Verge staffers react to the iPhone 16E: what we love and don’t love

Apple has launched its caller iPhone 16E pinch an updated design, further features — and nary location fastener aliases MagSafe charging. This revamped type of the company’s fund telephone will beryllium going for $599 and will see a USB-C port, a notch, a customizable Action Button, a accelerated A18 chip, and tons of extras. So what does that do for those who mightiness person been looking guardant to a smaller phone? Is the caller Action Button a bully thing? Will you miss MagSafe?

We asked the unit of The Verge for their first impressions of the iPhone 16E. Of course, we will beryllium moving a afloat reappraisal of the phone, which will vessel connected February 28th. But meanwhile, present are immoderate of the feelings that the news has generated successful immoderate of our iPhone users.

Look, I’m conscionable arsenic overmuch a instrumentality of beingness location buttons arsenic anyone, but possibly it’s clip we opportunity our goodbyes for good. The swipe-up gestures for unlocking, returning to the homescreen, aliases managing apps feels earthy and fluid now. I judge don’t miss the excessive bezels, and I admit the reclaimed surface existent property to bask each dot of edge-to-edge OLED goodness I can. And you cognize what? As overmuch arsenic I dislike the notch, it adds much to the wide artistic and personification acquisition than it detracts from it, truthful I’m good pinch that tradeoff, too. – Quentyn Kennemer, commerce writer

I emotion that Apple brought the Action Button to its caller affordable iPhone 16E. It’s 1 of the amended hardware features Apple introduced successful caller years. It launched connected the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and was included connected each iPhone 16 models successful 2024. I person excavation group to motorboat a flashlight (and usage it each the time), but you tin group it to motorboat different apps, too, for illustration Apple Translate, the camera app, shortcuts, and more. I’m benignant of amazed Apple included it since erstwhile iPhone SE mid-year launches usually included a newer processor but successful a assemblage a fewer years old. – Todd Haselton, lawman editor, reviews and commerce

That’s a nary for me. Not truthful overmuch for MagSafe complaint velocity — wired is ever faster anyhow — but because the magnetic ringing is truthful handy. You tin ever adhd a magnetic case, though, truthful if the camera is decent enough, I conjecture it’s not the extremity of the world. – Nathan Edwards, elder reviews editor

As personification who presently wields a 6.7-inch ceramic of a phone, I’ve started to agelong for my iPhone 6S days. At 6.06 inches, the iPhone 16E’s surface size seems for illustration the cleanable mean betwixt excessively large and excessively small. It’s bigger than the iPhone SE released successful 2022 but astir the aforesaid arsenic the modular 6.1-inch iPhone 16 (though it’s besides 0.1mm narrower and 0.7mm shorter). That will hopefully beryllium a positive for those of america who want to put our phones successful our pockets.

And while the iPhone 16E whitethorn beryllium (slightly) smaller and cheaper than the iPhone 16, but Apple isn’t skimping retired connected quality: dissimilar the past iPhone SE, the iPhone 16E comes pinch an OLED show panel. It’s bully to spot Apple bringing immoderate of its premium features to its budget-friendly devices. – Emma Roth, news writer

I’m somewhat relieved to spot the caller iPhone 16E uses the existent A18 processor recovered successful the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. Previous iPhone SE models besides borrowed the latest chips from the pricier iPhones of their time, but location was a portion of maine that wondered if Apple mightiness astonishment america pinch thing for illustration a last-gen A17. (Remember erstwhile the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus sewage year-old holdovers from the 14 Pro?)

The A18 successful the 16E does person 1 less GPU halfway (four alternatively of five), but I uncertainty anyone’s really going to feel that difference. Maybe if you do immoderate side-by-side comparisons pinch high-end games for illustration Resident Evil 4, but cipher buying an iPhone 16E is going to do that (and apparently nobody’s really buying those games anyway).

Having the latest-gen processor intends the iPhone 16E should spot years of support, which is 1 of the benefits of buying an iPhone. And it’s arguably much important these days now that immoderate Android manufacturers person gotten their enactment together and promised up to seven years of package updates connected immoderate of their latest models. – Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer

I emotion my iPhone 12 Mini, but I’ve besides been reasoning astir upgrading because I want an iPhone pinch a USB-C port. I astir apt don’t really request astir of the fancier features connected the main iPhone 16 lineup, truthful the caller iPhone 16E seems for illustration it could service maine good for galore years.

But do I really want to salary $599 mostly for a USB-C port? My iPhone 12 Mini still useful well, particularly aft I replaced the artillery past year. My Lightning cables still activity good for charging, arsenic does my Lightning-equipped MagSafe Duo. I don’t really request a USB-C larboard for immoderate different logic isolated from convenience.

I deliberation I’m conscionable going to bent connected to my iPhone 12 Mini and spot what’s successful shop for the iPhone 17 lineup. But I don’t deliberation I’ll hold overmuch longer to get a USB-C iPhone. – Jay Peters, news editor

At this point, switching betwixt phones is really beautiful simple. Both Android and iOS person made upgrades easy, and you tin moreover move betwixt operating systems pinch a cablegram and a mates of hours. But each clip I move to a instrumentality without Face ID aliases a akin gaze-based authentication system, my musculus representation collapses. Whether I’m paying for stuff, accessing passwords, aliases trying to fastener myself retired of societal media apps, I usage the biometric strategy much than I recognize — and look unlock is faster, much reliable, and conscionable easier. I emotion the tactility and smashability of a location button, but I’ll happily waste and acquisition it for that instantaneous, my telephone is already unlocked feeling you get from Face ID. – David Pierce, editor-at-large

This creation alteration intends the SE yet feels for illustration a modern return connected an affordable phone: highly powerful, packed pinch AI (for amended aliases worse), and pinch a full-screen creation that doesn’t instrumentality retired for illustration a sore thumb.

The notch isn’t precisely Apple’s bleeding separator — I conjecture we’ll person to hold a fewer much years for the Dynamic Island to activity its measurement down to the SE statement — but it brings pinch it some Face ID and a batch much surface existent estate. It is the extremity of an era, though: there’s nary longer immoderate iPhone connected the marketplace that has an uninterrupted display. – Dominic Preston, news editor

It isn’t remotely astonishing to maine that the iPhone 16E only provides 1 rear camera. Not only does that reflector the 2022 iPhone SE (which sported a 12-megapixel sensor, compared to the iPhone 16E’s beefier 48-megapixel sensor), but cameras besides thin to person a noticeable relationship pinch telephone price. This is an perfect prime for group who don’t need each the fancy camera hardware provided connected powerful, much costly flagship phones.

Photography-driven imaginative people typically splurge connected the latest Pro aliases modular iPhone exemplary anyhow aliases usage a dedicated camera. The creation and capacity of the iPhone 16E person already been modernized successful statement pinch astir of Apple’s existent generational lineup — immoderate much and it mightiness arsenic good conscionable beryllium an iPhone 16. – Jess Weatherbed, news writer

It’s been a agelong clip since Apple offered an “affordable” iPhone that doesn’t require making monolithic characteristic tradeoffs for the price. That seems to beryllium changing successful the caller $599 iPhone 16E, and it’s astir time. The Android ecosystem has had immoderate really bully options astir $500 for the past fewer years from Google, Samsung, and OnePlus — each pinch big, modern screens, plentifulness of storage, and nighttime mode successful the camera app. That’s conscionable not a operation you could get from a caller iPhone for nether $800 complete the past 3 years.

Some folks mightiness beryllium disappointed by losing the location fastener aliases having to move to USB-C (one of us… 1 of us…), but I deliberation bringing a modern characteristic group to the iPhone SE and keeping the value relatively affordable much than makes up for the loss. I’d emotion for it to beryllium a spot cheaper, and not offering MagSafe is simply a weird choice. But this mightiness beryllium the telephone that yet gets my hubby to upgrade from his XR, and for that, I americium grateful. – Allison Johnson, reviews writer