{"id":61346,"date":"2025-12-21T08:29:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/?p=61346"},"modified":"2025-12-21T08:29:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:29:20","slug":"iphone-16e-is-good-actually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/en\/iphone-16e-is-good-actually\/","title":{"rendered":"The iPhone 16e is good, actually"},"content":{"rendered":"

MKBHD gave the \u201cBurst of the Year\u201d award to the iPhone 16e<\/a>, Apple’s entry-level phone released in the first half of 2025 to replace the tired (but beloved<\/a>) iPhone SE. The Basic Apple Guy, in his annual Apple product releases tier list, placed the iPhone 16e in tier C<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those two examples show the \u201ccheap\u201d iPhone didn\u2019t have the impact people expected because\u2026 well, it\u2019s not that cheap. (And it has no MagSafe. Fix this on the 17e, Apple?)<\/p>\n

The iPhone 16e\u2019s pricing is odd. It costs USD 599, which is only about 25% cheaper than the much better iPhone 17 at USD 799. (Or \u221227.7% if you consider the unlocked price of USD 829.)<\/p>\n

Note that most of the criticism of the iPhone 16e comes from US-based outlets and commentators. The 16e doesn\u2019t really feel like a product designed for that market.<\/p>\n

I live in Brazil. Here, iPhone market share doesn\u2019t reach double digits. Launch prices can equal up to seven months of minimum wage, older models stay on sale with prices that don\u2019t drop much, and the entry iPhone\u2014currently the 16e\u2014often becomes an attractive option thanks to retail discounts.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s suggested price for the 16e is BRL 5,799 (about USD 1,050). The iPhone 17 is BRL 7,999 (~USD 1,450). The percentage gap is similar to the US: the 16e is ~27.5% cheaper by list price.<\/p>\n

Retail tells a different story. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the same everywhere, but here most product prices fluctuate a lot, so manufacturer list prices are often only symbolic. It usually pays to wait a few months for discounts. There are exceptions\u2014\u201cthe iPhone of the year\u201d models rarely see deep cuts soon after launch.<\/p>\n

Using a local price comparison site<\/a>, you can find the iPhone 16e for BRL 3,650 (~USD 660). That isn\u2019t even the lowest: near Black Friday it hit a historical low of BRL 3,299 (~USD 596).<\/p>\n

Compared to Apple\u2019s list price, the iPhone 16e can retail for 43.1% less.<\/p>\n

The iPhone 17 hasn\u2019t seen such deep discounts yet \u2014 maybe it never will. Major discounts in Brazil have mostly applied to the SE\/16e tier, ie. the \u201ccheap\u201d iPhone. Right now the cheapest iPhone 17 I see is BRL 6,929 (~USD 1,250), a 13.4% reduction from Apple\u2019s full price.<\/p>\n

Here we reach the difference I mentioned at the beginning.<\/p>\n

In the US, the 16e\u2019s savings vs. the 17 are about 25%. In Brazil, considering retail prices, that gap can exceed 50% \u2014 precisely 52.4% when comparing BRL 3,299 (16e low) to BRL 6,929 (17 low).<\/p>\n

One could argue the year-old standard 16 is still a better buy at BRL 4,729 (retail price; ~USD 855). Even then, the relative difference remains larger \u2014 30.2%.<\/p>\n

Based on reviews and criticism, the negative sentiment around the iPhone 16e seems driven by price. If it had launched at USD 499 the narrative would likely be different. To me it\u2019s a solid phone for a fairly large group: people who don\u2019t care much about photography and just want a decent iPhone. (Also, I think it looks nicer.)<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s be honest: leaving out MagSafe on the iPhone 16e is unjustifiable. Do better, Apple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MKBHD gave the \u201cBurst of the Year\u201d award to the iPhone 16e, Apple’s entry-level phone released in the first half of 2025 to replace the tired (but beloved) iPhone SE. The Basic Apple Guy, in his annual Apple product releases tier list, placed the iPhone 16e in tier C. Those two examples show the \u201ccheap\u201d iPhone didn\u2019t have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_locale":"en_US","_original_post":""},"categories":[1575],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61346"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61358,"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346\/revisions\/61358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manualdousuario.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}