There is no cool transition editing, and there is no familiar “Good Morning”. The long-awaited new iPhone is directly on the official website. However, surprisingly, the new SE released this time is very different from the past. Many senior fans in Moments said, “I don’t understand this machine.”
iPhone 16e: Apple’s first Lite version, “knife” is really amazing!
First of all, Apple finally changed the name of the iPhone SE – the newly released iPhone was named iPhone 16e (at present, Apple has not specifically introduced what the e of 16e stands for. Xiao Lei feels more like the “Lite version” used by Android phone manufacturers).
At the same time as launching the iPhone 16e, Apple also quietly removed the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 series from the official website, which also proves to some extent that the iPhone 16e is actually the iPhone SE of the past. ( Lei Technology pointed out in the forecast draft that this new opportunity will “crush” the iPhone 14 in an all-round way, and Apple may remove the iPhone 14 from the shelves when it goes public. Now it seems that Lei Technology is right.)
Photo source: Apple
In terms of hardware, the iPhone 16e is roughly on the same as the iPhone 16: as Xiao Lei previously guessed, the iPhone 16e uses the A18 chip instead of the A17Pro. However, compared with the “full-blooded A18” of the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16e has shrunk in terms of graphics performance – the GPU has been cut from 5 cores to 4 cores, which is even worse than the A16 used by the iPhone 15. It can only be said that Apple is indeed very good at cost control.
Photo source: Apple
As previously confirmed, the iPhone 16e adopts the FaceID module of the bangs screen (without Lingdong Island), which essentially reuses the screen of the iPhone 14. Jokingly, Apple still held back from giving the LCD screen to the iPhone 16e.
The screen brightness of iPhone 16e has also regressed. When HDR is not activated, the maximum screen brightness is only 800 nits, and when HDR is activated, it is only 1200nits, which is far lower than the 1000/1600/2000nits of iPhone 15 (typical/HDR/household Outside).
By the way, changing to FaceID means that Apple has completely said goodbye to TouchID in the mobile phone category (there are still reservations in iPad and MacBook). I don’t know when Apple will be willing to use the FaceID module for the MacBook series, and give the widely criticed bangs to Use it?
Photo source: Apple
In terms of fuselage design, for cost reasons, the iPhone 16e naturally does not have a complex sapphire camera button (of course, it is useless to have it. Xiaolei predicts that the iPhone 18 or even the 17 may eliminate the camera button). However, to Xiao Lei’s surprise, Apple still brought the control buttons introduced by the iPhone 15 Pro series to the iPhone 16e.
On this point, Xiao Lei actually has an immature speculation: the iPhone 16 series sets the camera control button to the start button of “Apple Smart”, but the iPhone 16e does not have a camera control button. As a “compensation”, iPhone 16e needs a customizable operation button to serve Apple Smart (later).
Speaking of cameras, the iPhone 16e once again vividly shows Apple’s cost control method: it adopts a 48MP single camera scheme. Yes, the rear single camera, Apple calls it a “two-in-one camera system”. Simply put, it can realize digital telephoto through 2× lossless zoom. Because there is only one camera, the iPhone 16e naturally cannot take spatial photos and videos – in view of the failure of Apple Vision Pro, there is no need for this thing.
Photo source: Apple
In order to distinguish it from other mobile phones in the iPhone 16 series, the iPhone 16e can’t even use a new generation of photography styles. In previous tests, the media has confirmed that the so-called “new generation photography style” is just a difference in software functions. Photos from iPhone 16e can still be edited when sent to other iPhones. Fortunately, the iPhone 16e still retains the video capability of Dolby Vision format, supports up to 4K60fps, and only “reduces” movie mode, shallow depth of field, motion mode and other functions.
In terms of video imaging capabilities, Xiaolei personally feels that the iPhone 16e is expected to become the main working mobile phone of the video self-media studio. Like DJI Pocket and other equipment, it will become a production tool, because it is cheap and easy to use in the video area. Compared with 16 Pro, the cost of buying a few more is not much pressure. Lei Technology has been vigorously strengthening the video IP of video accounts, TikTok, B station and other platforms for 25 years. The boss saw the iPhone 16e and said that he would purchase several for the team.
The battery life of the iPhone 16e is also commendable. In the absence of a variable refresh rate (yes, the iPhone 16e is still a 60Hz screen and no screen display), the iPhone 16e still retains 26 hours of video playback time, which is far more than the 2 of the iPhone 16/iPhone 15 of the same size. 2/20 hours, close to the 27 hours of iPhone 16 Pro.
Photo source: Apple
In terms of charging, the iPhone 16e once again showed its “exceior”: although the new design was changed, it did not support the MagSafe wireless charging protocol introduced by Apple when the iPhone 12 was released. Yes, it is not that “Qi2 fast charging is not supported” due to policy restrictions, but that it does not support MagSafe at all. There is no magnet directly in the body. Wireless charging only supports the basic Qi 7.5W charging. Xiao Lei even went to the overseas version of the website to compare it. This time, Apple is a “global downside”. In the official phone case of this phone, Apple also carefully removed the built-in magnet. However, we can rest assured that we are in China, because “you can always believe in Huaqiangbei”.
In terms of network, due to the conversion of Apple’s self-developed C1 baseband (from the Intel mobile phone RF baseband business acquired by Apple in 2019, that is, the former Infineon RF baseband division), the iPhone 16e canceled support for DC-HSDPA (3.5G format under WCDMA), LT The support of E and 5G bands is consistent with the standard version of iPhone 16. Considering that the domestic 3G has basically withdrawn from the network, this actually has little impact on us. However, under the cost, iPhone 16e has no choice but to abandon the UWB chip and Thread network support, and it will be troublesome to use it to find AirTag.
In terms of color, the iPhone 16e only offers black and white colors this time. As for the selling price, Apple “courageously” set the iPhone 16e at a price of 4,499 yuan (599 US dollars). The specific price is shown in the table.
Photo source: Lei Technology
Don’t forget that at the same time as the iPhone 16e was on the shelves, Apple directly removed the iPhone 14 and iPhone SE from the shelves, which means that the iPhone 16e, which is priced at 4,499 yuan (128GB), is already the cheapest iPhone on the official website. As for the 256GB and 512GB versions, Xiaolei has compiled the price chart, and you can compare them by yourself. The National Bank of China iPhone 16e is a nanoSIM physical dual SIM configuration, which will be reserved at 21:00 on February 21 and officially released on February 28.
Android users don’t love it, and fruit fans are more likely to buy iPhone 16?
Yes, this is all Apple’s new content tonight. There is no new iPad, no new Mac, no more expensive Plus model, and even the simplified Chinese language support expected for Apple Intelligence to join us. Some are just a cheaper device that can be used in the future.
Many people say that the iPhone 16e is aimed at Xiaomi and other Android phones. After all, the starting price of 4499 yuan is comparable to that of Android medium and high-end mobile phones. In fact, this is purely taken for granted. The person who said this should not be an Android computer friend. Because for the majority of Android users, the attraction of iPhone 16e is too limited. Image (excluding video), performance, charging, battery life, unlocking, etc. are all downgraded experiences compared with Android mainstream flagships.
Can iPhone 16e attract Apple users? It’s difficult. For a long-term iPhone user like Xiao Lei (who is barely a fan), it also has some chicken ribs: the shrinking configuration and the design of driving in reverse make it even more attractive than the iPad mini with A17 Pro chip.
Also, if I buy it, why don’t I add 1,500 yuan to buy an iPhone 16? In fact, the price of Apple’s old devices is now falling rapidly, and the official price of iPhone 16 (128GB) is 5,999 yuan. However, after Pinduoduo’s “10 billion subsidy”, its price has gone to 4,698 yuan, which is only 200 yuan more expensive than iPhone 16e… So, who will buy it?
(Source: Pinduoduo)
Apple’s intelligence is outdated. Should it rely on the “Lite version” to lower the threshold?
On the page, the iPhone 16e emphasized what it considered a huge selling point – Apple Smart.
From the perspective of consumers, it is really difficult for us to understand the positioning of iPhone 16e. After all, it is not attractive to Android users and fruit fans. However, from Apple’s perspective, the appearance of iPhone 16e is more like a model serving its AI strategy.
Photo source: Lei Technology
Let’s look back at the price list of iPhone.
Before the release of the iPhone 16e, the iPhone 16, which was priced at 5,999 yuan (799 USD), was the cheapest AI iPhone, which almost destined that Apple AI was a “high-alty” AI function without a “mass base”.
In the overseas market, Lenovo and Samsung rely on the support of Google Gemini and operators to “kill the four parties”; in the domestic market, Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Honor and other brands have completed their respective AI processes, and the AI functions are remarkable and even dazzling. It has even become the new focus of mobile phone manufacturers.
After the Spring Festival in 25, DeepSeek became popular. Most domestic mobile phone manufacturers (except Xiaomi) were connected to DeepSeek at the first time, which actually proved the advantages of the openness of Android mobile phones: in the future, new models of DeepSeek, or AI models that are stronger than DeepSeek, will appear. Zhuo’s mobile phone can be accessed at the first time, and never fall behind.
However, iPhone can only allow users to wait, because Apple’s closed mode must cooperate point-to-point, which will make the intelligent experience of iPhone users different. In fact, while Chinese users have been waiting for Apple Intelligence for half a year, DeepSeek R1/V3, xAI Grok 3 and Baidu Wenxin 4.5 (coming to be released, open source and free) have been released one after another. The progress of AI technology can be described as a thousand miles in a day. Can the late Apple Intelligence really beat it? Xiaolei is very pessimistic.
However, the release of the iPhone 16e shows that at least in the global market, Apple will still strive to make Apple’s intelligence “inclusive”, and it will reduce the cheapest “AI iPhone” from 5,999 yuan (iPhone 16) to 4,499 yuan. Just like the Mac mini with M4 chip, Apple has set a sufficiently low threshold for AI iPhone.
Photo source: Apple
The 4,499 yuan iPhone 16e is not competitive in the domestic mobile phone price system. After all, from the perspective of users, when all domestic mobile phone brands except Xiaomi complete the deployment and access of DeepSeek, Apple’s intelligent Chinese support is still in the “painting cake” stage. As users, how many people are willing to pay for the temporarily unavailable Apple AI functions?
In addition, major Android/Hongmeng mobile phone brands have been making full efforts on AI mobile phones in recent years. There are not only AI functions combined with the system (such as image, battery life, file management, communication, etc.), but also jointly create AI applications with developers (such as AI office, AI collaboration, AI notes, etc.). If Apple only makes articles on hardware parameters and underlying computing power, and only cooperates with individual giants to “pilot” some large model applications, then what does the so-called “All in AI” bring to users?
Photo source: Apple
Therefore, Xiao Lei believes that it is not important whether the newly released iPhone 16e sells well or not. What is important is that it shows Apple’s emphasis on AI strategy, and it is also a “risky chess” for Apple’s AI strategy:
If Apple AI is really easy to use, the new 16e pricing model, priced at $599, will change Apple’s sales strategy of “the previous generation of old mobile phones, the previous generation of old mobile phones and new mobile phones” in the past, and make the “grandfather’s iPhone” disappear from Apple’s official website. If the “e” series is successful, each generation of Apple’s products in the future will have an “entry-level version” of the “e” series, forming a three-layer structure of Pro> digital> e version, focusing on a strict level.
If Apple only delivers “Shell ChatGPT/Shell DeepSeek” at that time, the iPhone 16e may bring side effects to the reputation of the iPhone, making the outside world even less optimistic about Apple’s AI strategy.
For Chinese users, “Apple Intelligence” is still an outstanding “cake”. After the Spring Festival, Apple confirmed to cooperate with Alibaba to implement Apple Intelligence. However, there is no specific timetable at present. When the iPhone 16 was released in 24, Apple said that it would be provided before March 25. Now it seems that it is likely to skip the ticket, or give a low-configuration version of intelligence that can be “make do”.
Up to the Spring Festival, Chinese users have been using the powerful DeepSeek and AI services of products such as WeChat, Baidu and domestic Android mobile phones that access DeepSeek. Their expectations for AI are getting higher and higher. Can the “Apple Intelligence” launched in cooperation with Apple and Alibaba satisfy Chinese users? Expectations are still to be seen.
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