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Apple's Cheapest iPhone Now Starts at $599
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It’s for people who may be looking to "save" $230 and don’t want/need some of the features found with the 16.
A similar question can be asked about the 16. Who is the 16 for when you can get a 16 Pro for only $170 more with same storage?
Was $399 in 2021 for 64GB and $499 $459 for 128GB. In 2025 dollars that's $459 for 64GB at $574 $553 for 128GB. So in actuality the price went up around $25 $50 - they just took away the 64GB option, which makes sense if Apple Intelligence takes up 7-8 gigs - that's over 10% of the phone's capacity.
Edit: as @webkit noted below, I forgot the 128 went for $459, not $499 - figures updated to reflect reality.
Edit: as @webkit noted below, I forgot the 128 went for $459, not $499 - figures updated to reflect reality.
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Competition will always lower prices. Envious of the Chinese EV choices Austrians have access to.
In summary,
1. It doesn’t have 120hz screen which $300 Androids have
2. It doesn’t have mag-safe
3. It doesn’t have Wifi 6e/7
4. It doesn’t have more than 1 camera
5. It doesn’t have dynamic island
6. It doesn’t have mmWave
7. It doesn’t have same SOC cores as iPhone 16
8. It doesn’t have time-tested Cellular from Qualcomm
So what the F does this trash tier device have to justify $600+ price?
1. It doesn’t have 120hz screen which $300 Androids have
2. It doesn’t have mag-safe
3. It doesn’t have Wifi 6e/7
4. It doesn’t have more than 1 camera
5. It doesn’t have dynamic island
6. It doesn’t have mmWave
7. It doesn’t have same SOC cores as iPhone 16
8. It doesn’t have time-tested Cellular from Qualcomm
So what the F does this trash tier device have to justify $600+ price?
710€ in Spain. Would have bought it for 500€, but never ever for this price. Hard pass then.
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It’s still too expensive. Those people will look elsewhere. It doesn’t feel like Apple designs products anymore. It feels like everything is designed to fit a price point in a lineup.
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With respect to MagSafe…
Although the lack of MagSafe is unfortunate, for most folks it doesn’t matter anyway since they put cases on their device and as such the magnet inside the phone is completely irrelevant - since the magnet in the case is the one that matters. The 16e does support slow wireless charging.
So, if your use case is say that you want magnetic attachment in the car while keeping the phone topped off while using it with a little bit of charging going on then as long as you use a MagSafe case for the 16e then you’ll be OK.
Although the lack of MagSafe is unfortunate, for most folks it doesn’t matter anyway since they put cases on their device and as such the magnet inside the phone is completely irrelevant - since the magnet in the case is the one that matters. The 16e does support slow wireless charging.
So, if your use case is say that you want magnetic attachment in the car while keeping the phone topped off while using it with a little bit of charging going on then as long as you use a MagSafe case for the 16e then you’ll be OK.
Won’t see that after sales tax is applied . Which is non zero over vast majority of USA . It is a 600 phone, but not sure just how far into 600 range it is . ( without pulling out a calculator and doing some work .)
Likewise if for those who have been shopping for low cost new iPhone and saw 4xx over last several months and now see 5xx … won’t be a genius move in that context either .
What Apple is ‘genius’ relying are comments like this that spin the price as not as expensive as you ‘think’ and misdirection .
And battery life is of huge importance to users - much more important than MagSafe and so a wise decision.
Indeed. It's now over $1000 here in NZ, and I'm not paying that much for a phone. Apple's marketing even says it's the "Latest iPhone. Greatest price." They ain't kidding!
£599 in the UK.
The SE3 was £429.
No just no. No way.
The SE3 was £429.
No just no. No way.
A- This phone isn't for people posting on Mac forums first of all, so calm down trashing it. It's for the Boomers/kids
2-offical CPI governemnt inflation calculator has $429 from 2022 equal to $486 today. Anyone who's into $ stuff knows that real inflation is/was WAY higher than CPI numbers that are constantly manipulated down. If you measured 2022 inflation the way they did in the 80s, it would have been almost 20%. So that puts real world inflation well over $486
D- Take a $486++ phone and then go from:
4.7 LCD>6.1 OLED
A15>18
4gb>8gb
12mp>48mp camera now capable of Dolby Vision 4K 60fps, added 2x zoom
64gb>128gb
While adding things like Ceramic Shield glass, USB-C, much better water resistance, SOS messaging, Apple Intelligence, and damn near doubling the battery life.
That's a massive jump in tech and easily worth the extra money. I mean it's damn near the same phone as an iPhone 16 for $200 less. I think the only thing the 16e doesn't have that the 16 does is a wide angle lens/spatial media, Dynamic Island and camera control. 16e has better battery life, 16 has one more GPU core and camera control.
Again, not for me or any of us but that doesn't mean I'm going to come in here and crap all over it because it justifiably went up in price or come in and go "meh PASS" like I was ever going to buy the cheapest iPhone lol. At first I did think the price was a little high but once I dive into things and compare it to the 16 it's actually a deal and priced well
2-offical CPI governemnt inflation calculator has $429 from 2022 equal to $486 today. Anyone who's into $ stuff knows that real inflation is/was WAY higher than CPI numbers that are constantly manipulated down. If you measured 2022 inflation the way they did in the 80s, it would have been almost 20%. So that puts real world inflation well over $486
D- Take a $486++ phone and then go from:
4.7 LCD>6.1 OLED
A15>18
4gb>8gb
12mp>48mp camera now capable of Dolby Vision 4K 60fps, added 2x zoom
64gb>128gb
While adding things like Ceramic Shield glass, USB-C, much better water resistance, SOS messaging, Apple Intelligence, and damn near doubling the battery life.
That's a massive jump in tech and easily worth the extra money. I mean it's damn near the same phone as an iPhone 16 for $200 less. I think the only thing the 16e doesn't have that the 16 does is a wide angle lens/spatial media, Dynamic Island and camera control. 16e has better battery life, 16 has one more GPU core and camera control.
Again, not for me or any of us but that doesn't mean I'm going to come in here and crap all over it because it justifiably went up in price or come in and go "meh PASS" like I was ever going to buy the cheapest iPhone lol. At first I did think the price was a little high but once I dive into things and compare it to the 16 it's actually a deal and priced well
Probably not . The 5c actually tried to be more affordable . The 16e is more so replacing the iPhone 14 , not the SE3. Apple is just abandoning affordable. It won’t be surprising if they shift to model of just selling iPhones at the n-1 iteration and just use the SE to sweep up what the n-2 used to cover . Selling incrementally fewer phones at incrementally higher margins.
The used iPhones being used to fill the affordable user base market to a higher degree ( Apple skips money off of services there while spending now money on hardware …. Again higher margins ). Also going back to push to get carriers to ‘subsidized’ initial price of phone by buried cost increases into the monthly services charges. ( suck the money out over longer time ) .
I think that my 12 mini 64gb is my last Iphone I payed £260 refurbished a few years ago and I was thinking of treating my self to the new SE4/16e but now its at £600 nah I am not playing this game anymore there is nothing on the new phones I want or need unless I find a good refurbed 15/14 I will just leave the ecosystem good thing all my smart home supports android...
I think this is wrong.
Technology generally gets you more stuff for the same money.
There's not a lot of differentiation in the line of iPhones now so they just have one trick left: charge you more money.
Assuming you are referring to the SE 2, it was $399 for 64GB and $449 (not $499) for 128GB. Adjusting for inflation from when it launched in 2020, that would be around $491 for 64GB and $553 for 128GB.
Although slightly higher than I expected, I think $599 is still a fair price for an iPhone with the 16e specs.