iPhone 16e Officially Launched Starting at ₹59,900 in India: 6.1-inch Screen, Apple Intelligence, Single Camera

Apple has officially unveiled its latest entry-level iPhone, the iPhone 16e. Originally expected to launch last year, this new model replaces the iPhone SE (2022) and marks a number of significant changes to the company’s smartphone lineup and strategy. This is the first iPhone to launch with a 5G modem designed and developed in-house, it has officially been included within the iPhone 16 family, it brings Apple Intelligence features to a new low price point, and it officially ends the 10-year-plus run of the iPhone 6-style body. 

Priced starting at ₹59,900 with 128GB of storage, buyers in India who have always hoped for a truly low-cost iPhone will be disappointed once again, especially since the previous iPhone SE model was priced at ₹47,600 onwards. The new iPhone 16e will cost ₹69,900 for 256GB and a 512GB option will cost a whopping ₹89,900. It is available only in white and black. Pre-orders for buyers in India begin on February 21, with the device going on sale online and offline at Apple stores and authorised retailers starting on February 28.

Interestingly, the iPhone 14 has been discontinued to avoid a price clash, and there is now no option in the price tier formerly occupied by the iPhone SE (2022). It is likely that both older models will continue to be available through third-party retailers at lower prices. The iPhone 15 still starts at ₹69,900 in India but lacks certain features such as Apple Intelligence, though the iPhone 16e does make tradeoffs in other areas. The new iPhone 16e competes with current and older flagship-level Android phones such as the iQoo 13, Realme GT 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S24, and OnePlus 12.

The iPhone 16e has an aluminium body with flat sides, a Ceramic Shield front, and a glass back, much like its more premium siblings. It has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, and is 7.8mm thick, weighing in at 167g. There’s an iPhone 13-style notch at the top of the screen, rather than the newer Dynamic Island embedded camera layout. There is an Action Button rather than a mute switch, but no Camera Control like the rest of the iPhone 16 family. 

Its 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen matches the iPhone 16 and is a huge improvement over the smaller iPhone SE series. It supports the full DCI-P3 colour gamut and has an 800nit peak brightness rating (1200nit HDR peak). 

It also uses the same Apple A18 SoC as the iPhone 16, with six CPU cores but four GPU cores rather than five. Apple doesn’t typically disclose RAM and battery capacities but this information will emerge as soon as people get their hands on the device. Apple Intelligence is supported thanks to an integrated 16-core NPU. Emergency SOS via Satellite and Find My via Satellite will work in countries where it is available. Crash detection is also available.

The choice of a single camera in 2025 might seem odd, especially since Android smartphones in the same price range typically have more versatile photo and video hardware. There’s one 48-megapixel f/1.6 camera which can capture 2X cropped zoom photos at 24 megapixels. Optical image stabilisation is supported, along with portrait mode and portrait lighting, photographic styles, audio mix, and 4K 60fps Dolby Vision video recording. The iPhone 16e will also be unable to capture spatial video, Cinematic Mode video, Action Mode video, or macros, setting it apart from the rest of the iPhone 16 family. There’s also a 12-megapixel front camera with Face ID.

Other features include stereo speakers, a USB Type-C port (USB 2.0 speed), Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS with NavIC for India, and iBeacon positioning but no ultra-wideband. Battery life is rated at up to 26 hours of video playback. Qi wireless charging is supported at up to 7.5W but strangely, not Apple’s MagSafe standard for magnetic mounts and accessories. One eSIM is supported along with one Nano-SIM on units sold in India. 

Some buyers who are used to smaller phones will miss the older iPhone 6-era design, and many users still prefer Touch ID over Face ID. With this launch, there are now no more models with a physical Home button, which has been around since the very first iPhone in 2007.

Apple’s in-house 5G modem is the result of years of work and delays. The company acquired Intel’s 5G business in order to boost its own development capabilities, but has had to contend with intellectual property disputes with Qualcomm, which still supplies modems for all other Apple products. Delays in the development of this modem have previously been reported as the reason that the iPhone SE lineup was not refreshed last year.