The appeal of the iPhone 16e certainly does not come from its $599 starting price, but rather how Apple introduced a design and features revamp that is above and beyond what the previous-generation iPhone SE 3 brought to the table. This string of changes is what allowed the new release to garner sufficient shipments to the point that Apple took the global smartphone crown for Q1 2025.
This success can mean that the iPhone 17e launch should happen next year, but according to the latest update, the Cupertino firm has yet to come to a decision. Looking at the iPhone 16e’s popularity, any sane mind would argue that a successor materializing as quickly as possible would be in Apple’s best interest, but that might not necessarily true, as we discuss in detail below.
At most, the iPhone 17e will be an iterative update over the iPhone 16e, which may quell its popularity
Even though the iPhone 17e has been reported to enter trial production soon, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman does not appear to have received the same information. As mentioned in the latest edition of his ‘Power On’ newsletter, which was spotted by 9to5Mac, the California-based giant is currently unsure about its future plans. For one thing, the iPhone 16e picked up steam because of how vastly different it was from the iPhone SE 3.
In comparison, the iPhone 17e will barely sport a few specification differences from its immediate predecessor, meaning it might not garner the same response due to the lack of exclusive upgrades. Also, it is not like Apple will invest a ton of resources and manpower to improve the iPhone 17e’s aesthetics, as we believe that the latter will stick with the same exterior as the iPhone 16e. The only noteworthy improvement is that the newer model may ship with a binned A19.
However, a possibility exists where Apple introduces mmWave connectivity or brings MagSafe wireless charging to the features set. Sadly, nothing is confirmed at this time, so we will have to keep our fingers crossed and wait for more updates to come through.
