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iPhone 16e Do I need 5G? Do I need an iPhone?

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desertman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
703
38
Arizona, USA
I was waiting for the iPhone SE 4th generation to replace my SE 2nd Generation from 2020, but like many I'm quite upset about the price of the iPhone 16e. I'm therefore wondering:

If I basically only use the phone for making calls and the occasional text message when I'm away from my computer, do I need 5G, or will 4G be enough for a while? Will I have better reception with 5G when I'm out in the boonies?

I'm even wondering whether I really need an iPhone. There are very good android phones below $300. What do I really miss when I get an Android phone - considering that I will definitely stick to a MacBook and will not get a Windows machine?

I'd love to hear your ideas on this. (In the meantime, I ordered a new clear case for my SE for $2.99 because the old case has yellowed quite a bit - and I need at least SOMETHING new in my hand.)

Greetings, desertman
 
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There is zero difference between 4G and 5G for 99% of users. If you’re not downloading massive files, there is no difference. I couldn’t care less about 5G… I am on it a lot however haven’t noticed a difference when compared to 4G.
 
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desertman said:
I was waiting for the iPhone SE 4th generation to replace my SE 2nd Generation from 2020, but like many I'm quite upset about the price of the iPhone 16e. I'm therefore wondering:

If I basically only use the phone for making calls and the occasional text message when I'm away from my computer, do I need 5G, or will 4G be enough for a while? Will I have better reception with 5G when I'm out in the boonies?

I'm even wondering whether I really need an iPhone. There are very good android phones below $300. What do I really miss when I get an Android phone - considering that I will definitely stick to a MacBook and will not get a Windows machine?

I'd love to hear your ideas on this. (In the meantime, I ordered a new clear case for my SE for $2.99 because the old case has yellowed quite a bit - and I need at least SOMETHING new in my hand.)

Greetings, desertman
Click to expand...
5G is nice in terms of speed, its a noticeable difference when on it, especially in crowded places.
Now, another aspect people forget is that old tech such as 2G and 3G are being replaced with new tech, and most of the time it will be 4G and 5G, most likely 5G as most of the phones are supporting that today.

So its not only about speed, also network coverage.

When it comes to price of the 16E or any "premium" phone I don't think its very expensive considering how much you are using the device.
People don't have a problem forking up the same about for a computer that are being used a lot less than a phone (at least in my case).

I don't think the 16E is pricey. Sure if you compare it to low end Android devices it might come across as being a bit more expensive. One alternative is to get a iPhone 13 or 14 if you can get a good deal on them, that will be an upgrade from the SE2.
 
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16 Pro here. At times when I've paid attention I've noticed the device is connected via 5G (T-Mobile's flavor of it, anyway), though I didn't particularly notice any difference. I suppose my most significant uses of mobile data are Apple Maps (when traveling) and podcast downloads. I'm probably in the 99% @Andeddu is talking about.

I have no idea about this really, but I can imagine the possibility that in some area 5G might be the stronger signal; or maybe not now, but in the future. Gut feeling, 4G is probably good for some time to come.
 
I would suggest getting to know what plans your carrier might have for 5G. In my case, T-Mobile is currently in the process of slowly removing 4G so that resources and signal for 5G improve. Sooner or later, my LTE only iPhone 11 Pro Max is going to have a hard time getting a signal at all. I plan to upgrade this year though.

But, I am already encountering it. In some of the places I am, signal has slowly gotten worse. Now, a lot of people have moved in to Phoenix, where I live. But I don't think that can account for all of it.
 
There is also the rare case where you cellular equipment has been updated to 5G but the bottleneck is from the mobile tower and what speed it connects to the rest of the world.
 
desertman said:
I was waiting for the iPhone SE 4th generation to replace my SE 2nd Generation from 2020, but like many I'm quite upset about the price of the iPhone 16e. I'm therefore wondering:

If I basically only use the phone for making calls and the occasional text message when I'm away from my computer, do I need 5G, or will 4G be enough for a while? Will I have better reception with 5G when I'm out in the boonies?
Click to expand...

5G has shorter range so I doubt it. If you're getting decent connectivity with 4G, then you don't really need to update.

For me, 4G seems super congested where I use it most (basically unusable at 2Mbps down and 0.2Mbps up) so I need 5G for usable internet.
 
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For calls and text you can buy a $50 flip phone. Why you think u need a smartphone for that?
 
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Many thanks for the answers.

It looks like 4G is going to live on for quite a while. Let's see how many people jump on the 16E or not and how the price develops over the course of this year. My 2020 SE will last another year.
 
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The main benefit to iPhone if you have a Mac, is how they work together. You can send/receive messages on your Mac as well as your phone. iCloud will sync your calendar, contacts, reminders, photos, etc. to your Mac.

All of this will work (for now) on your 2020SE too - that will work fine until it's no longer receiving iOS updates at which features will start to drop off.

If you don't need/want those integrations with your Mac, sure - use Android or whatever. Vaya con Dios.
 
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desertman said:
If I basically only use the phone for making calls and the occasional text message when I'm away from my computer, do I need 5G, or will 4G be enough for a while? Will I have better reception with 5G when I'm out in the boonies?
Click to expand...
If a cellular tower can't use 4G to connect to your phone, I doubt it'd have much luck with 5G.
desertman said:
I'm even wondering whether I really need an iPhone. There are very good android phones below $300. What do I really miss when I get an Android phone - considering that I will definitely stick to a MacBook and will not get a Windows machine?
Click to expand...
If you want to send text-messages from your MacBook, the iPhone would be a better bet than Android.

desertman said:
I was waiting for the iPhone SE 4th generation to replace my SE 2nd Generation from 2020, but like many I'm quite upset about the price of the iPhone 16e.
Click to expand...
Given that your needs are so limited, why not just keep using your SE 2? What's the point in replacing it? Even an old iPhone 6 Plus (from 2014) may be enough for your needs!
 
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Rainbow Apple said:
Given that your needs are so limited, why not just keep using your SE 2? What's the point in replacing it? Even an old iPhone 6 Plus (from 2014) may be enough for your needs!
Click to expand...

In fairness, the old 6+ from 2014 would probably still have better battery life/health than the SE2.

Still, that's something that a battery replacement could easily fix and unlike iPads, Apple doesn't make you jump through hoops for iPhone battery replacement. We had my mom's SE2 battery replaced in 2023 and it's working well again.
 
5G definitely helped whenever I was in a crowded area like during sporting events.
 
@desertman I ran into this (or rather my wife did) the other day. She still had her XS at the time, me a 16 Pro. We were in a restaurant in our home town. She had no signal. I had decent signal on 5G.

I say she had her XS at the time. She just got her new 16 Pro Max. This experience with no signal wasn't the only thing that pushed her out her comfort zone to buy a new phone, but it helped.
 
rui no onna said:
5G has shorter range so I doubt it. If you're getting decent connectivity with 4G, then you don't really need to update.

For me, 4G seems super congested where I use it most (basically unusable at 2Mbps down and 0.2Mbps up) so I need 5G for usable internet.
Click to expand...
Wrong, there are three types of 5g, only the high band has a very short range but the highest speed. The other two types have ranges similar to 4g. I don’t believe the 16e supports the high band.
 
Android now is really really really good. I’ve tried a pixel phone and it’s extremely polished. And with rcs I can participate in group chats with iPhone family with full res pics. Based on your use, you would do well with sn android phone.
 
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get iphone 13,14.15. They’re still very good (even the camera design is more artistic than 16 - IMO). Get refurbished. I still suggest iPhone for its easy to use and longevity. Just don’t update the iOS frequently (stay 1-2 version behind) then you’ll have solid phone.
 
1rottenapple said:
Android now is really really really good. I’ve tried a pixel phone and it’s extremely polished. And with rcs I can participate in group chats with iPhone family with full res pics. Based on your use, you would do well with sn android phone.
Click to expand...
Agreed, to a point. In my last sojourn to Android (Nothing 2a, Pixel 8) I found Google Pay only worked about 60% of the time in-store and I missed how well integrated Apple Wallet is into the lockscreen. Apps on Android also have a weird kind of 'cobbled together-ness' about them.

Android is 90% as good as iOS but that last 10% is what makes all the difference.
 
Ctrlos said:
Agreed, to a point. In my last sojourn to Android (Nothing 2a, Pixel 8) I found Google Pay only worked about 60% of the time in-store and I missed how well integrated Apple Wallet is into the lockscreen. Apps on Android also have a weird kind of 'cobbled together-ness' about them.

Android is 90% as good as iOS but that last 10% is what makes all the difference.
Click to expand...
I’m responding for the use case for OP is very basic as he or she said. it’s literally texting when away from the computer. There no sense spending $650 -800 when 300-400 will be fine. Does OP even use Apple Pay? I know a few people who don’t use any digital payments.
 
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