I disagree. Apple is banking on people wanting MagSafe in the future. They'll have to buy another iPhone. No company is better at extracting money than Apple🤑🤑; they know what they're doing.
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Apple Denies Speculation Surrounding iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe
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True that
Ever since I upgraded from my XR which didn't have MagSafe, to one that does have it now in the 15, it's quite literally the only way I will charge my phone anywhere whether I'm at home or in my car (and the latter doubles as a nice mount too, and with how strong the magnet in it is I have no fear of my phone dropping as I'm driving along)
That's, in essence, a margin/costs decision, as they want you to choose a higher priced, perhaps even higher margin, device instead
It's basically a "both" decision in one way or another
"Just spend more money" is the ultimate goal
People, imo, aren’t to dump their current iPhone to get another model solely due to MagSafe.
No doubt. The lack of colors, single camera, fewer GPU cores, notch, etc. all seem like reasonable decisions. I recognize my personal bias, but at this point an iPhone without MagSafe strikes me as off brand. The SE 3 was likely designed prior to or only slightly after MagSafe and also still had a home button. The 16e uses the modern hardware design language in every way except MagSafe.
Folks are forgetting the target market for this release. It's for those who don't splurge on a wireless charger, night stand or even possibly have a car to use a vent charger for MagSafe. It's a budget phone for folks who need a phone and don't necessarily spend more to accessorize or make it more luxurious. It hits the spot and delivers performance people expect in 2025 without all the extra things they don't need or want that add to the cost.
Honestly, I think you're really going out of your way to spin this positively for Apple
It's gimped to start an upgrade comparison flow, ideally (for Apple) leading to a more expensive purchase
It’s driven by getting people to upgrade for only a few dollars more……and then for a few dollars more you can also get…..but just for a few more dollars, also…..soon they’re buying a ProMax with maximum storage and a jewel-encrusted case.
Apple has this uncanny ability to price adjacent tiers of a given product close enough to make the upgrade seem to make sense, but far enough to cause financial pain.
But it won't work on cheapskates like my in-laws who only get the cheapest phone that is "free" with their cellular plan. (They are still using SE3's ... and blaming every problem with their phones on anything and everything except the wear'n'tear that comes with many years of use.)
It takes up too much space. Being that much thinner devices are on the way, I’m guessing the MagSafe format is on the way out across the board.
I get that it’s to differentiate between their more expensive phones. But I think the lack of an ultra wide camera, camera control, Dynamic Island, and slower GPU is enough to bring the cost down to $599.
Agreed, it was a cost-cutting measure, especially if they plan to add this modem to 17 onwards.
If Apple spent half the marketing budget of this phone showing off that it could do Apple Intelligence but instead spent it saying this is the cheapest iPhone with MagSafe, more people would find value in that than the BS Apple half-baked so-called Intelligence.
So, if I got it right you get compared to an iPhone 16:
Worse screen (nits and 60hz);
Worse processor (gpu)
Worse WiFi (WiFi 6 instead of WiFi 6E or 7);
No Mac safe;
Worse 48mp camera (without sensorshift);
No ultrawideband to properly use airdrop;
Worse modem;
Worse Ceramic Shield;
Worse frame;
No camera button.
That’s a big “worse” list for $ 200. At first I thought the iPhone E will eat into the 16 and 16 Pro. But after making a comparison, it actually pushes to pay more for a 16. $ 200 for a big list of things suddenly sounds cheap in Apple land 🤑.
Timmy has been hard at work thinking 💵
Worse screen (nits and 60hz);
Worse processor (gpu)
Worse WiFi (WiFi 6 instead of WiFi 6E or 7);
No Mac safe;
Worse 48mp camera (without sensorshift);
No ultrawideband to properly use airdrop;
Worse modem;
Worse Ceramic Shield;
Worse frame;
No camera button.
That’s a big “worse” list for $ 200. At first I thought the iPhone E will eat into the 16 and 16 Pro. But after making a comparison, it actually pushes to pay more for a 16. $ 200 for a big list of things suddenly sounds cheap in Apple land 🤑.
Timmy has been hard at work thinking 💵
When your best response is "no, we were just too cheap to include it"
They can just buy a case with magnets and have MagSafe. No need for another phone, and are already available from several companies.
It's still penny-pinching, but it's easily fixable on the user's end.
Sucks that you get stuck with pathetic "up to 7.5w Qi" going that route though 😕
I don’t get it. Can you not just use a case with a strong magnet in? Qi charging is still supported.
True, but there is more to MagSafe than charging. I use a MagSafe wallet and popsocket.
Never charged via MagSafe.
I don’t think it would be off-brand if it would bring other benefits in return. For example, if they’d drop wireless charging completely for an aluminum back that makes the phone a bit lighter and thinner and less brittle, then I’d be all for it. But just omitting the magnets doesn’t serve any purpose at all (other than saving $5 or so).
Yes, I understand ... there's a way to get "some of it" -- it just sucks they did this at all
Crummy experience for buyers of these
Apple didn't even put MagSafe into their own cases for these
Then why does it have wireless charging at all?
"Splurge" - for $13?
They are basically as cheap as any charging situation one can choose
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