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iPhone 15/Plus At the same price, am I crazy for choosing 15 over 16E?

D

DTphonehome

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Original poster
Apr 4, 2003
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AT&T is running a promo where you can get either the 15 or 16E for $5.99 a month for 36 months. I need a phone for my daughter. Am I crazy for choosing the 15 over the 16E? She has no use for Apple Intelligence.

The way I see it, the 15 has fun colors, MagSafe, a better screen (brighter), Dynamic Island instead of notch, faster cellular, better camera system. The 16E has a faster CPU with AI support, action button, and better battery life.

The 15 currently retails for $699, while the 16E is $599. So the 15 is a “better” deal at the moment (that will probably change when the 17 is out).
 
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DTphonehome said:
AT&T is running a promo where you can get either the 15 or 16E for $5.99 a month for 36 months. I need a phone for my daughter. Am I crazy for choosing the 15 over the 16E? She has no use for Apple Intelligence.

The way I see it, the 15 has fun colors, MagSafe, a better screen (brighter), Dynamic Island instead of notch, faster cellular, better camera system. The 16E has a faster CPU with AI support, action button, and better battery life.

The 15 currently retails for $699, while the 16E is $599. So the 15 is a “better” deal at the moment (that will probably change when the 17 is out).
Click to expand...

I would choose 15 with 2 camera and more completed except you need Apple Intelligence a lot
 
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You ask if you're crazy for making the choice you made, then proceed to justify your choice. ;)

You're looking for others to confirm your decision, but are prepared to defend it against those who don't see it the same way. Well, I'm not here to trash your choice. I firmly believe that the choices we make are our own and there are only certain people (if any) who we need to justify them to.

I for one, am a person who will always choose an older device with more features over a newer device that is 'budget' or 'economical'. That said, my 16 year old daughter is using an SE2.

I think the 15 is the better choice, but that's just my opinion.
 
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DTphonehome said:
AT&T is running a promo where you can get either the 15 or 16E for $5.99 a month for 36 months. I need a phone for my daughter. Am I crazy for choosing the 15 over the 16E? She has no use for Apple Intelligence.

The way I see it, the 15 has fun colors, MagSafe, a better screen (brighter), Dynamic Island instead of notch, faster cellular, better camera system. The 16E has a faster CPU with AI support, action button, and better battery life.

The 15 currently retails for $699, while the 16E is $599. So the 15 is a “better” deal at the moment (that will probably change when the 17 is out).
Click to expand...

Neither is wrong, 90% of what the phone does is going to be the same and just as good, but as you see there's enough differences to push some people one way and some the other.

what it is imho is bad decision making from Apple, very reminiscent of 1990s Apple when you often had competing models with pluses and minuses. Its fine when you are differentiating between 'better' and 'cheaper' or 'bigger' v 'smaller' but in these situations its likely to lead to less sales and not more, for the amount of people who will stand in shops or online looking between the two, failing to make a decision and kicking the can down the street for a few more months. we've all done it, nearly made a purchase and havent because we couldnt decide which to buy.
 
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How long do you expect your daughter to keep this phone? If the answer is something like: "Until the phone literally dies or no longer gets software support", than go for the 16e. It's got a chip that's two generations newer (A16 vs A18 chip) so it's bound to last longer and get more software updates. It's also not unthinkable that more and more new future software features will come only to the devices with support for AI. Additionally, since it's got better battery life, it's less likely your daughter at some point will feel a need to replace it.

As for MagSafe: it's true that it doesn't have the MagSafe magnets build-in. It does, however, support Qi wireless charging. If the phone is going to be combined with a case... than go for a MagSafe case. You'll be able to use MagSafe accessoires with the magnetic click on. Only wireless charging speeds will be a bit slower.

Lastly, if possible, wait for a few months. The 16e is brand new. There are no promos today, as it isn't even out yet. But they'll come, like they always have for nearly every iPhone model ever.
 
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ThatsMeRight said:
How long do you expect your daughter to keep this phone? If the answer is something like: "Until the phone literally dies or no longer gets software support", than go for the 16e. It's got a chip that's two generations newer (A16 vs A18 chip) so it's bound to last longer and get more software updates. It's also not unthinkable that more and more new future software features will come only to the devices with support for AI. Additionally, since it's got better battery life, it's less likely your daughter at some point will feel a need to replace it.

As for MagSafe: it's true that it doesn't have the MagSafe magnets build-in. It does, however, support Qi wireless charging. If the phone is going to be combined with a case... than go for a MagSafe case. You'll be able to use MagSafe accessoires with the magnetic click on. Only wireless charging speeds will be a bit slower.

Lastly, if possible, wait for a few months. The 16e is brand new. There are no promos today, as it isn't even out yet. But they'll come, like they always have for nearly every iPhone model ever.
Click to expand...

These are good points. I expect she'll have it for about 3 years. Apple is pretty good about support, so I'm not worried it'll be "unsupported", but as you said, newer features that rely on AI might not be available to her.

Battery life is something of a concern, but I think she'd appreciate the better screen and cameras more.

There actually is a promo on the 16E now, if you preorder with AT&T it's $5.99 a month for 36 months. That's a big discount. But it's the same promo for the 15, which is priced higher, so that's a "better" deal.
eyoungren said:
You ask if you're crazy for making the choice you made, then proceed to justify your choice. ;)

You're looking for others to confirm your decision, but are prepared to defend it against those who don't see it the same way. Well, I'm not here to trash your choice. I firmly believe that the choices we make are our own and there are only certain people (if any) who we need to justify them to.

I for one, am a person who will always choose an older device with more features over a newer device that is 'budget' or 'economical'. That said, my 16 year old daughter is using an SE2.

I think the 15 is the better choice, but that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Agree. Better to have the older, "regular" model than the newer "budget" model.
 
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DTphonehome said:
There actually is a promo on the 16E now, if you preorder with AT&T it's $5.99 a month for 36 months. That's a big discount. But it's the same promo for the 15, which is priced higher, so that's a "better" deal.
Click to expand...
Yeah, in that sense it might be a better deal although I think for most people the 16e would be the better choice. Obviously, regardless of what you choose, you're still paying for either model through the cellular plan. It's $5.99 plus at least $66-$86/month for 36 months.

If money is the primary motivator, than look for another provider. It's nice that they advertise with $5.99, but they're not selling these devices at a loss - they are earning big on the plan linked to that phone... There are other providers which are way, way cheaper (total price).
 
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I think you've answered your own question. 15 seems like a great choice for your daughter.

However, I would also see what the added cost is for the regular iPhone 16. There are plenty of deals on that phone here in Europe at least.
 
ThatsMeRight said:
Yeah, in that sense it might be a better deal although I think for most people the 16e would be the better choice. Obviously, regardless of what you choose, you're still paying for either model through the cellular plan. It's $5.99 plus at least $66-$86/month for 36 months.

If money is the primary motivator, than look for another provider. It's nice that they advertise with $5.99, but they're not selling these devices at a loss - they are earning big on the plan linked to that phone... There are other providers which are way, way cheaper (total price).
Click to expand...
Outside of the scope of this discussion, but yeah I know there are cheaper providers. I have a family plan with multiple members on AT&T so we're not switching. To add her line it's only $25 a month additional.
 
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MacRazySwe said:
I think you've answered your own question. 15 seems like a great choice for your daughter.

However, I would also see what the added cost is for the regular iPhone 16. There are plenty of deals on that phone here in Europe at least.
Click to expand...

The 16 has no deals currently on AT&T without a trade-in (and we have no phones to trade-in). Oddly the 16 Plus does ($10.99 a month). Don't want her to have such a large phone however.
 
The question you're asking is really MagSafe vs. Apple Intelligence.

Personally, I wouldn't intentionally choose a phone that is missing either one. I would just save a few more dollars and buy one without compromises.

If you insist on choosing, I don't think MagSafe is something to go without unless you don't use wireless charging for some reason. We lived without Apple Intelligence up until last year, but MagSafe has become a staple of Qi charging on iPhone.
 
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iPhone 15 is iPhone 14 Pro without telephoto but has features like USB Type C and others introduced in iPhone 15 Pro but I would take it instead of iPhone 16e [iPhone 16 with bare essentials]
 
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DTphonehome said:
AT&T is running a promo where you can get either the 15 or 16E for $5.99 a month for 36 months. I need a phone for my daughter. Am I crazy for choosing the 15 over the 16E? She has no use for Apple Intelligence.

The way I see it, the 15 has fun colors, MagSafe, a better screen (brighter), Dynamic Island instead of notch, faster cellular, better camera system. The 16E has a faster CPU with AI support, action button, and better battery life.

The 15 currently retails for $699, while the 16E is $599. So the 15 is a “better” deal at the moment (that will probably change when the 17 is out).
Click to expand...
I would choose the 15 over the 16E. Fun colors are important for your daughter.

Do note that a 2 lens phone might be perceived as "higher value" thus can lead to higher chance of it being stolen.
 
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not only would I say that they are both of equal value, but I think it would be pretty much safe to say this.
Not only is the regular 15 a good choice, but pretty much any iPhone made within the last four years is a good choice.
 
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The iPhone 15 will become obsolete sooner than the iPhone 16e due to the 15 having a slower processor and less RAM. There may not be a highly noticeable difference in performance today, but it will be noticeable in a few or a couple of years when regular non-AI software demands more computing power and memory. So please consider how important future-proofing is to you before making a decision on which model to buy.
 
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