Forget the 16e. This is the $499 iPhone Apple should have made instead

For months leading up to the launch of the iPhone 16e, rumors all but confirmed that Apple would hike the price of the iPhone SE 3’s successor. But given how competitive the midrange smartphone market is, analysts were confident the company would charge no more than $499, a significant price jump but still in the realm of a budget handset. Instead, Apple announced the $599 iPhone 16e and completely disregarded budget-conscious customers.

It didn’t have to be this way. You can argue that the iPhone 16e is worth the upcharge, but the new direction still cuts out a significant portion of buyers. Here’s how Apple could have upgraded the iPhone SE with Apple Intelligence and still kept the price under $500.

Off-branding

Before delving into its tech specs, there’s an issue with the name itself. By design, Apple associated its new entry-level smartphone with its high-end iPhone 16 lineup. This makes it easier to get away with the $170 price increase because it implies you’re buying one of the latest iPhone 16 models. The new phone no longer carries the SE branding famous for offering the bare minimum at a low cost.

Basically, Apple couldn’t price the new iPhone 16e any lower than $599. There’s already a $200 gap between the standard and Pro models, so to make it any lower would change the established structure and imply that either the iPhone 16 is too expensive or the iPhone 16e is too cheap. By keeping the iPhone SE name, however, Apple would’ve had enough room to shed a few of the flagship specs, as it would no longer be associated with the premium iPhone 16 family.

Mini redux

The iPhone 13 mini was the last of its kind, and many small phone enthusiasts continue to mourn it to this day. These 5.4-inch iPhones were priced $100 lower than their 6.1-inch counterparts ($699 at launch). So, if Apple can make a 6.1-inch iPhone 16e for $599, it could presumably make a mini version of that same phone for $499, which would cater not only to customers on a tight budget but also to those seeking a compact, pocketable device.

To cut costs further, Apple could have opted for a Liquid Retina LCD. While Super Retina XDR OLED panels provide a superior viewing experience, most, if not all, budget customers would accept the trade-off for a lower price. After all, the whole point of entry-level phones is sacrificing premium tech to make them more affordable.

About Face

Apple has long reserved Face ID for the iPad Pro models, with even the high-priced iPad Air still relying on a Touch ID sensor embedded into the side button. Yet, for some reason, Apple decided that its cheapest smartphone should now adopt Face ID.

Given how advanced the TrueDepth camera system is, Apple could’ve excluded it from the iPhone SE 4 to cut costs. The notch could remain, but only to house the front camera and receiver. Instead, the iPhone’s side power button could double as a Touch ID sensor for biometric authentication, which some users would prefer to facial recognition.

Classic call

While the tweaks above can already produce a logical $499 iPhone SE 4, there are other measures that could have reduced the price even more. For example, Apple could’ve easily skipped the Action button and continued to offer the classic mute switch to further distinguish between its affordable and flagship iPhones. Another cost-cutting move could be excluding the USB-C charging cable and shrinking the box. Most users already have at least one lying around, as it’s already the universal connector powering nearly all recently released gadgets.

Apple could have even given plastic another shot by learning from its last lowercase-letter iPhone, the 5c. A large font screen and an aluminum frame would give the iPhone SE a unique look with lower cost, and since it dumped MagSafe anyway, Apple wouldn’t have needed to change much else. 

Foundry

iPhone SE 4 for the win

Some have blamed the A18 processor and Apple Intelligence for the $170 price hike, but I don’t believe they’re the reason for the price hike. After all, the iPhone SE 3 cost $429 and offered the same A15 Bionic chip inside that year’s flagship phone, the iPhone 13 Pro. And even if it does cost more, Apple could’ve cut back in other areas to keep an A18-powered iPhone SE 4 under $500.

Apple’s SE brand has become synonymous with affordability, offering solid specs for far less than the cost of a new high-end iPhone. It was a balance of an old design with newer specs and didn’t try to pretend to be something it wasn’t. With the 2025 update, Apple had a chance to build a phone with a modern design that still offered consumers an inexpensive way into the iPhone ecosystem.

Instead, the company built a strange hybrid that sits awkwardly in its iPhone lineup. It neither fills the budget void left by the SE nor has enough of the newer specs of the flagship iPhones, such as dual cameras, MagSafe, or ultra-wideband. As such the cheapest iPhone now starts at $599 in the U.S., and that’s a valid barrier that will steer undecided customers to Android, when Apple could have had a real budget winner on its hands.