iPhone 16e pricing hints at unpopular changes ahead for iPhone 17

Apple’s iPhone 16e launch came with several surprises this week, one of which involved price. And unfortunately, it may not be the last big price change we see on the iPhone this year.

iPhone SE’s successor lost the SE’s key feature: low price

In the lead-up to this week’s Apple announcement, we had a good idea of what to expect from the new iPhone.

For a while now, various reports had the specs right. A18 chip, 8GB of RAM, iPhone 14-style design with Face ID, Apple Intelligence support, USB-C, and more.

Even the new name—iPhone 16e—had leaked in advance, though there was still a fair amount of skepticism about that change.

We were expecting an iPhone SE successor, and didn’t exactly get one. The name change itself isn’t the reason for that, but the price absolutely is.

• iPhone SE: $429
• iPhone 16e: $599

That is no longer a ‘budget’ smartphone.

Rumors of a price change existed, but they largely pointed to a $499 starting price.

Apple’s decision to go with $599 hints at more price changes ahead.

Big iPhone pricing shake-up could be coming

Before the iPhone 16e debuted, there were other reasons to suspect Apple was planning to shake up its iPhone pricing this fall.

For one, a price hike has been expected for a couple years already due to inflation, but Apple’s pricing so far has held firm.