- Apple has announced the new iPhone 17e
- The new mid-range iPhone receives an A19 chipset
- The iPhone 17e also costs the same as its predecessor iPhone 16e
Apple has announced the iPhone 17e, a new mid-range iPhone that is expected to be the first of several new launches this week.
The iPhone 17e replaces last year’s iPhone 16e, which replaced the iPhone SE as the entry-level model in Apple’s lineup. As expected, the new model is a fairly minor update with new features including an A19 chipset and MagSafe support.
While the changes are minimal, the good news is that the iPhone 17e costs the same as its predecessor (at least in the US and Australia). The Apple Intelligence-enabled phone starts at $599 / AU$999 (UK price TBA). Here’s everything we know.
A new chip and internal updates.
The key update to the iPhone 17e is its new A19 chip. Apple says its CPU is up to two times faster than the A13 Bionic chip in the iPhone 11, although it did not provide comparisons to the A18 in the iPhone 16e, suggesting the gains could be minimal.
The A19 is the same chip you’ll find in the iPhone 17, meaning the iPhone 17e is up to par with the latest generation of iPhones in terms of power. That means if performance is a key metric for you, it could be a tempting option.
That said, if you need the most raw power possible, the iPhone 17 Pro and its A19 Pro chip will be better suited for you.
Elsewhere, you’ll find the Apple-made C1X modem, which is twice as fast as the iPhone 16e’s C1, Apple says. The company also removed the base 128GB storage tier, so the iPhone 17e now starts with 256GB of storage without a price increase.
And Apple has updated the device’s wireless charging, bringing its own MagSafe standard into the mix. While the iPhone 16e was limited to up to 7.5W Qi charging, the iPhone 17e’s MagSafe enables 15W of wireless power and is compatible with MagSafe cases, wallets, and more.
As for the camera, it’s largely the same as the iPhone 16e, albeit with the addition of Apple’s “next-generation portraits with focus and depth control.”
A handful of design changes.
The core design of the iPhone 17e is unchanged from last year’s iPhone 16e. You get a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with an aluminum chassis and the action button on one side, for example.
However, there are some notable adjustments. Apple has upgraded the front glass protection to the second-generation Ceramic Shield, which the company says offers “three times better scratch resistance than the previous generation and reduced glare.”
There’s also a new color, which Apple calls “soft pink.” Complements the black and white tones of the iPhone 16e.
The limited external changes reveal that this is an update focused primarily on internal components, so it is not a groundbreaking change compared to the iPhone 16e. There are reasons to be interested in the iPhone 17e, but current iPhone 16e users probably won’t notice much of a difference.
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