleek mirrorless camera such as the Sony A7 series despite their superior image quality.

The iPhone 16 has a 48MP camera.

iPhone cameras have improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. I was looking at grainy pictures taken on my iPhone 4 up to 6s, and how images would pixilate at the smallest zoom. The 16e captures much more detail than those older phones. It has a 48MP fusion camera, with an integrated 2x equivalent telephoto lens, which Apple says is like having two cameras in one, and is four times the resolution of older iPhones.

What this means is that when the 2x lens is activated it crops the centre of the image, lowering the resolution to 12MP to create the zoom effect.

For most people this is all the camera they need.

The screen

iPhone 16 comes in one size only, which is a shame. I was speaking to someone who shattered their screen on an iPhone 14. Apple quoted $600 for a repair, but for an extra $399, you could get a brand new 16e and get a superior phone.

The screen is a touch under 6.1 inches and features what Apple calls is a ‘Super Retina XDR display with OLED technology’. The resolution is 2532 by 1170 pixels compared with 2556 by 1179 on the standard 16. Most people won’t notice the difference.

Apple's iPhone 16e comes in two colours, black and white.

But where people will notice a big difference is if they have an older iPhone 11, which had resolution of 1792 by 828 pixels and none of the Apple Intelligence features. Apple Intelligence is only supported on 15 series onwards.

To entice customers to upgrade, Apple is offering a credit of up to $210 if they trade in their iPhone 11.

Who’s it for?

The 16e is worth a look by anybody who has an iPhone 14 or older and they’re happy with a 6.1 inch screen. Those who use a Plus or Pro Max model may find the display too small.

If they have an iPhone 11 – which Apple seems to be targeting – the upgrades become more pronounced.

The most noticeable is that it has up to 6 hours more battery life than iPhone 11.

Crucially, it comes with added safety features, including the ability to connect to Apple’s satellite to make emergency SOS calls when users are out of mobile or Wi-Fi coverage.

This alone justifies the 39 per cent price jump on the iPhone SE 3.

Originally published as First look review: How Apple’s ‘affordable’ iPhone 16e stacks up