$ 599 iPhone 16e is a cruel joke
Thehe $ 599 iPhone 16E are a lot of things, but do not dare to call it a budget phoneS I hesitate to even call him “cheap.” As a heir to the iPhone SE of $ 429, it’s hard not to see 16E as a disappointment. Of course he is with $ 200 less than the Vanilla iPhone 16 (which I claimed to have been Much at startup), and 16E is also collected in the latest A18 chip with Apple Intelligence Support. But this is no longer a small phone and presses the cheaper option for Apple’s iPhone far over $ 500. This is something we will probably never see again. (And that is potentially terrible news for future iPhone prices.)
Given the clean amount of new hardware on the iPhone 16e-incline a larger 6.1-inch OLED screen, the first Apple C1 internal modem and this aforementioned A18 chip-chip is to apologize for the price. 16E is certainly far closer to the iPhone 16 specifications than the third generation that was on the iPhone 13. But I would claim that Apple does not need exactly the OLED screen for this model and there are probably other ways to reduce costs. (This is even more sophisticated Apple saved Magsafe and fast wireless chargingwhich would be more cheaper to implement and maybe more useful than a large OLED display.)
And although it’s nice to have the A18 chip (though with a less GPU core) and full Apple Intelligence support, I agree with my colleague Igor Bonifacic Consumers are not exactly pressing For these AI features. If we had to blame a culprit for the pricing of the iPhone 16e, this is probably Apple Intelligence. In the end, Apple is still struggling to prove that it is not too far behind Microsoft, Google and Openai. Every other year, Apple could be able to justify throwing an older chip in 16E, but this is not possible when it is in the middle of Ai Hype War.
I am most sad that Apple again raises the cost of admission to its garden without much justification. There is something special-one noble smartphones under $ 500. They are a reminder of a greater era of smartphones when prices are reduced Phones like Moto GS Nowadays you stay with Android phones as Pixel 8a (and potentially upcoming Pixel 9A) as well as $ 400 Samsung Galaxy A35 and $ 499 Galaxy A55S
Now that the dream of under $ 500 is fine and really dead, it feels like Apple just puts the scene for future price jumps. 600 or $ 650 iPhone 17e will surely look like a deal compared to $ 850 or $ 900 iPhone 17. And just wait for the inevitable $ 2000 folding iPhone, which can potentially be viewed over $ 3,000.
Of course, you could be an Apple smart buyer and choose used or repaired iPhone. I recently picked up a repaired iPhone 14 Plus as a gift for the Early Mothers Day for $ 420, and Amazon currently has ads for iPhone 14 pluses under $ 500S These devices will not support Apple Intelligence, but I would say that sticking to the market used is just a more useful form of intelligence.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/a-599-iphone-16e-s-s-s- Cruel-joke- Joke-Joke-Joke-JOKE-JOKE
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