Apple Denies Speculation Surrounding iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

[webkit]

That maybe true when you go to an all Apple shop. But here in the EU there are all sorts of mobile phones laying next to each other so customers can compare them 😊

Same is true at various carrier and retail stores in the U.S. Again, people who currently have and/or have been shopping SE are more likely to stick with the lowest priced iPhone especially when they see just how much better the 16e is for only $120 more (with 128GB). They won't see a reason to spend an additional $230 more for the regular 16.

Also, I think Apple not having the very dated looking SE in the iPhone lineup is a good thing.

 

[siddavis]

Look at similar decisions around the iPhone lines. I think it's just forced differentiation to justify the different tiers.

 

[Chuckeee]

My bet is MagSafe impacting Apple's fat margin. With the R&D of the custom modem, Apple has to recoup the cost and I think this is the route they took.

I appreciate them, essentially, confirming that it was simply a financial move to gimp the device in certain ways

It added another nickel to the build sheet and Tim said no. That’s all.

Leaving out the UWB chip and MagSafe just seems like so much penny pinching for a phone they are trying to use to bolster their bottom line

Cost cutting measure.

Completely agree that not including MagSafe was based on monetary greed. But I think it’s more subtle than saving a few cents on the cost of the BOM. It is actually about upselling. Trying to get customers to either buy a more expensive iPhone 16 or trying to get customers to buy a MagSafe case right at the store.

It comes down to dollars and cents. It’s about trying to milk a few more dollars from their customers, not just save a few cents on the BOM.

 

[hans1972]

If some MacRumors's commenters and technical people started to accept most companies follows:

A business reason is more valid than a technical reason, for the most part


If you do, it's much easier to understand how Apple operates and makes it easy to deal with them as a customer.

 

[9081094]

If some MacRumors's commenters and technical people should accept the following:

A business reason is more valid than a technical reason, for the most part


If you do, it's much easier to understand how Apple operates and makes it easy to deal with them as a customer.

I can’t speak for others but it has become very clear that making money for Apple comes for delivering good user experiences 😊

 

[thefrost]

Completely agree that not including MagSafe was based on monetary greed. But I think it’s more subtle than saving a few cents on the cost of the BOM. It is actually about upselling. Trying to get customers to either buy a more expensive iPhone 16 or trying to get customers to buy a MagSafe case right at the store.

It comes down to dollars and cents. It’s about trying to milk a few more dollars from their customers, not just save a few cents on the BOM.

They definitely want more people to buy the iPhone 16.

 

[I7guy]

Completely agree that not including MagSafe was based on monetary greed. But I think it’s more subtle than saving a few cents on the cost of the BOM. It is actually about upselling. Trying to get customers to either buy a more expensive iPhone 16 or trying to get customers to buy a MagSafe case right at the store.

It comes down to dollars and cents. It’s about trying to milk a few more dollars from their customers, not just save a few cents on the BOM.

There is nothing wrong with trying to “milk” customers. Do it too much and you may lose your customer base. It depends if customers believe they are being milked. (Not just a few MR posters)

 

[Chuckeee]

There is nothing wrong with trying to “milk” customers. Do it too much and you may lose your customer base. It depends if customers believe they are being milked. (Not just a few MR posters)

The real point I was trying to make was: it wasn’t about saving a few cents on the BOM but there were other monetary factors involved.

 

[hans1972]

I can’t speak for others but it has become very clear that making money for Apple comes for delivering good user experiences 😊

You can get good user experience with Apple, you just have to pay for it.

A good user experience represents value and thus Apple charges for it.

Those who become unhappy with Apple are those who want the most hardware, the most functions, the easiest repairability, the most choice, the most options and at the same time pay as little money as possible.

And still so many of these people continue to be Apple customers, not realising it's a recipe for unhappiness.

 

[Techwatcher]

Dumb move on Apple’s part. MagSafe is essentially future proof since it’s not a specific port so they should’ve just sucked it up and included it.

 

[I7guy]

You can get good user experience with Apple, you just have to pay for it.

A good user experience represents value and thus Apple charges for it.

Those who become unhappy with Apple are those who want the most hardware, the most functions, the easiest repairability, the most choice, the most options and at the same time pay as little money as possible.

At the expense of the best experience. Penny wise pound foolish.

And still so many of these people continue to be Apple customers, not realising it's a recipe for unhappiness.

True. Pick your vendor.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Completely agree that not including MagSafe was based on monetary greed. But I think it’s more subtle than saving a few cents on the cost of the BOM. It is actually about upselling. Trying to get customers to either buy a more expensive iPhone 16 or trying to get customers to buy a MagSafe case right at the store.

It comes down to dollars and cents. It’s about trying to milk a few more dollars from their customers, not just save a few cents on the BOM.

Yes I agree Chuck. Why would Apple 🍎 put most or all features in the entry level model and risk sales for the higher models? If Apple did that then no one would buy the higher models because people naturally want the most features for the lowest price and everyone would buy the iPhone 16e without even thinking of something better. Classic upselling by Apple 🍎

 

[applefan8254]

Apple knows that 3rd party case makers will make a MagSafe case for the 16e just like they did for the SE 3, so they simply saved those costs and increased there profits. Smart money move Apple 🍎 📱 🧲 💰

maybe. but they should at least be extremely transparent about the exact specifications of where *exactly* the magnetic array should be located / how it should be positioned so that *all* third party case makers can make *perfectly capable* magsafe cases that charge the phone as fast as possible.

I kind of wish that the first party apple cases were *magsafe* cases. I would have preferred they kind of at least do this so that we get first party *exact* standards in the wild for *exactly* where the magnetic array should be down to .001 millimeters. and make a public webpage dedicated to exactly where that magnetic array should go for third party case makers so that when you buy a third party case on Amazon or wherever, it could say something like, to the effect of being "designed with / for magsafe" or something so that we get the *exact* proper alignment and not something that's potentially a few millimeters off which could theoretically make a difference in terms of wireless charging

 

[I7guy]

Yes I agree Chuck. Why would Apple 🍎 put most or all features in the entry level model and risk sales for the higher models? If Apple did that then no one would buy the higher models because people naturally want the most features for the lowest price and everyone would buy the iPhone 16e without even thinking of something better. Classic upselling by Apple 🍎

Just to point out this type of selling strategy is not unique to apple. Car manufacturers are masters at the game of bait and switch.

 

[cdsapplefan]

maybe. but they should at least be extremely transparent about the exact specifications of where *exactly* the magnetic array should be located / how it should be positioned so that *all* third party case makers can make *perfectly capable* magsafe cases that charge the phone as fast as possible.

I kind of wish that the first party apple cases were *magsafe* cases. I would have preferred they kind of at least do this so that we get first party *exact* standards in the wild for *exactly* where the magnetic array should be down to .001 millimeters. and make a public webpage dedicated to exactly where that magnetic array should go for third party case makers so that when you buy a third party case on Amazon or wherever, it could say something like, to the effect of being "designed with / for magsafe" or something so that we get the *exact* proper alignment and not something that's potentially a few millimeters off which could theoretically make a difference in terms of wireless charging

Apple wants to separate the lineup so no Apple does not have to be transparent about anything. This is there product so they can do want they want. They want you to be annoyed and not too satisfied comfortable that you eventually want to upgrade to a higher model.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

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.

Those might have been some of Apple's reasons for not adding Magsafe, but the 16e's price doesn't seem to make it much of a budget phone. For that price, it seems incorporating Magsafe would have been reasonable without impacting its profit margin significantly, and people paying its higher price would seem to have the income to also buy Magsafe charging stands for it at the least, and maybe one or two other Magsafe accessories, since many of them aren't excessively priced. Car Magsafe mounts are pretty cheap for the versions that don't incorporate a charger. I used the clamp-style car vent phone mounts before upgrading from an XS to a 15 Pro Max, and using those clamps is a hassle compared to just slapping your iPhone onto a Magsafe mount.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Those might have been some of Apple's reasons for not adding Magsafe, but the 16e's price doesn't seem to make it much of a budget phone. For that price, it seems incorporating Magsafe would have been reasonable without impacting its profit margin significantly, and people paying its higher price would seem to have the income to also buy Magsafe charging stands for it at the least, and maybe one or two other Magsafe accessories, since many of them aren't excessively priced. Car Magsafe mounts are pretty cheap for the versions that don't incorporate a charger. I used the clamp-style car vent phone mounts before upgrading from an XS to a 15 Pro Max, and using those clamps is a hassle compared to just slapping your iPhone onto a Magsafe mount.

It may have been reasonable to add MagSafe for that price but Apple did not want people only focusing and buying the 16e model and not even thinking about the other models.

 

[bousozoku]

Leaving out the UWB chip and MagSafe just seems like so much penny pinching for a phone they are trying to use to bolster their bottom line and get upgraders to Apple Intelligence considering that both those features have some positive impact on accessories sales and future HomeKit based based products and Services. This iPhone feels very experimental in both technical and price elasticity terms. I guess we had to give up having the SE4 being a good value for the M4 mini being the value that it is. Can’t have too many good deals in Apple’s mind.

They didn't need to bother with AI. I wouldn't want to spend money to have something that won't be good enough for decades.

Didn't expect MagSafe or UWB.

A smaller display with a good refresh rate would have been ideal, especially US$50 less expensive. A US$629 256 GB model would have been better since they're really showing a less than inexpensive price tag for the least expensive Apple phone.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

It may have been reasonable to add MagSafe for that price but Apple did not want people only focusing and buying the 16e model and not even thinking about the other models.

I think the other features Apple left out of the 16e were plenty for differentiating the tiers and for upselling purposes.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

maybe. but they should at least be extremely transparent about the exact specifications of where *exactly* the magnetic array should be located / how it should be positioned so that *all* third party case makers can make *perfectly capable* magsafe cases that charge the phone as fast as possible.

I kind of wish that the first party apple cases were *magsafe* cases. I would have preferred they kind of at least do this so that we get first party *exact* standards in the wild for *exactly* where the magnetic array should be down to .001 millimeters. and make a public webpage dedicated to exactly where that magnetic array should go for third party case makers so that when you buy a third party case on Amazon or wherever, it could say something like, to the effect of being "designed with / for magsafe" or something so that we get the *exact* proper alignment and not something that's potentially a few millimeters off which could theoretically make a difference in terms of wireless charging

Those figures have long been known to case manufacturers, since years ago they began taking iPhones apart and made the measurements. For new iPhone models in which the Magsafe assembly has been relocated, all they have to do is follow the same process.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

It's vaguely confusing to me that so many people don't seem to realize this... but the magnets are in the accessory, not the phone. MagSafe phones simply have a steel ring embedded in the right place. Likewise for MagSafe compatible cases.

I don't know why Apple went down this path, but it honestly feels to me more like an oversight than a malicious "removal" of a feature; I suspect they simply switched to an aluminum chassis midstream to reduce weight (and likely cost) without taking into consideration what else that might have impacted.

In any case, since the modem is unaffected by the magnets, it's clear that the solution is to simply slap one of those cheap steel rings on the back of the phone.

As windywalks points out, that's not the situation at all. Magsafe consists of magnets in both the iPhone and in the accessories.

If you touch a small piece of metal (I used fingernail clippers to confirm this) to the back of a Magsafe-equipped iPhone, you'll find that the ring of magnets in the phone slightly pull the metal to the back of the phone. The pull is weak, since that's all that's needed to get the magnetic ring to do its job of positioning the Magsafe charging hardware to its optimal position on the charger. The same is true of the magnetic ring in Magsafe-capable cases.

Some accessories like chargers and car mounts have stronger, thicker magnets since they're designed to hold the iPhone in place firmly, and the greater thickness of these accessories allows them to have these thicker magnets, compared to a Magsafe case or the thickness of the space available in an iPhone for its magnetic ring.

Those "cheap steel rings" that you link to on Amazon, are actually magnetic rings.

 

[cdsapplefan]

I think the other features Apple left out of the 16e were plenty for differentiating the tiers and for upselling purposes.

Like what features?

 

[johnsawyercjs]

Like what features?

You haven't seen the list of features Apple left out of the 16e?

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I wonder if their official cases will have magsafe. Keep it out of the phone to keep costs down but if the case is $60 anyways, why not add magnets?

 

[cdsapplefan]

You haven't seen the list of features Apple left out of the 16e?

Name some of them