Small and not very expensive: iPhone 16E pre-order in Russia will open on February 21

Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 16E - a budget version of the older versions. The largest Russian retail chains confirmed to Izvestia that they will open pre-orders for the device and announce prices in the near future. MTS is going to do it already on February 21, and will inform additionally about the prices for the expected novelty.

"E" means economy

Apple introduced a new smartphone iPhone 16E, it became the starting model in the iPhone 16 line. In fact, the Cupertinovites decided to abandon the SE line, the previous smartphone in which the previous smartphone is dated 2022, and added a "budget" to the main line.

The smartphone is equipped with a 6.1-inch Retina OLED screen with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The iPhone 16E will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage configurations, with a starting price of $599 for the 128GB model, $699 for 256GB, and $899 for 512GB.

The iPhone 16E retains the body design from the iPhone 14, including a "bangs" cutout for the front camera instead of a dynamic island and fairly wide bezels around the screen. Externally, the model differs from the iPhone 14 only single main camera and a new Action Button. Only two colors will be available for sale - white and black, which indicates that Apple has decided to completely abandon the red color Product RED.

The iPhone 16E runs on the same processor as the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup - Apple A18. The company claims that the novelty supports the proprietary artificial intelligence Apple Intelligence, which is confirmed by the presence of 8 GB of RAM. It is also worth noting that the device has an Apple C1 modem - the first modem developed by Apple. The single camera has a resolution of 48MP.

According to the general director of the retail network MTS Andrey Gubanov, the company will open pre-orders for the new products on February 21 and will bring them to Russia among the first. In turn, the press service of the group "M.Video-Eldorado" said that will open pre-order immediately after the official announcement, but at the time of preparation of the material it was not yet open.

- We expect high demand for the novelty, as the last SE model was released almost 3 years ago. Customers will be able to pre-order on favorable terms - added in the press service of "M.Video-Eldorado".

What assessment of 16E was given by experts

It is important that with the audience of ultra-budget devices iPhone 16E almost does not overlap. For 18-20 thousand rubles now you can buy a phone on Android with a large good screen, modern design, a good camera. And it will not even hang and glitch. Those who need a phone for social networks, watching videos and games at a minimum budget such a device will be better suited. And 16E is about stability, said T-Zh editor-in-chief Nikita Boguslavsky.

- For Apple, the new 16E design is a very important move. First, it's a way to optimize production. Secondly, now there is much less difference between ex-SE and "mainstream" models, and it will be much easier for buyers of the most affordable iPhones to sell devices from more expensive lines in the future. Besides, it is quite convenient for one-handed use," added Nikita Boguslavsky.

David Davidyan, the head of "Smartphones" Wildberries, said that before the New Year the turnover of iPhones in metropolitan cities showed a sharp increase year-on-year: in Moscow by 170%, and in St. Petersburg by as much as 380%. At the same time, the greatest demand among iPhone models are flagship solutions Pro and Pro Max with a large amount of memory.

Evgeny Kharitonov, editor-in-chief of Ferra.ru, believes that with the release of the iPhone 16E fourth generation Apple became the first company to release "milk" with a capacity of 0.4 liters on the market, where until now such products were released in bottles of 0.5 liters. He suggests to evaluate the product as a smartphone "trial" and predicts that Apple with the release of iPhone 17 will raise prices on other smartphones and customers will have no choice but to move to "E"-models.

- Alas, it turned out to be a boring smartphone overall, but a reasonably serviceable iPhone. It may also become the first smartphone, the price of which Apple will move in a very wide range - because "no pity". For the main line of iPhone 16 and iPhone 17, Apple is afraid to lower prices so as not to fall into the trap that Samsung has fallen into - the Koreans always put up barrier high prices, then, as a rule, suffer from poor sales and drop prices almost to the level of Chinese smartphones, - summarized Evgeny Kharitonov.

According to the general director of TelecomDaily Denis Kuskov, 16E will repeat the success of models from the SE line. As an example, he cites the fact that the first generation of SE came out in 2016 and in our country was successfully sold until 2021. And the fact that consumers consciously purchased a smartphone that is more than four years old is a clear example of not just brand loyalty, but unprecedented love for the brand in Russia.