It's going to be too much: the new iPhone 16e is inferior to previous generations

Izvestia was among the first in Russia to test the budget smartphone iPhone 16e — the novelty turned out to be controversial, combining both innovations and frankly compromise solutions in one device. The device is trying to adopt ideas from different generations of smartphones, while even the iPhone 12 loses in some aspects due to its single camera. But this approach is unlikely to prevent the gadget from finding its audience, including among Russian connoisseurs of the average budget. All the pros and cons can be found in the Izvestia article.

Who can use the iPhone 16e

The iPhone 16e is closer to Apple smartphones from three years ago than to the current model range of the sixteenth series. The thing is that it was originally supposed to be called the iPhone SE 4, that is, the SE is the fourth-generation model from a series of budget smartphones. Apple has decided to integrate an affordable product into the current main line, while in some respects the 16e is frankly losing to its older brothers.

First of all, the appearance — the novelty does not have support for Dynamic Island technology, instead there is a bang on the front, a distracting factor that Apple has completely abandoned, starting with the iPhone 15. In other words, 16e brings us back to smartphones from the iPhone 13 era, and this is 2021.Another disadvantage was the lack of additional cameras. There is only one camera available on the back of the smartphone with an effective resolution of 48 million pixels. Nowadays, 48 MP is unlikely to be enough for demanding users, especially since the convenient shooting functionality along with the additional Camera Control button is not provided in the device.

At the same time, Apple added a programmable Action Button, which first appeared in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. In other words, the company combined technologies that previously did not exist in one smartphone, while making compromises due to the lack of cameras, Dynamic Island and other comfortable things that modern consumers of Cupertinos phones are accustomed to.

Unlike the iPhone SE line, the 16e removed such familiar options as the front-facing Home button, the side mute switch, and the Lightning connector. The new smart has a traditional modern USB-C connector, which has become a mandatory standard for electronic devices in Europe since 2024 in accordance with the decision of the European Union.

As for the performance of the iPhone 16e, although not very noticeable, the model is still inferior even to the basic iPhone 16 — the device uses the Apple A18 chipset, like the older versions, but the new model has only four GPU cores, while the basic version has five and the Pro version has six.and this affects the smartphone's performance in demanding applications and games.

Other disadvantages include no support for MagSafe wireless charging technology, which has become a must—have for any iPhone since version 12, an ultra-wide-angle camera, and an Ultra Wide Brand chip to search for other devices.In addition, USB 3 is not supported, only the outdated USB 2 standard, and the functions of the Apple Intelligence AI toolkit, which are actively advertised by Apple itself, traditionally work with a number of limitations in Russia.

This number of compromises looks especially unpleasant against the background of a noticeable price increase compared to the previous generation of the iPhone SE 3 budget employee — in Russia, the third generation cost 35 thousand rubles at the time of release, prices for the 16e start at 79.9 thousand rubles, which is almost twice as high.

Surprisingly, against the background of various disadvantages, in 16e there was a place for experiment — for the first time Apple installed a C1 modem in a smartphone using its own technology. Thus, the company has moved away from the practice of using modems from Qualcomm, which are pre-installed in all other Apple smartphones. Due to this solution, the charge is consumed less and the phone has received an increase in autonomy, which has already been proven by numerous test drives on the Network.

Are Russians waiting for a budget Apple smartphone

Restore: Pre-order for the iPhone 16e model opened immediately after the announcement of the new phone. According to representatives of the retail chain, they observe the restrained attitude of customers towards the new model. This is due to the fact that the new product is not yet publicly available. It is always important for consumers to look at a new phone live, therefore, from March 5, demo models will be displayed in the largest stores of the restore network: (on Neglinnaya and in Aviapark)and customers will have the opportunity to personally test and understand how the iPhone 16e suits them. At the same time, sales themselves will begin in the second half of March, the restore press service told Izvestia:.

According to Andrey Gubanov, CEO of the MTS retail chain, the number of pre-orders for the iPhone 16e is almost twice as high as for the iPhone SE 3 in 2022. 50% of all pre—orders at MTS are for the 256 GB model, 40% for the 128 GB model and 10% for the 512 GB model. The most popular model is in black, it takes up 80% of all purchases.

As noted in the press service of the group "M.Video-Eldorado", the demand for the iPhone 16e is three times higher than for the iPhone SE during the same pre-order period. The novelty has already managed to attract attention due to its advanced technologies, high level of performance and improved technical characteristics.

"We see stable demand for Apple devices and expect the new smartphone to continue this trend," the company's press service added.

The iPhone 16e is able to find its niche and receive a positive response from those who still use an outdated smartphone, that is, released more than four years ago. For such consumers, the compromises of the 16e will be much less noticeable, which means that the target audience includes owners of the iPhone 12 and iPhone SE of the third generation. The most inconvenient factor of the 16e is the high price, taking into account the features that the device offers. At the same time, those who are willing to pay almost 80 thousand rubles for an up—to-date smartphone from Apple's newest line will not be disappointed - they simply have nothing to compare it with.

The novelty for testing was provided to Izvestia by a network of Apple branded hardware and accessories stores in the largest cities of Russia, restore:, which has the status of Apple Premium Reseller.