Apple announced earlier this month that the iPhone 16e is the latest member of its iPhone 16 family. Apple’s first cellular modem and A18 chip’s latest iPhone starts selling in India today, but details about the iPhone 17E are already in circulation online. New leaks reveal the launch schedule of the phone’s 16E successor. The iPhone 17E is expected to officially rise a few months after the release of the iPhone 17 series.
iPhone 17E can debut in February 2026
According to analysts at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), Apple’s “E” series phones may be part of the program. The company is reportedly launching the iPhone 17E “around this time next year”, meaning February 2026. It is said that the launch of the core iPhone 17 model will be held in September this year. The lineup is believed to include the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Slim, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models.
After a major launch event in September, Apple may try to emulate Google’s Pixel series launch model by launching the affordable iPhone 17E in February. The brand launched flagship pixel phones at its annual spring launch and released cheap Pixel A series phones at its annual Google I/O event in May.
Apple is not sticking with the system startup schedule for iPhone SE models. The first iPhone SE appeared in March 2016. The second iPhone SE was released in April 2020, while the third generation model was launched in March 2022.
The CIRP report further points out that Apple is trying to replace the success of the 2013 iPhone 5C with the new iPhone 16e. Analysts hope the iPhone 16E will do better based on its features and positioning, at the expense of other iPhone models.
iPhone 16e price, specifications
The iPhone 16E price is Rs. The base model is 59,900 and has 128GB of storage. The 256GB and 512GB storage configurations are priced at Rs. 69,900 and Rs. 89,900 respectively. It is currently for sale in India.
The iPhone 16e runs on Apple’s custom C1 modem and runs on iOS 18. It supports FACE ID and has a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. It runs on the A18 chip and supports Apple Intelligence capabilities. At the rear, the new iPhone has a 48-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera on the front for selfies and video calls. It has the IP68 dust and waterproof rating, including a USB Type-C port for charging. The phone supports 18W wired charging and 7.5W wireless charging.
