Apple Announces iPhone 17e With the One Feature the iPhone 16e Should Have Had

Gizmodo · Mar 2, 2026 · Collected from RSS

Full Article

Kickstarting its “big week,” Apple has just announced the iPhone 17e. The new “midrange” phone launches on March 11, starting at the same $599 that the iPhone 16e launched at. Preorders start Wednesday, March 4. Notably, the iPhone 17e addresses almost all of the major criticisms of the previous model. For the money, it’s to be expected that the iPhone 17e won’t have the same features as the iPhone 17, which remains an incredible value nearly six months after launch. So let’s get right to what is new about the iPhone 17e compared to the iPhone 16e. The screen on the iPhone 17e is the same 6.1 inches as on the iPhone 16e. That includes the same 60Hz refresh rate. There were rumors that the iPhone 17e might ditch the notch for the Dynamic Island, but that didn’t happen. The screen on the iPhone 17e, however, is more scratch-resistant and has reduced glare thanks to Ceramic Shield 2, according to Apple. See iPhone 17e at Apple MagSafe, Doubled Storage, More Performance The three main upgrades that you can’t immediately see just by looking at internet photos of the iPhone 17e? The addition of MagSafe wireless charging, the doubled base storage, and the A19 chip. The iPhone 16e was rightfully criticized for not supporting Apple’s magnetic charging and attachment system—now the iPhone 17e does. The iPhone 17e supports the same MagSafe and Qi2 15W fast wireless charging. The MagSafe system also means you can attach wallets and other magnetic accessories to the back of the device. Apple doubled the storage for the base model iPhone 17e and didn’t increase the price. Now, for the same $599, you get 256GB of storage. In this economy and during these weird flash storage-challenged times, that’s a really good deal. The A19 chip gives Apple’s midrange phone the flagship power of the iPhone 17. More performance for stuff like running iOS 26’s Liquid Glass, 3D gaming, mobile video editing, and handling future software updates. The one caveat is that the A19 chip in the iPhone 17e has four GPU cores instead of the five in the iPhone 17 and six in the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pros. For basic app things, you’re unlikely to notice any dip in performance, but for heavier tasks—like gaming—that lean on the GPU, you will probably see a small drop. © Apple There are also two other smaller internal upgrades to the iPhone 17e: a C1X modem—the same one introduced in the iPhone Air—that’s up to two times faster for 5G cellular connections and satellite connectivity (for Messages and Emergency SOS). It all sounds great, but what’s the catch to the iPhone 17e? Well, maybe the cameras. The rear still has one 48-megapixel shooter with a 2x optical-quality “telephoto” digital lens. The selfie camera on the front is also the same 12-megapixel sensor as before; it’s not the new square-shaped 18-megapixel Center Stage camera that lets you shoot horizontal photos and videos while holding the phone vertically (and vice versa) that’s found on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pros, and iPhone Air. Available on March 11 The iPhone 17e will be available on March 11 in three colors: black, white, and soft pink. As I said earlier, a 256GB model will cost $599. A version with 512GB will cost $799. See iPhone 17e at Apple