Apple has unveiled the iPhone 16e, the latest addition to its iPhone 16 family, featuring support for artificial intelligence (AI) through Apple Intelligence. This budget-friendly model replaces the iPhone SE series and will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow (Feb. 21), with sales beginning next Friday (Feb. 28). In Hong Kong, the iPhone 16e is priced from HK$5,099, making it HK$1,800 cheaper than the iPhone 16 but significantly more expensive than the last iPhone SE, which launched in 2022 at HK$3,699.

The iPhone 16e features a 6.1-inch display, similar to the iPhone 16, but lacks the "Dynamic Island" interface, instead adopting the notch-style Face ID design seen on the iPhone 14. The display refresh rate is 60Hz. It includes a customizable Action Button on the side and a USB-C (2.0) charging port. However, it supports only 7.5W Qi wireless charging and does not include MagSafe.

True to its budget positioning, the iPhone 16e is equipped with a single 48MP wide-angle rear camera that supports 2x lossless zoom. Powered by the A18 chip, the device features a six-core CPU and a four-core GPU, which is one GPU core less than the iPhone 16.

The iPhone 16e is the first in the iPhone lineup to feature Apple's proprietary C1 modem chip, offering fast and stable 5G connectivity. According to Apple, with iOS 18's optimized battery management, the device has a battery life of up to 26 hours—longer than the iPhone 16's 22 hours and just slightly less than the iPhone 16 Plus's 27 hours.

One of the standout features of the iPhone 16e is its affordability as a gateway to Apple Intelligence. With 8GB of RAM, the device supports AI-driven features such as text summarization, call transcription, and image generation via AI-enhanced tools. It also includes satellite functionality; however, this feature is not supported in the HK version.

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