The New iPhone 16E Is the Cheapest iPhone Apple Sells, but Who's It For?

Apple has officially released a new lower-cost phone, but it's not simply a replacement of its affordable iPhone SE line. The iPhone 16E, as it's called, is the cheapest iPhone Apple currently sells. It trims some of the features off the iPhone 16 for a cheaper premium device, but is notably pricier than the budget iPhone SE series. So, who is the iPhone 16E for?

The $600 starting price of the iPhone 16E puts it out of reach for many budget iPhone fans (by comparison, the 2022 iPhone SE was priced at around $430). Instead, Apple has added an option below its premium lineup, much like Android phone makers have done with the $650 Samsung Galaxy S24 FE and the $500 Google Pixel 8A. Perhaps most importantly, the iPhone 16E is now the cheapest device with Apple Intelligence -- and connects to Apple's Emergency SOS satellite texting service

Even priced out of the budget market, there are a handful of ideal customers for the new cheapest iPhone. The most obvious are consumers who want Apple's clean phone and OS design, but are tired of the decade-old screen and home button tech in the iPhone SE line. The iPhone 16E has a full-front 6.1-inch XDR OLED display design with modern features like a 48-megapixel main rear camera, starting 128GB of storage and a USB-C port. It's a current phone with just enough neat specs to not feel dated when you buy it.

CNET