Apple has put the final nail in the coffin of the home button after 18 years with the release of the new iPhone 16e.
The lowest-cost new iPhone replaces the 2022 iPhone SE, which was the last Apple product standing with the touch ID button, finishing off its drawn-out demise, which started with the iPhone X back in 2017.
The iPhone 16e costs £599 (€709/$599/A$999) and offers a modern iPhone experience similar to the regular iPhone 15 and latest iPhone 16 but with a few bells and whistles removed to reach a slightly lower price. It replaces the previously cheapest available £599 iPhone 14 and £429 iPhone SE in Apple’s lineup, and thus marks a considerable price increase for the cheapest new iPhone when it ships on 28 February.
The new iPhone has an aluminium frame, glass front and back and an 15.4cm (6.1in) OLED screen, relegating the old-school iPhone design, with its chunky forehead and chins, to history. But the 16e is only available in black or white and has the older, notch-style cutout at the top of the screen from the iPhone 14, not the newer pill-shaped dynamic island design used by the rest of the iPhone lineup. The notch contains the face ID sensor that replaces the touch ID system for unlocking the phone and authenticating payment.
The phone starts with 128GB of storage and has Apple’s latest A18 chip, which enables the firm’s various AI tools, to bring the cheapest iPhone up to par with the rest of the line. It has 5G powered by a new Apple modem for the first time, emergency satellite messaging, charges via USB-C and has an action button instead of the mute switch in the side.
But the phone has only a single 48-megapixel camera on the back instead of the double or triple cameras of other iPhones, and lacks the recently added camera control button on the side.
Despite a sizable price hike over the outgoing iPhone SE, Apple will be hoping this beefed-up lower cost model can recapture some of the mid-range smartphone market and improve slumping sales in countries such as China. It may also help in moving a greater share of iPhone users on to devices capable of receiving Apple intelligence features, on which the firm has bet big to catch up to rivals such as Google’s Gemini on Pixel and Samsung devices.
